House-sitter on a rent-free mission to afford her own home Mobility: House-sitter Nicole Sundin, with a client's dog, moves between homes to save money. Photo: Steven Siewert Nicole Sundin has moved 17 times in the past two years, a hassle that has saved her up to $31,200 in rent. Fed up with paying $300 a week to a landlord, and seeing no chance of ever buying a house, the 35-year-old turned to house-sitting to live rent free while she saved a deposit. "I'm single, on my own, and I know it's going to be tough," she said. Her current home has views over the bush at Frenchs Forest in Sydney's north and she said house-minding let her experience suburbs she could never afford on her salary as operations manager at BridgeClimb in Sydney. With a few small gaps, she has gone directly from one house-sit to another, fine-tuning the art of living out of a suitcase and slowly moving unnecessary possessions to a storage unit. "The best thing is I'm rent free," Ms Sundin said. The worst thing is my anxiety levels increase if I don't have another house-sit lined up. House-sitting is becoming increasingly popular with Generation Y men and women, said Sue Coombs, who set up mindahome.com.au in 2008. Demand from home owners and minders has increased business, with at least 300 homes on the market at any one time. At least eight websites offer house-sitting as a way to travel cheaply or save money. The trend coincides with a wave of research showing young people are increasingly finding it difficult to buy a home because of rising prices, higher rents and less job security than in the past. Last month, the Australian Bureau of Statistics found the number of first home buyers had fallen to the lowest level since April 2004, while a report by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute found Generation Y's chance of moving out of private rental accommodation and achieving the Australian dream of home ownership was dwindling. Ms Coombs said quite a "high percentage" of customers were young people looking to save money to buy a home and get a deposit together. The owner of another service, Amanda Corbett of Houseminders, said more young people were house-minding to save a deposit. For Ms Sundin, house-minding has given her a chance to experience different housing and suburbs. She worries that if she has to the return to renting, she will have to pay much more than two years ago. In the meantime, she has cleared all her debts and is rapidly amassing a nest egg to buy a small unit.