Meet the Brisbane millennial living rent-free to save for a home loan

Chasleigh Osland is saving for a mortgage deposit and not paying a cent in rent, but she’s not living with her parents. Chase has taken up full-time house sitting for strangers instead.

She has been at it since September and hopes by this time next year she’ll be in her own home. The 28-year-old spent most of her savings while travelling over the past six years and after arriving back in Brisbane, she decided it was time to settle down.

“Now that I’m ready to have my own place I want to achieve that goal quite quickly and this is the perfect way to do it,” she said.

When Chase housesits, she takes care of pets, gardens or any other housework the owners ask her to while they’re away. In return, she gets a free place to live and, sometimes, even a temporary pet.

“I like my own space and I’ve wanted to have a dog for ages so it’s nice sort of having that,” said Chase. 

Since September Chase has a gone a week without a house to sit at the longest and during that time, her grandmother happily took her in.

When not sitting for friends and family, Chase said she found places to sit through websites like Your Home My Home, Mindahome, HappyHouseSitters, and Boutique Pet and House Sitters.

It’s free for homeowners to list their home, but some sites allow housesitters to advertise for a price, and well-reviewed users like Chase are often in high demand.

“Even if you’re a member of four of them, it’s maybe two weeks rent out of a whole year,” she said. “It seems like that will be taking a lot of the work out of it for me.”

Housesitting websites are growing in popularity, Your Home My Home Co-Founder Mikaeli Loughry said.

“It’s a growing trend particularly with the share economy, she said. “Especially with people becoming more familiar with services like Uber and Airbnb.”

Saving for a home by house sitting is becoming common practice, Ms Loughry said. “We’ve got lots of stories of people like Chase, particularly the younger generation.”

Ray White New Farm agent Christine Rudolph said she had even noticed people in between houses taking up housesitting while waiting for settlements.

“There are many sellers who are now rushing to find temporary accommodation in the lead up to Christmas, being unable to find suitable property to rent short term,” she said. “I do have clients currently moving from New Zealand who have done just that … while they wait for their furniture to arrive from overseas.”

“It’s definitely a wonderful short term option.”