Tips for letting? How to vet and avoid problem tenants

I'd steer clear of advertising in Facebook groups for starters. The ones I've seen have had more dodgy members than not.

Use DAFT/Myhome.ie (cost is minimal) and take enquiries by email only. You can tell a lot from emails. Use the name and/or email address to check out all social media platforms and Google.

Beware previous landlord references, easy to fake. Cross reference with rtb register where possible.

Asking what they work at is in danger of discrimination on employment status so be careful there. Instead ask people to tell you about themselves. Also put ban on pets (and I'd add no smokers) on ad

Shortlist from emails and meet a few people.

How long is it since the house was last let? Rents may have increased significantly in the area but you may be limited in the increase you can apply to your previous rent if the property is in a RPZ.

Use the online RPZ calculator to workout the maximum rent you can charge : https://www.rtb.ie/calculator/rpz

Check and ensure you are compliant with current tenancy legislation.

A very important point.

If the property is in an RPZ then the rent cannot increase by more than 2% per year pro rata, even if its a new tenancy. There is an exception to this rule if no tenancy existed in the property during the two years immediately prior to this current tenancy beginning.

Minor breakages are wear and tear, so you illegally kept the deposit.

OP I think you are about to get your first taste of why landlords are selling up at the moment :)

I 100% agree with you but I think plenty others would just be happy to get the place.

I have never rented in Ireland after my students days, but I get the feelings there's a disgraceful attitude towards tenants these days. I rented in a few other European countries over the past decade and never had the same impression.

Wow, OP, you sound like you dont understand how to let legally, ie in line with the legislation, I think you might be about to get stung, because you sound a bit clueless regarding tenant rights, that attitude rubs people up the wrong way. I used to be a landlord and I think certain aspects of current legislation is the origin and driver of problems in renting (not the only cause), but you have come across with a very poor attitude.

"I kept the entire deposit for some minor breakages and it would have cost more than the depost to fully clean the house after but I did most of it myself over the space of a month as I kept the house as my own quarantine pad. His company had no issues with non return of the deposit after."

For one, you cannot offset your own time in anyway against a deposit or anything, hence why it is better to pay people to do most work, if not all. So even if it would have cost more than the deposit to clean, BUT if you still did all the cleaning and decided to pocket the money leftover, I'd say that is illegal. You never mentioned how appaling the place was in your OP, in fact someone having a cleaner in regularily, well maybe they need that, seems likely they'd be fastidious, just strikes me as odd how great they were until you were justifying keeping the deposit. Thepersons medical condition that has a place so bad enables them to work at all?? Personally, I think you arent being entirely truthful, because, it doesnt add up. It makes no sense to clean an oven for a day, when you can get people in to do that job specifically for €50 and they are done and dusted in an hour and legitimately deduct from the deposit. Certainly not much more that €50, poor use of your own time, mainly it makes you seem like a cheapskate who profited off the deposit.

It's not about the "evil" landlords, it's about the landlords who don't know the basics of deposit retention reasons. You cannot claim your own time. And why DF would anyone spend a day cleaning an oven unless it is an AGA or something.

Maybe they don't have the €200 to spend on a cleaner because the taxman takes half the rent regardless of what their outgoings are, plenty of landlord's don't meet the mortgage due to taxes even with the high rents. Even €100 is a lot for people and having a asset doesn't that they have money.

That there is a problem with the law. You need to be able to chase someone for money they owe you or for damages to your property.

From our experience my advice would be to sell your property and invest your money somewhere. It is absolutely disgusting in this country what tenants can do and get away with and there is no protection for landlords. All it will take is one bad tenant and it could take you ten years to recoup your losses.

I will never forget a guy telling me before that if he had money to invest he'd buy land because there is only so much someone can do with a field.

Sell and run.

I have both land and houses. I would lean towards land. However it's a lot harder to leverage a land purchase. Banks are a lot more fussy about accounts and earning. After buying land you still need to invest in stock and maybe in facilities. Any decent sort of land purchase is 500 k+ for the first one to have economy of scale and stock investment after that. Return is 12-18 months + after that.

A house purchase could have you getting a return 60 days after purchase.

Is this a rule or convention? Is this set out in the RTB rules? I find Agas need very little cleaning as there is far less glass than a electric oven