Sheila James's weekdays begin at 2:15 a.m. She leaves her home at 4:00 a.m. to begin her grueling 80-mile, three-hour commute, which involves taking two trains and a bus, from her home in Stockton, California, to San Francisco.
Loftium, a Seattle start-up, will provide up to $50,000 to prospective homebuyers for a down payment. Here's the catch: they must be willing to list an extra bedroom on Airbnb for one to three years and share most of their earnings with Loftium. Twenty-nine-year-old founder Yifan Zhang came up with the idea after hearing many friends discuss not being able to afford a down payment because of high rental rates and student debt, among other reasons. "It's for the people who don't have the parents to help or the high income to save while paying rent," Zhang said.