How do I determine a fair rent price?

beatlesfan3333

Hi all, I'm planning to rent my house out soon. How do I determine what a fair price for rent is? I am afraid of charging too much or too little. I live in a small village in Kildare and there isn't any similar houses for rent in my area to compare. Also, when listing my house for rent online, can I state 'no rent allowance accepted' or is that illegal? I don't wish to cause offense but I have been advised by letting agencies not to accept rent allowance. I don't plan on using a letting agency. This is my first time renting out my house, thanks.

mistress_gi

You can try and see in the PRTB website if there are any simmilar houses rented in your area it will give you a guide price. Google prtb rent index (sorry I'm on my phone and can't paste the link).
No it is not illegal to state no rent allowance accepted. Post it online when you want to. Just be very carefull who you let to (I speak as a tennant) and under any circumstances let a letting agency take over. They will take your money and will not have the best interest of the property in mind. Again, speaking as a tenant.
Good luck!

beatlesfan3333

Thanks mistress_gi...I am wondering, can I be penalized somehow by the government or the legal system for charging a rent that is above the normal market rent? That is what I am worried about, thanks

tommy100

surely there is a few houses in the area that u can come up with a rental fee. I have props that I rent and I am also renting myself at the same time. Cleanliness is probably my main priority. when I interview people I try judge them whether they will keep my place nice and clean as if it it was their own, so when they are moving, they place is in good condition. money is important, but not as important as someone that looks after property. id take 50€ less rent a month rather than have someone careless moving in. sorry for the ramble

beatlesfan3333

No that's very helpful tommy100, thanks very much. I'll check out a few local, similar houses and try to determine a fair price for everyone, cheers

mistress_gi

Ou can charge as much as someone is willing to pay for the rental. As far as I know you will probably have to pay more taxes etc. But I don't believe you can be penalised

campingcarist

I believe that the "Market rent" is defined something along the lines of what a willing tenant will offer and a willing landlord will accept for a VACANT property.

Therefore, if you find a tenant willing to pay €xxx per month then that would be the market rent for your house. I think "market rent" becomes more debatable when a tenant is already in place for over a year and the landlord wants to up the rent.

beatlesfan3333

That's very helpful, thanks campingcarist. That makes sense

GarIT

You cannot increase rent if that increase will bring it above the market rate for the area. Initially you can set the price to whatever you want.

whomitconcerns

GarIT wrote: »

You cannot increase rent if that increase will bring it above the market rate for the area. Initially you can set the price to whatever you want.

of course you can increase it to €20k a month above market rate if you want. If you can find someone to pay that!

Its only if you have a sitting tenant and they object and want the PRTB involved as they feel you are being unreasonable that this becomes an issue.

Beaner1

Fairness doesn't come into it. Charge the market rate. A "fair" rent as determined by a council is 20% of someone's household income so by all means charge 300-400 if you want to be fair.

hfallada

OP have you called a few estate agents in the area to see what they would get for it? Estate agents tend to be cheaper for rent than actual LLs as they want to get the house let ASAP.

You shouldnt care what a fair rent is. You should aim for a rent as high as possible.

In Ireland you can discriminate against rent allowance people. Daft allows you to say rent allowance not accepted. The PRTB website rent guide is useless. As doesnt take into account the size and quality of the house. Also the area its in. Its an average which is useless in Dublin anyway, due to the fact a post code in Dublin can have slum quality housing and luxury housing the same post code. Eg Dublin 1 has ultra luxury housing and then the slummy areas of sherrard street. But the PRTB site doesnt take that into account in their averages

the world wonders

You can start out high and lower it every week until you find an acceptable tenant.

beatlesfan3333

I asked a local estate agents and they advised me of an amount. I think I'll aim for a little higher than that and see what kind of interest I get from prospective tenants. Thanks for the advice guys. I thought it was discriminatory to say 'no rent allowance' on an advert. It's good to know that it's not. Thanks for the help

hfallada

beatlesfan3333 wrote: »

I thought it was discriminatory to say 'no rent allowance' on an advert. It's good to know that it's not. Thanks for the help

The Government wants to introduce make it illegal. But if rent allowance doesnt match your rent. Why would you take someone on rent allowance. Plus the fact rent allowance is paid directly to the tenant is too risky. Plus the fact rent allowance people tend to be non-working there may be more issues than a tenant that works 9 to 5.

Geuze

beatlesfan3333 wrote: »

I thought it was discriminatory to say 'no rent allowance' on an advert. It's good to know that it's not

It is "discriminatory", but it's not illegal,.