Daft and renting

delanest

Whats up with renting a place these days. I'm looking to rent for the first time. I have been searching on daft and every place either doesn't reply or the property is already gone. I tried ringing one just there that was advertised 2 hours ago and it was gone!

Is it really a sellers market now when it comes to renting ?

hunnymonster

ggggh, don't say that. I've got to start looking at the end of this month and I'm not looking forward to it.

miju

delanest wrote:

Is it really a sellers market now when it comes to renting ?

yes and rents will temporarily rise as a result

reason is simply all the "investment" properties have gone on the market at the same time to try and get out before any crash which has led to the massive build up on unsold housing inventory currently on the market

good new though is when the majority fail to sell and come back on the market rents should drop again

kinaldo

I advertised for 3 rooms on daft.ie last Saturday and as soon as the add went up my phone wouldn't stop ringing. I must have taken over 50 replies since then. 13 people viewed the rooms on Sunday so I had no trouble filling them. Great site but I can imagine it's much more difficult if you're looking for a place in Dublin these days.

whizzbang

Checkout daftwatch to see the number of places for rent, rentals slumped over Christmas but are going backup again.
http://daftwatch.atspace.com/

connundrum

And here's me trying to get rid of a room for the last 4+ days! Rent day is next Monday so I've to get someone in asap.

Its unbelievably hard to find people who either have a job for 3+ months, have a reference from a previous landlord and/or have a good enough level of English for me to be able to speak to them properly, get a sense of who they are and if I can trust em!

Bah

Stinkerbelle

I'm looking at the moment for a 1 Bed Apt in Dublin City Centre and am finding it a nightmare. NEVER get replies to emails then if I call there's already 'open viewings' at one time and that time only, if you can't make it tough luck. Have seen a couple of absolute holes and places we did like we missed out on. It's all so disheartening and stressfull.

Paulj

I'm looking to share a place in south dublin at the moment (near Milltown). I've already viewed 10 places. One place said i could take it but room was too small. Most places were suitable but there must be around 20 people viewing each one...meaning the odds are really against you! Has anyone any suggestions on how to improve my chances?
Perhaps daft.ie is too well known? Maybe there are smaller letting agencies that would be able to sort me out?

Is it easier to let a whole appartment or to rent a room in someone elses place?

Anyway, if this continues i'll have to move out further out of the city and get a car, which i dont want to do but it may be my only choice! :rolleyes:

Its sooooo disheartening

hmmm

Every year rentals fall dramatically over Christmas but pick up again about now. Have you been looking long?

Paulj

i've been looking since mid december and have seen about 10 places since then...there's no shortage of places it seems, the problem is that the demand is massive. Maybe its just in these areas that i'm searching that the demand is so high? (ranelagh, rathmines, milltown, clonskeagh, goatstown, donneybrook)

antoinolachtnai

If you want to rent a room in an area where there is a lot of demand:

- give information about yourself on your email (what you are working at/studying, boy/girl, how long you've been in dublin, how long you're going to be around, anything else that might be relevant). Try and make yourself sound a bit interesting is my advice.

- remember, you are selling yourself. At least in some areas, it's a landlord's market to get a flat or even a room.

- follow the instructions on the ad exactly

- be nice

- ask some questions about the place and the people you are moving in with, when you get to the place. try to at least pretend you are a little bit concerned about things like sharing housework and bills.

- be rational. don't offer to outbid the other people interested if you can't afford to even put down the deposit. (Seen it done, had to explain to them why this wasn't a good idea ...)

I put an ad in on daft.ie for a room in D2 in September. Over four days, I got about 200 replies. (Have another room coming up soon ... did I say that ...?)

Dudess

Finding rented accommodation on your own in Dublin is absolutely SH!T!!! I'd recommend, if the option is on offer, to send a very detailed and glowing (without being boastful) email about yourself. But telephone too. I know this sounds superficial but I really think you should look your best when going for a viewing. If you look scruffy and unwashed, it could affect your chances. Of course it doesn't necessarily mean you are a person who has an aversion to hygiene but those at the place you're viewing might make assumptions (only human nature, I suppose). It's sh!t that it has to be like a job interview but, unfortunately, that's the way the cookie crumbles when you're up against so many others. Relax and be friendly when you meet the potential housemates. Don't make the mistake of assuming that you have the room just because they're really friendly to you. This could manifest itself in the form of you making a comment to that effect, such as "and would I pay the rent at the end or the start of the month" - something like that, which might put off the potential housemates. While you certainly shouldn't come across as a spineless wimp, you can't come across as someone who's confident they've got the place.
Finally, in my experience, properties on the northside tended to have less people viewing them than on the southside. Southside properties practically had queues out the door - places like Rathmines and Portobello. Whereas, what I would consider their northside equivalent - Phibsborough, Drumcondra, Glasnevin, North Circular Road - appeared to have less viewers. I don't know why this is. I suppose the whole "southside is better than northside" nonsense.:rolleyes: So be open-minded when going hunting.
Unfortunately, there are no guarantees. I went to view an apartment in Cork Street last summer. Made sure I looked reasonably well (without getting dolled up), had a long chat with the girl (owner-occupier), got on well with her, had loads in common with her - same age, background etc. Gave all the signals that I'm a decent, friendly, easy-going person. Texted her a couple of days later to say I was still interested, response was "I've decided to let it to a friend of a friend". I went into Daft and saw that she had renewed the ad. So people can be remarkably fussy too, but don't feel dejected. It's not personal. And you will find somewhere. It may take a while but hang in there!

WUSBDesign

A couple of my friends are complaining about difficulties in getting a rented place in Blanchardstown. Must be the big multi-nationals there hiring like mad....?

Paulj

thanks for the advice guys, methinks i need to make further efforts!

Stinkerbelle

Well I went to view a 1 bed on Friday in Dublin 2 and there must've been at least 20 couples there ahead of us, I've never tried to rent in town and am being told this is the norm. It really knocked me for six!

Raekwon

Yeah, very true, renting in Dublin is unbelievably difficult, especially around the more popular locations ie: city centre or southside.
I have been very lucky with the last couple of places that I have rented. Both viewings had queues of people but, learning from experience, I did my best to be a standout potential tenant. Basically, all I did I was bring two printed references (current employer & previous landlord) and a bank statement (to my surprise I was one of the only people at the viewing to have these).
It is sad that looking for rented accommodation has now turned into a job interview style process, but that is just the way it is now unfortunately. The best thing you can do is be prepared when going to viewings and make sure that you make a positive impression on the agent/landlord.

Good luck!

ixoy

We were advertising a place about six months ago and yes, we got a lot of calls but it was still difficult to find someone we thought would be suitable.

For example, some people would cancel a couple of times - that's a terrible impression to give when there's a lot of interest in a place. Those people were duly crossed off.

Another girl, when viewing, asked could she have one of the other rooms rather than the advertised room (it was bigger). This was after making comments about how her boyfriend would be very unhappy and jealous about her living with three blokes. Despite her disinterest in the room, she wouldn't bugger off until we practically told her to go.

Some brought along their friends to the "interview" - wouldn't recommend this. It makes it harder to approach the person and find out what they'd be like to live with.

After that, it was done by determing how they'd fit in. Personal appearance was noted but we we cared more about personality and their personal interests.

We didn't care too much for references (we weren't landlords as such, just looking for a co-tenant) but, on the job front we did note that if they were young professionals as well, that working regular hours is in our favour. If you're doing late shift work you're more likely to disrupt others by coming in at odd hours. Just a thought.

bugler

I think there's a distinction to be made here between looking to rent a room and looking to rent an actual apartment. The approaches and requirements are very different. I haven't ever had too much of a problem getting a room in the past. If you're an affable enough person and make the effort then you're in with a shout. Mind you I don't know if there's ever been masses of people looking at the same room.

Looking for a place of my own with my girlfriend - well I had the misfortune to experience this back in September / October of last year. It was a complete nightmare. There were dozens of people looking at almost all places. One place in Dundrum (a one bed) must have had 40 people through it. Had I known there'd be that many I'd never have bothered going in the first place - it was a lottery.

I had good references with me too. But so did probably 5/6 other candidates, so there's pot luck needed as well.

I was in the fortunate position of having a job where I could look at daft all day and check the alerts right away. I rang several places 1/2 minutes after the ad being posted, but even then I must have seen 11/12 places before I got somewhere to live. Bizarrely enough, there was only maybe one apartment I didn't like and even that wasn't a hole.

Don't even bother emailing about the place unless it expressly tells you to. It's hard enough to get estate agents to respond to your calls never mind emails (I must have left messages about 10/12 other properties and never got the call back. It was usually "We're waiting for the keys". "The current tenant is sick" was another one. etc etc)

All the while going through this I was hearing about falling rents and how some landlords were dropping their rents for current tenants threatening to leave for fear they wouldn't get anyone to take their place.

Dublin is teeming with people right now. I think a property has to be A) horribly over-priced AND an utter ****hole to fail to be let currently. If it's only one of the above someone will take it anyway.

Stinkerbelle

Bugler that's EXACTLY what we're going through at the mo. We've seen 10 places so far, most have been with the actual owners as opposed to an agency. I have a good job, well presented etc. etc. but I just can't help thinking they're going for the more mature librarian types (to generalise). ie. whoever seems like the 'safest bet' as it's their own place. Another place we saw yesterday evening said they would only consider 'mature couples'. (We're both 27)

A fantastic place we saw today was good enough to leave the viewing to three people, but basically told me he'd decide it on who had the 'better' job, whatever his definition, knowing my luck, both are probably Judges.