There are many reasons why people start hosting on Airbnb—from paying the bills to meeting new people. But there’s growing number of hosts who’ve forged a path to home ownership by sharing their place. Tim, a freelance filmmaker from Seattle, converted a basement into a popular Seattle Airbnb listing.

Before Tim listed his place on Airbnb, he was struggling to make ends meet in a pricey city. “As a person in a creative industry, my income can vary dramatically year to year,” says Tim, “So my girlfriend and I try to live a very modest lifestyle.”

Tim decided investing in a home would help him create a more sustainable budget moving forward. But when he started the home search, he was immediately faced with a disheartening reality: most properties were beyond his price range, or they required thousands of dollars in repairs. He didn’t see a path forward.

After an extensive search, Tim finally found a home with just the kind of potential he was seeking. What made Tim’s home ideal? The unfinished basement he envisioned turning into an Airbnb listing. “Some of our friends use Airbnb, and we wanted to be able to share a space in our new home to help cover some costs,” Tim says. “So when I saw this basement, I knew it’d make a perfect project to convert into an Airbnb listing.”

By completing a few DIY projects, he turned the basement in his new home into one of the most popular Airbnb listings in his community.

As a newfound homeowner, Tim explains, “My Airbnb listing contributes about one-third of my mortgage,” going on to say, “We would’ve missed out on home ownership if it wasn’t for Airbnb.”