Rental market in Dublin - am I missing something?

fawdalong

Hi,

Starting into separation process with husband and moving out of the marital home (no children).

Am looking to rent a one bedroom apartment in Dublin. Budget is up to $1450 (euro) which I don't know about you but I think is fairly decent...

What items will I need to supply?

Id - no problem
Payslip - no problem
Work reference - no problem, working in the same company for about 10 years
Bank statements - no problem, all show credit, no overdraft..not much left in current account by end of month albeit.
Should I or is it a positive if I show savings statements which I very healthy I think. Should I show credit union account which has $20k sitting in it??

References - this is the problem as of course I have no landlord reference

Any advice please?

jimmii

It's going to depend on the landlord really a lot are understanding and 10 years with the same company and some savings makes it look better. Are you moving to Ireland with the company? If so then HR might have systems in place to help out.

fawdalong

Sorry the $dollar sign might have been misleading.

I am living in Dublin all my life, will be renting in Dublin.

From properties I have looked at they tend to be letting agents/companies looking after them. So not even talking directly to a landlord...

I am just thinking. I have an investment property which I use a letting agent for. I wonder would a reference from them be of any use??

Is there anything else I can provide I wonder to make up a "pack" which overall shows me in good light as potential renter.

fawdalong

I have another thread in this forum about my plans to rent in Dublin...

My budget is up to €1450 for a one bed room apartment...which I don't know about you but I think is relatively decent (read extortionate!!! But it is what it is...).
I am looking Dublin city centre - preferably South. And D2/4/6 areas.

I have literally just started looking on daft etc. And have just messaged some agents over the weekend so hopefully hearing back from them today.

Am wondering am I missing something?? Or should I prepare myself for something/disappointment??
Am reading in newspapers about rent/peroperty crisis and about unavailability and difficulty of renting.
From looking at daft there are plenty of properties available. Plus don't seem to be getting snapped up/some on site for longer than I would have through (e.g. two weeks).

Am I missing something and should I prepare myself for queues at viewings?

Any advice gratefully accepted.

Islander13

The problem is more acute if you can't afford the level of rent you can...

Islander13

Do you have a friend? They can be your reference.

Pawwed Rig

Give your exes number (if still civil) or a friend or a parent etc

fawdalong

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

Give your exes number (if still civil) or a friend or a parent etc

Still civil/amicable.

Am I giving it as a "landlord" relationship?

I.e. no need mention the whole story I said in my first post?

Konata

The problem is that many people cannot afford to pay 1450 a month for 2 people sharing, never mind on their own. With your sort of budget you should be able to avoid the worst effects of the rental crisis.

Pawwed Rig

None of your new landlords business imo so yeah might be easier just to list the ex as a landlord without going into details. Make sure the ex knows the story though.

fawdalong

Hmm only issue is names...

Bank statements Fawdalong O'Reilly (maiden name)
Payslip Fawdalong Murphy (married name)

Reference (ex)
John Murphy (married name)

jimmii

fawdalong wrote: »

Sorry the $dollar sign might have been misleading.

I am living in Dublin all my life, will be renting in Dublin.

From properties I have looked at they tend to be letting agents/companies looking after them. So not even talking directly to a landlord...

I am just thinking. I have an investment property which I use a letting agent for. I wonder would a reference from them be of any use??

Is there anything else I can provide I wonder to make up a "pack" which overall shows me in good light as potential renter.

Lol Yeh bit confusing using $ instead of €! Only way you are going to find out is if you contact some landlords the last two places I rented in Dublin didn't care that we didn't have refs of the property is via an agency it's likely to be more of an issue. As others have mentioned you can always be a bit more flexible with the truth if you find somewhere you really like that have refs as a must.

As a Landlord the statements might worry me as much an the no refs so maybe only offer that of pushed for it. If I am letting a place out for €1450/month and you have no refs and little money at the end of month then that's an issue!

fawdalong

jimmii wrote: »

Lol Yeh bit confusing using $ instead of €! Only way you are going to find out is if you contact some landlords the last two places I rented in Dublin didn't care that we didn't have refs of the property is via an agency it's likely to be more of an issue. As others have mentioned you can always be a bit more flexible with the truth if you find somewhere you really like that have refs as a must.

As a Landlord the statements might worry me as much an the no refs so maybe only offer that of pushed for it. If I am letting a place out for €1450/month and you have no refs and little money at the end of month then that's an issue!

I hear ya! Thanks lots of good advice here.

Context to little money at the end of the month is that I would put a fair whack of it in to savings at the beginning of the month... That is why I am thinking I may show credit union statements etc

jimmii

fawdalong wrote: »

I hear ya! Thanks lots of good advice here.

Context to little money at the end of the month is that I would put a fair whack of it in to savings at the beginning of the month... That is why I am thinking I may show credit union statements etc

If a similar amount is going straight to the CU then that's OK as it shows you cam consistently pay the rent. Time to get in contact with people and see how things go good luck!

Angel2016

fawdalong wrote: »

Hi,

Starting into separation process with husband and moving out of the marital home (no children).

Am looking to rent a one bedroom apartment in Dublin. Budget is up to $1450 (euro) which I don't know about you but I think is fairly decent...

What items will I need to supply?

Id - no problem
Payslip - no problem
Work reference - no problem, working in the same company for about 10 years
Bank statements - no problem, all show credit, no overdraft..not much left in current account by end of month albeit.
Should I or is it a positive if I show savings statements which I very healthy I think. Should I show credit union account which has $20k sitting in it??

References - this is the problem as of course I have no landlord reference

Any advice please?

€ 1450.00 is a very healthy budget depending on the area you would get a two bed for that as one bed's in D24 where I have my apartment are € 1150.00 and two beds are € 1250.00.
Go along to the viewings bring all of that information / documentation with you and see how you get on you do have a very healthy budget to work with and sometimes when agents or LL meet the people they change their minds on references it might be a good idea to get a reference from your job or if you knew a Garda or someone like that to give a character reference, if it was me meeting you and I am a LL I would prob rent to you so best of luck.

Mrs OBumble

fawdalong wrote: »

I am just thinking. I have an investment property which I use a letting agent for. I wonder would a reference from them be of any use??

I think so: it tells a prospective LL that you understand about property as an asset that needs to be cared for.

Lux23

I think if you're willing to hand over €1,400 every month for a one bed, you won't have any problems.

Lux23

If me and my boyfriend paid 1450 for a one bed, that would be half our wage gone. That's not sustainable.

Pawwed Rig

Lux23 wrote: »

I think if you're willing to hand over €1,400 every month for a one bed, you won't have any problems.

The apartment I just left had 1 bed and relet for €1,600 with no shortage of people interested.

dearg lady

I've never actually been asked for previous landlord references, just work. Could be because they are so easy to fake that they become essentially worthless.

syklops

fawdalong wrote: »

I have another thread in this forum about my plans to rent in Dublin...

My budget is up to €1450 for a one bed room apartment...which I don't know about you but I think is relatively decent (read extortionate!!! But it is what it is...).
I am looking Dublin city centre - preferably South. And D2/4/6 areas.

I have literally just started looking on daft etc. And have just messaged some agents over the weekend so hopefully hearing back from them today.

Come back to us if you actually get a response.

From looking at daft there are plenty of properties available. Plus don't seem to be getting snapped up/some on site for longer than I would have through (e.g. two weeks).

A property being left on Daft for 2 weeks or more in the current climate rings alarm bells in my head. Why has the property not been snapped up? Go out and see one of these properties and maybe you will get a weird feeling or maybe you wont, but generally speaking any time a property has been up for a while its suspicious.

Am I missing something and should I prepare myself for queues at viewings?

Any advice gratefully accepted

Youve only just started looking so yes you are missing something.

Im paying 1300 for a 2 bed apartment in Dublin 18. Its tiny and miles from anywhere and we can just about afford it at the moment. I honestly think you will be looking for a while before you find somewhere decent in D2/4/6.

A friend of mine moved over here about 18 months ago from the continent. His plan had been to stay in a hotel for a few nights, go to some viewings and move in quickly. I told him it will take much longer to find somewhere semi decent. He stayed on my couch and eventually found somewhere - 3 months later. He is paying 1900 in D2.

From looking at daft there are plenty of properties available

I just did a search of D2/4/6 in your price range and found 27 properties. I really would not call that plenty, in a city of over a million.

Walter H Price

As with all of this Stuff OP your less and less affected by it if you have a bigger budget , Like we could easily afford €1,450 in rent , but saving for a mortgage as well at the same time so that's €1,750 a month in savings . Found it much easier renting a 3 bed and subletting one room total (€900 a month) then getting a one or two bed when we looked in March.

There seems to be allot of demand i think among people who cant or wont pay more than €1,200 , if you can pay above that its a much smaller market, so happy days.

fawdalong

I will keep you updated how I get on. Viewed somewhere today - it does seem the work reference is the big one and not landlord references.

syklops

Mr.S wrote: »

Your problem is the post code. Everyone in Dublin wants to live in D2, D4 or D6 so supply is a problem, anything good will be snapped up instantly.

Try to avoid open viewings, they are pointless and will cause nothing but stress. Register with a few agencies and tell them what kind of place you want.

Just keep at it, set up alerts on Daft for your searches. At least you have a higher budget them most, that's pretty much key. We where looking for a 2 bed in D4 and found it impossible. Upped our budget a few hundred euro and found one in a day.

Avoid D2, you will get ripped off purely on location.

Did you read the OPs post?

armabelle

fawdalong wrote: »

I have another thread in this forum about my plans to rent in Dublin...

My budget is up to €1450 for a one bed room apartment...which I don't know about you but I think is relatively decent (read extortionate!!! But it is what it is...).
I am looking Dublin city centre - preferably South. And D2/4/6 areas.

I have literally just started looking on daft etc. And have just messaged some agents over the weekend so hopefully hearing back from them today.

Am wondering am I missing something?? Or should I prepare myself for something/disappointment??
Am reading in newspapers about rent/peroperty crisis and about unavailability and difficulty of renting.
From looking at daft there are plenty of properties available. Plus don't seem to be getting snapped up/some on site for longer than I would have through (e.g. two weeks).

Am I missing something and should I prepare myself for queues at viewings?

Any advice gratefully accepted.

We refused point blank to stand in a cue to see a viewing. We also refused to be in that category of "accomodation seeker" that must. We seemed to have been OK because we always found somewhere to live without having to compete in that way with other people. We found it to be disgusting and wanted no part of it.

fawdalong

armabelle wrote: »

We refused point blank to stand in a cue to see a viewing. We also refused to be in that category of "accomodation seeker" that must. We seemed to have been OK because we always found somewhere to live without having to compete in that way with other people. We found it to be disgusting and wanted no part of it.

?

Um so what did you do?

JaMarcusHustle

OP, here's some advice. Feel free to disregard it.

My partner and I used to live in D2. We had the same budget as yourself. Finding properties was easy, finding one we liked was a bit tougher. But when we did find one (and viewings were mayhem with the amount of people throwing money at the rental agents) we simply showed up with a binder that contained the following things:

- A brief letter that introduced us to the landlord and why we wanted this particular property and why we would be suitable tenants.
- Our prior landlords' references
- Our employer references
- A copy of our most recent payslip
- Bank statement for the most recent 3 months
- A brief note including our contact details and to say we were happy to meet for a coffee or a chat before finalising anything.

Re: the bank statement - I have a separate deposit account where I simply transfer €1400 a month for rent. So 3 month's statements is actually just 6 transactions - a €1400 deposit in from my current account, and a €1400 payment out from the deposit account.

Just put yourself in the landlord's shoes. They want someone who will look after the property and if you go to a little bit of effort like above, you will make yourself stand out.

billymitchell

Slightly off topic, but with that amount of money available to you, would you consider buying instead?

JaMarcusHustle

"All this".

It takes 5 minutes to prepare.

I don't know where I want to live yet, so I'm happy to rent.

Askthe EA

You'll be fine. We are human too and understand that this kind of thing happens. For me, honesty always impresses me and puts me at ease.

I place far more weight on your work history as it shows your financial capacity and reliability.

MrDerp

Our last experience of renting (now mortgaged up, thankfully) was difficult, we found the agencies to be almost contemptuous to deal with, acting like they had cornered the market on stale bread for starving masses.

Ultimately we ended up renting a place with no references. Emails are useless, so naturally I was calling up agents at every available opportunity. Even if there's no number, ring the agency and ask to speak to someone about property X. Try to speak to someone, or get through to their voicemail. I had a prepared set of things to say, and left a polite professional message. One evening, I got a call back from an agent to say the property I'd enquired about was gone, but that she had a house not yet on the market if I wanted to view it. I went to see it that night, and got it without it ever being advertised. She didn't even check our references when I offered them, she just said "I've been managing properties for 20 years, I know good tenants when i see them"

In a tight market, answering ads or going to open viewings is the equivalent of spraying your CV into Dunnes or Tesco for a summer a job as a youngster. You need to present yourself as the type of person an agent is happy to place. Moping around giving out that "it shouldn't be this tough" will get you nowhere, you need to appear professional - and be professional about taking time off work for viewings. Why would the agent meet you at 7pm on a fine (or indeed dark) evening if someone else is willing to meet them at 2pm?

athtrasna

Mod note

Armabelle please respect that this forum attracts renters at all levels of the market. While you clearly feel strongly, the language you used could be considered upsetting and provocative by some users, not everyone is in your position. Accordingly I have deleted your most recent post.

fawdalong

billymitchell wrote: »

Slightly off topic, but with that amount of money available to you, would you consider buying instead?

Yes that is what my dad said to me... No, I have a RIP which I may move into in the future, or may sell. I don't want to sign up to a 20 or 30 year mortgage at this point of my life. Happier just to rent for now.

Elliott S

syklops wrote: »

Im paying 1300 for a 2 bed apartment in Dublin 18. Its tiny and miles from anywhere and we can just about afford it at the moment. I honestly think you will be looking for a while before you find somewhere decent in D2/4/6.

A couple I know snagged a fairly nice one bed in D4 (pretty small but not a dump) for €1200 sometime in the last 8 months. (8 months ago they were living in Bray I know for definite, I'm not sure exactly when they moved but probably sometime in 2016) They acknowledge that they were very, very lucky but it shows me that it's no harm for anyone to keep searching and searching in the area they want to live. The couple are both trainee accountants so they're not on huge money right now but maybe the landlord thought ahead to when they'll have a very healthy joint income which is not very far down the line really. I've seen lots of strokes of luck down the years in regards to accommodation.

fawdalong

Ok so fingers crossed for me, looks like I have somewhere. I will post all details of my experience once all signed sealed and delivered - don't want to tempt fate right now.

lcwill

What about Christchurch/east side of D8?

You should easily find something at that price (otherwise I must be charging way below market rates for my apartment there!)

athtrasna

OP I've merged both of your threads. While there was some argument for keeping them separate, once identical posts appeared the option was merge or lock so I've merged them. Cross posting in multiple threads is not permitted.

Mod

fawdalong

Ok so I promised I'd report back once I was settled in.

I have ended up renting in D2 for €1500. I think that is absolutely crazy money but think I got the best I could get for that. To be honest I saw some right old holes for €1400/1450 so am glad I pushed it a little further.
I saw one crazy place in Ranelagh which had the wardrobe in the living room. Plus it had half your kitchen in one alcove of the living room (sink etc) and the other half in the other alcove (cooker etc).

Considering some of then places I can't imagine what is out there at the 1200/1300 mark...

In terms of getting the place one of my concerns was that I had not rented before so had no landlord references. I put together a pack for the estate agent - work reference, salary slip, mortgage statements, id and cover page giving some information about myself - my job and length of service etc and detailed that I was a home owner and landlord myself.
That all did the trick and the estate agents let me know I could have the place within half hour of receiving my "pack".

So that's it. In and happy. Not much money left over every month but happy every day going to bed in a nice safe building in a nice quiet area.

If anyone has any questions about my experiences of looking at rentals in Dublin (see my other posts) I'd be happy to answer any...