Rental Agencies

BraziliaNZ

Myself and a friend have been looking for an apt for the past week or so. When we find places on Daft, one of us usually calls and tries to arrange a viewing. There are so many that don't answer emails, calls, texts etc. Most of them are through rental agencies. All of these ones say they are vacant and available immediately too. It's crazy, I mean they go on about not being able to find tenants etc and property crashes and whatnot but we can't even arrange viewings! The worst thing about it is is that people are paying these people to look after their properties, and they wont even show it to 2 people who are ready to move in. Both of us are working professionals too. Has anyone had similar experiences?

J-blk

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

Has anyone had similar experiences?

Do a search here and you'll find a ton of posts that are almost word-for-word identical to yours. I moved back in March (when things were already hitting the skids badly) and had exactly the same problems. Some places I considered stayed empty for months... It does not surprise me one bit that even now, you're finding that the situation has not changed.

In general, most estate agents here seem to be complete and utter time wasters...

Delirium

Yep. Spent the last month looking for a place. The amount of places that seemed to want to do business was tiny compared to the amount that didn't return calls/emails.

I'd say for every 5-6 contacts made, maybe 1 resulted in a viewing.

BraziliaNZ

i couldnt get an answer from the mobile no. of a rental agent earlier so i texted her. She replied saying it was available etc and to email her the details which i did. So a few hours later I texted and said "Did you get my email with my details? Can we see the flat?".
About an hour later I got "who this", from the number.
Jesus Christ...

Delirium

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

i couldnt get an answer from the mobile no. of a rental agent earlier so i texted her. She replied saying it was available etc and to email her the details which i did. So a few hours later I texted and said "Did you get my email with my details? Can we see the flat?".
About an hour later I got "who this", from the number.
Jesus Christ...

Had much the same.

Rang an agent to ask if a place was still available.

Agent: mmm. dunno
Me: could you check??
Agent: ok. give me your number and I'll call you back.

1 day later ring same agent.

Me: I rang yesterday about place X.
Agent: whats the query?
Me: Is it available??
Agent: Not sure. give me your number and I'll call you back.

:mad::mad::mad:

J-blk

I just gave up giving them my phone number whenever they said something like "oh , x is not here at the moment, please leave your name and number and we'll call you back" - why should I even bother when they can't be arsed anyway? The only places I went and saw was when I got in touch with the person directly and arranged a viewing then and there. Only a handful of course were like that, but I ultimately found something I was happy with.

The_Chopper

Agents are a joke.
We've had a blocked toliet in the en-suite for almost 5 months, we've dealt with two different agents and still no joy. I'm just glad our contracts up so we can move out

MCMT

Don't get me started...

I'm currently looking for a new place so dealing with these eejits has been a nightmare. But I have to say - having lived in Canada, the US - companies here in general are atrocious at cultivating business. I mean, I now expect not to be called back by the majority of the agents I call. Having said that, the few that I have met with have been generally helpful (and are often - I make no inferences here - not Irish).

The biggest nightmare of all has been dealing with the agent that "manages" my current place. They were perfectly happy to go by the letter of the law when I signed the lease, but now that I am attempting to extract myself from it (legitimately) they seem to be using every trick in the book to avoid that said law, i.e. refusing to communicate in writing, providing incorrect information regarding my rights, withholding documents which I am untitled to etc.

I have dealt with agents abroad before and have never had any problems: in general they stick to the law and so do you. So I am shocked (and perhaps naive) to find the professional company that represents my landlord to be acting in such, frankly, sinister ways. Perhaps more alarming is that this has also been the experience of far too many of my friends - and there is really very little that can be done about it beside the laborious process of rousing the PRTB to action (or worse still, a day in court).

An individual acting in such a manner is one thing; a private company that does so is infuriating.:mad:

BraziliaNZ

ok i got a flat, through the owner of the place, not an agency of course!

J-blk

Congrats! I'm sure you'll be better off dealing with the landlord directly as well for any issues during your tenancy.

MCMT

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

ok i got a flat, through the owner of the place, not an agency of course!

Weldone. I'm going to try seek out the same - much easier to deal with.

My new list of requirements:

1. Humanoid landlord rather than agency.

2. A fridge with an actual freezer - NOT AN ICEBOX (did you know this is no longer legal?)

3. A hob with FOUR elements (amazing how many landlords seem to think a tenancy is some sort of camping trip).

4. A landlord in tune with the actual market value of their property.

5. A landlord that has heard of and read the Res Tenancy Act 2004.

Wishful thinking perhaps....

bladebrew

its much better to deal with the landlord in person if possible,they are the ones getting your money so they actually care,

me and the g/f have been thinking about moving for months but there is a problem everytime,i have a post on here somehwere about it,

the latest,the g/f arranged a viewing for 5:45pm,we arrived at approx 5:40pm waited 15minutes,until 5:55 and the g/f decided to ring the office as they close at 6,someone helpfully tells her the place was viewed and taken earlier that day,and "somebody should have rang you" talk about stating the obvious:eek:,i would have flipped if it was me who rang them!,

this is a well known auctioneers in cork that i have used before and thought they were excellent,

sorry for the rant

meglome

Pretty much had the same experience myself very recently.

At least half the people I contacted didn't come back to me. And let's not even mention when I brought up that their apartment was overpriced in the current market.

Don't assume that the owners are any better. I was in this duplex apartment and it was great but the beige carpet was a bit worn but also black. And I mean it was filthy. I asked the owner was he going to change the carpet and he says he's hoping to get another year out of it (I tried not to look surprised). I then asked would he not have it cleaned and he says he wasn't planning to. I ended up offering to take as I missed out on two other places and way a bit stuck. He wouldn't actually let me have it, even though I have all the references etc.

I could go on and on. My old landlady is mental and I mean mental. I had to stay in the old apartment for another month, posted a thread about it in here.

Anyway I stuck at it. I now have a brilliant big apartment in the quiet end of Temple Bar, with very decent owners and for less than I was paying before.

hoser expat

I agree with the poster above who says that estate agents in other countries are far more professional, especially about getting back to you. I have lived and rented in Canada, the US, UK, and now Ireland.

So last year when I was in the process of moving here I couldn't believe the piss poor attitude. Here was a professional couple, significant and stable salary (and I could prove it), great landlord references etc. I thought I would be a bit of a catch for any agency to pitch to their landlord clients. But no, very few called me back, and none were creative in offering to show me anything other than the one place I may have enquired about. And now that we've started to look again, this time to buy, agents seem to think its too much bother to pitch their houses properly and arrange showings. But, the lack of response to enquiries also seems to be endemic in Irish business culture, based on my dealings so far. Do you want my business or what?

Disgraceful set of estate agency standards in this country.

eth0_

The_Chopper wrote: »

Agents are a joke.
We've had a blocked toliet in the en-suite for almost 5 months, we've dealt with two different agents and still no joy. I'm just glad our contracts up so we can move out

Why would you put up with this? You should have given them written notice that they had a week to get a plumber out, or else you were calling one yourself and taking the cost off the rent!

Kimia

Don't even get me started. The way my (very famous and supposedly reliable) letting agency deals with 'clients' continues to shock and appall me. From one of them telling me that she was on her 'own time' at 5.45pm when I returned her urgent call, the manager of said agency not replying ever, and being rude and unresponsive when you actually get him on the phone.

Is there anyone you can actually complain to? I am dreading ever dealing with these idiots again and we're stuck in a year lease. I will never ever use a letting agency again, ever.