Daft premium advert - worth it?

AARRRGH

Hello all

I hope someone can advise me on this.

My flatmate has had to return to her home country for medical reasons. As a result, there is a spare room in the apartment I rent.

I normally get about a hundred or so replies whenever I advertise the room on daft, but at the moment I am getting practically no interest. The rent is reasonable (€550 for very central Dublin) and I'm using my usual advert.

So, I'm considering upgrading my advert to a "premium advert" to increase the number of people who see it.

Have any of you used the premium advert service before?

Is it worth it?

Thanks!

Eglinton

Last time I advertised I think it was €20 ish for premium. To be honest though I think that people that are searching properly for a place will see your ad regardless. I think a regular ad is fine as long as it's well written, informative, includes quality pictures of all rooms and details of all bills to be expected as well as the various downpayments required (deposit, TV licence etc).

You can also log in daily, refresh it and keep it near the top of the list.

EDIT: You may also have to consider reducing the rent a bit and taking the hit yourself with the current housemates. In this market all rent amounts are open season for negotiation - People just don't want to pay what it says on the price tag anymore even with houseshares. I know of several over the last few months who haven't been able to shift their rooms for weeks/months.

astrofool

Take lots of pictures, make sure the location is marked correctly. Mention all utilities available AND if they are connected or not, mention the heating system type, what appliances are available, if it's been refurbed or not, any local stores that might be of interest.

Update it daily so people know it's active.

Make sure the rent is in line with similar properties, drop if necessary.

jelly&icecream

To be honest if it's not attracting interest then its probably just too expensive. Rents have dropped fairly significantly in the past 6 month or so. Have a look at similar rooms on daft and see what the going rate is (take into account how long the ads have been up for into this).

I don't know how significant a difference a premium ad would make to be honest. I think most people do a thorough enough search if they are really looking for a place. If the ad is a reasonable enough pricewise its probably worth a shot.

MysticalSoul

I got a free upgrade to premium once, after I notified Daft that I saw that my page was saying x replies, and I hadn't received one of them - they found the missing reply for me. Anyway during that time, there was no difference to be honest. Would you be willing to lower the rent a bit? I don't think it has to do with the price necessarily though, as where I live there are double rooms asking for €350, which aren't shifting, and this area was getting up to €600 last year. Between job losses etc, many people have moved back home, and/or need to come up with the deposit as well as the first month's rent for instance etc. Unfortunately, it is a sign of the times.

ChunkyLover69

I've been living in a large share house for the past couple of years - a lot of people have come and gone in that time.
2 years ago there was no point paying for a premium ad - but now there is.
Ironically, it is us (the people posting the ads) that are making this happen.
If you don't have a premium ad - then even if you refresh it daily it will never get to the top of the listings - it will always be below the premium ads (even if the premium ad has not been refreshed)
This wasn't a problem when not many people were getting premium ads - but everyone seems to be getting them now - so a non-premium ad is always way down the list.
You should search for your room on daft as if you were a potential tenant. (For example, I lived in South Dublin City - when a room where I living was advertised and not premium - then I had to scroll through 13 pages of South Dublin City premium ads to find mine)
I always found that upgrading to premium generated a good bit more interest.
Daft also shows you how many times your ad has been viewed. If it has been viewed many times but no replies then make sure to look at your ad, photos, rent etc as others have mentioned.

Finally, it always amazes me how little effort people put into "selling" the people in a house. If you're living in a share house the people you are living with are at least as important as the physical and financial aspects of living there. I won't even reply to an ad that does not give me some idea that my flatmates are friendly, easy-going people.
And the amount of rooms I've gone to see over the years where you just get shown the room/house and told the basic details with no conversation/chat from the potential housemates!
If possible, all the people who currently live in the house should be there when a new potential tenant calls and there should be a bit of conversation apart from "the rent is this much and the bills are that much"
IMO the atmosphere among the housemates already there is a huge selling point if I am moving into a room in a share house.

Hope that helps - turned out a bit longwinded in the end!

AARRRGH

Thanks for all the replies. I've reduced the rent so it is very cheap (i.e. less than €500 for a nice apartment in a superb location) but still no interest.

Either people are afraid of change at the moment, or there is mass emigration which hasn't been reported in the media yet.

Eglinton

Could you send us a link to the ad and maybe we could provide some more help?

jelly&icecream

AARRRGH wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies. I've reduced the rent so it is very cheap (i.e. less than €500 for a nice apartment in a superb location) but still no interest.

Either people are afraid of change at the moment, or there is mass emigration which hasn't been reported in the media yet.

I know the feeling...I rent a few rooms in my house which is very near the city centre and I had to make a significant cut (25%+) in what I was asking...Its just the state of the market at the moment! After I made the cut I had a reasonable amount of interest and filled the rooms with nice people who I enjoy living with.

Its better to make a cut in the rent and get it rented as soon as possible than to hang on for the full asking price. It'll save you money in the long term and you'll have some choice in who you live with. Another thing is not to be very strict about the length of time you are letting it for. People are vary of signing up to year long leases etc because they aren't sure they'll be employed that long. Flexibility is key! Hope you get someone in soon.