I made $100,000 selling my backyard. Now a developer will use it to build more homes California so desperately needs.

• Jeremy Cullifer sold part of his backyard through startup BuildCasa for $100,000.
• The grocery wholesaler, 46, plans to use the money to upgrade his 70-year-old house.
• Cullifer said California's increasingly bad housing crisis was a big motive for splitting his lot.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Jeremy Cullifer, 46, about his decision to sell a portion of his backyard through startup BuildCasa to both make money and contribute to solutions to California's affordable housing crisis. The conversation was edited for length and clarity.

I've been in Sacramento my whole life.