After a few years of short-term renting her mom’s place in another part of town, Judy Zachariasen decided she was done. It was a hassle and she didn’t have time for the logistics anymore after getting a new job that required her to commute to Sacramento. Plus, the COVID-19 pandemic had hit. People were flocking to Truckee, a mountain town of roughly 16,000 people a few miles north of Lake Tahoe. The housing situation was deteriorating and Zachariasen knew she had a way to help out, however small.