
Home sitting and taking good care of individuals’s pets, principally cats, helped Lel Sebastian to avoid wasting the deposit for her first residence.
Lel Sebastian spent a long time watching her associates purchase their first properties, till she figured she had missed the boat.
Then she made one final ditch effort, transferring again to Melbourne from the prosperous Byron Bay space in NSW, saved a deposit by pet sitting and even signed up for the federal authorities to personal a piece of an condo alongside her to offer it a crack.
She is going to transfer into her first residence within the coming weeks, ending years of worrying about her future.
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“I’ve watched all my associates round me purchase their first residence through the years, and I’m the final one to try this,” Ms Sebastian mentioned.
“A number of years in the past I used to be saying to my son I may truly be homeless.
“You hear tales of individuals on a regular basis who wrestle once they become older, they usually do change into homeless or are pressured right into a state of affairs the place they’re sharing a house.
“However now, whereas I’ve shared fairness, it’s my place and I can’t be kicked out. I’m not on the whim of a landlord.”
Ms Sebastian returned to Victoria in 2024, however slightly than lease a house to maneuver into she signed up for a house-sitting service — principally taking good care of different peoples’ pets whereas they travelled.

Lel Sebastian saved on lease by home sitting, which helped her save a deposit for her first residence — when coupled with the federal authorities’s co-buying scheme. Image: Tim Carrafa
“It saved me paying lease they usually didn’t need to pay for a cattery,” she mentioned.
“I principally took care of cats, and one beautiful canine, and that helped me get reacquainted with Melbourne too.
“And that’s how I saved my deposit.”
It additionally meant she obtained to expertise completely different suburbs, and completely different residence sorts from homes to flats.
Ms Sebastian was additionally an early adopter of the Albanese authorities’s Assist to Purchase scheme, below which the federal authorities co-buys a house with eligible patrons — decreasing the upfront prices in addition to their mortgage dimension in return for a share in any enhance within the worth whereas the first-home purchaser owns the property, or till they purchase the federal government out.
“I’m nonetheless planning to work for one more 10 or so years, and this meant I may purchase one thing with a bit more cash up my sleeve,” she mentioned.
“I used to be in all probability the right candidate; I’d been working my complete life, however wasn’t ready to purchase with out it.”

Cats have confirmed an unlikely housing affordability answer.
She had inquired about what she may borrow earlier than the scheme turned out there for her, however had discovered it will be fairly restricted to very small properties.
Ms Sebastian mentioned she was each stunned and heartened to listen to she wasn’t the one first-home purchaser to search out they hadn’t “missed the boat” later in life.
“Now that I do know these stats, I’d say don’t quit and don’t be ashamed. It’s in all probability all the way down to circumstances out of your management for lots of people.”
Different tips that helped her save up and alter her housing state of affairs included making her personal espresso, and having realized to handle her funds and persist with a price range earlier in life.
She additionally enlisted the assistance of LP Advisory purchaser’s advocacy, who she mentioned had helped make the method appear rather a lot much less intimidating — and given her the boldness to make a transfer.
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