Advice for renting a 2 bed

lafors

Alright guys, looking for some info on renting our 2 bed apartment as we're moving to our new house in June.

As I have never rented, I don't know what people are looking for/expect in rented accomodation. Hope I don't seem too naive

With regards rent, I would be hoping to get between €1400/1500.
The apartment is about 3 years old in Glasnevin, ground floor corner (no apartments connected directly to any side, except above), south facing, 2 bed, 1 is ensuite. I am going to leave it fully furnished, minus a TV.
We have 1 parking space in the underground car park with the apartment, I rent a second atm for 100 a month. I don't really want to pay for this if I leave, should I keep it?
We will obviously pay the management fee.

Would that be a reasonable price?
Anything that renters look for that I should have?
Also I'd prefer to rent to a couple not to two seperate people, would it be hard to get that rent from a couple?

gurramok

Try rent at the market rate for the area(same spec apt), simple as that if you want to get tenants in sooner.

Cantab.

lafors wrote: »

With regards rent, I would be hoping to get between €1400/1500.

A 2-bed for €1,500?

Is there something particularly special about your apartment?

subway

your certainly towards the high end for a 2 bed apt in glasnevin
http://www.daft.ie/searchrental.daft?s%5Bcc_id%5D=ct1&s%5Ba_id%5D=233&s%5Bmnp%5D=&s%5Bmxp%5D=&s%5Bbd_no%5D=2&refine=Refine&search=Search+%BB&s%5Bpt_id%5D=1&s%5Bmove_in_date%5D=0&s%5Blease%5D=&s%5Bfurn%5D=0&s%5Bsearch_type%5D=rental&s%5Btransport%5D=&s%5Badvanced%5D=&s%5Bprice_per_room%5D=&s%5Brefreshmap%5D=1

Diceicle

€1400 - 1500 would seem to be the top end for renting a 2 bed. With all the new apartments coming on to rent I think it would be difficult, though not impossible, to rent for that amount. €1200 - 1300 I think would make your apartment more desirable, 1400 - 1500 is alot of cash, I'd want one hell of an apartment for that.

lafors

subway wrote: »

your certainly towards the high end for a 2 bed apt in glasnevin
http://www.daft.ie/searchrental.daft?s%5Bcc_id%5D=ct1&s%5Ba_id%5D=233&s%5Bmnp%5D=&s%5Bmxp%5D=&s%5Bbd_no%5D=2&refine=Refine&search=Search+%BB&s%5Bpt_id%5D=1&s%5Bmove_in_date%5D=0&s%5Blease%5D=&s%5Bfurn%5D=0&s%5Bsearch_type%5D=rental&s%5Btransport%5D=&s%5Badvanced%5D=&s%5Bprice_per_room%5D=&s%5Brefreshmap%5D=1

Comparable to any of those.
From looking at them I'd say €1450 so.

Cantab what do you mean anything special? Not being sarcastic, would be interested to know what you'd expect for €1500? As I said I've never rented anywhere.

I suppose I'll see what I can get when I put it up.
I'll be defering the mortgage on it for 2 months anyway so that gives some time to play with.

Also what are people opinions on letting agents?
What type of fee's do they charge?

subway

prices there range from 1100 to 1600.
which one is yours comparable to, it cant be all of them.

for 1450 id expect 2 large bedrooms, large living area and separate kitchen
completly redecorated, new appliances, all modern applicances,
new high quality: living room suite / bathroom suite / bedroom suites.

im not being smart with you, but if you exepct to get it rented in the next 2 months and are charging around 25% more than every other 2 bed apt in glasnevin you really have to have, at least, a 25% better apartment.

mikemac

Ground floor is a negative, ok some people wouldn't mind but I would and so would most renters.

More liklehood of being broken into plus you could be unlucky and have everyone on a path outside looking in as they pass by. Or maybe I'm the only one worried about this

€1500 is lot.
Check your neighbourhood on daft. Maybe €1300 at most unless it's an exceptional apartment

The_Conductor

From Daft- mean rental price for 2 bed apartment in Glasnevin EUR1290, median EUR1200 per month.

Given that its ground floor- EUR1200, or even lower, would seem to be pretty much the going rate.

The EUR1500 and EUR1600 (2 examples from 11 on Daft) are both pristine penthouse apartments.

You might reasonably expect to get a little over the odds for special features:

-Penthouse apartment
-Multiple reception rooms
-Multiple en-suite bedrooms
-Secure car parking spaces
-Facilities/amenities out of the ordinary
-Particularly desireable location

etc.

lafors

subway wrote: »

for 1450 id expect 2 large bedrooms, large living area and separate kitchen
completly redecorated, new appliances, all modern applicances,
new high quality: living room suite / bathroom suite / bedroom suites.

Thats pretty much how I'd describe the apartment.
I'm leaving everything thats in it now, I've been living here for the past 3 years, all of it is in excellent condition, tastefully done, imho, not ott. All appliances are in built also theres a large storage area. Maybe I will keep on the 2nd parking space, most couples have 2 cars these days.

As for ground floor, there is no one who passes by us as we are the only apartment with a second direct entrance on the ground floor, all others have to use the front entrance. Theres our patio with a green area directly outside. I can see why some people would prefer not to on the ground floor, security wise but we've never had an issue.

Anyway I feel like I'm selling it to ye at this stage I think the best suggestion is to find out what others here are charging and go from there.

In fairness I'm only asking to see what people look for when they're renting, i.e. so I can make my place easier to rent.
From reading a good few threads it seems like most renters think landlords are always trying to pull one over on them.......we'd like to be the "nice" landlords

beeno67

lafors wrote: »

In fairness I'm only asking to see what people look for when they're renting, i.e. so I can make my place easier to rent.

I think that is the point of the posts so far. The most important thing by far is the price.

PopeBuckfastXVI

From my experience ground floor would mean at least a 10% reduction on an identical apartment on first floor or above.

If you are charging the same as an apartment that's not on the ground floor you will basically have to wait until all the other apartments are rented, before anyone looks at yours.

Price correctly and your apartment will rent.

Why not get rid of the second parking space and knock the 100 euros off the rent? Or even leave it as an optional extra... say 1200 with 1 parking space or 1300 with 2?

As an aside, are you sure you are cut out for this investment? You seem to be setting the price you hope to get and doing your maths accordingly, rather than investigating what the achievable rent is and then working out if it's a sound investment?

Don't forget to take into account void periods and maintenance.

The_Conductor

+ you don't get TRS on an investment property- and have to make an annual tax return declaring the income along with allowable costs and pay tax on the taxable income (most probably at the higher rate).

S.

bangersandmash

smccarrick wrote: »

From Daft- mean rental price for 2 bed apartment in Glasnevin EUR1290, median EUR1200 per month..

Comparing prices against current asking prices appearing on Daft is extremely important. But it's not quite as simple as taking the median for an entire area, particularly if it's a large and diverse area like Glasnevin. The exact location and the overall build quality of your apartment can make a reasonable difference.

Most of the 2 beds currently to let on that Daft link are in Premier Square which is essentially in Finglas - it's a new development facing onto the busy dual carriageway. There's an oversupply there, so if you're nearby you'll have to take that account. On the other hand there seems to be fewer apartments in the quieter, more settled residential parts of the area. It's important to try to estimate asking prices for your specific development, and undercut if necessary. As other will tell you here and elsewhere vacant periods will really cut into your profits, and the rental market is far weaker than it was last year.

groom

There is alot of supply of properties at the moment. If you try to get a premium rate of rent you might be waiting a while with a vacant property. You would be wise to price it accordingly and get someone in paying rent asap. It'll work out better for you in the long run

lafors

PopeBuckfastXVI wrote: »

Price correctly and your apartment will rent.

Why not get rid of the second parking space and knock the 100 euros off the rent? Or even leave it as an optional extra... say 1200 with 1 parking space or 1300 with 2?

As an aside, are you sure you are cut out for this investment? You seem to be setting the price you hope to get and doing your maths accordingly, rather than investigating what the achievable rent is and then working out if it's a sound investment?

Don't forget to take into account void periods and maintenance.

I'll take the parking idea into account, thanks.
As for the investment side, I'm not worried about the "maths" on that, my wife is an accountant and we've got our figures sorted, we've got the maintenance/fees/etc. set out, so once nothing too major pops up we'll be all good.

smccarrick wrote: »

+ you don't get TRS on an investment property- and have to make an annual tax return declaring the income along with allowable costs and pay tax on the taxable income (most probably at the higher rate).

S.

Yep know about this already, and yes it'll be at the higer rate....grrrrr

bangersandmash wrote: »

Comparing prices against current asking prices appearing on Daft is extremely important. But it's not quite as simple as taking the median for an entire area, particularly if it's a large and diverse area like Glasnevin. The exact location and the overall build quality of your apartment can make a reasonable difference.

Most of the 2 beds currently to let on that Daft link are in Premier Square which is essentially in Finglas - it's a new development facing onto the busy dual carriageway. There's an oversupply there, so if you're nearby you'll have to take that account. On the other hand there seems to be fewer apartments in the quieter, more settled residential parts of the area. It's important to try to estimate asking prices for your specific development, and undercut if necessary. As other will tell you here and elsewhere vacant periods will really cut into your profits.

This is exactly what I was thinking when I was looking at other 2 beds on daft. We would be in the older residential part of glasnevin (if you can't guess it now ) which is why I would look for higher than 1300 (i.e. 1400-1500)

Thanks for opinions so far, especially the ones on not leaving it vacant, 1 month empty could be more than dropping the price by 100 a month and renting it.
I'll suppose I'll let you know how much I get for it when we rent it out, hopefully July, depending on the signing of contracts for the house.

miju

micmclo wrote: »

More liklehood of being broken into

do you know statistically ground floor apartments are actually broken into the least.

you haven't said where the 2 bed apt is in glasnevin. we could all probably help you arrive at a fair rental price if you gave the rough area

bangersandmash

lafors wrote: »

This is exactly what I was thinking when I was looking at other 2 beds on daft. We would be in the older residential part of glasnevin (if you can't guess it now ) which is why I would look for higher than 1300 (i.e. 1400-1500).

It will make it somewhat easier to let if it's in that part. Although it might look reasonably close on the map, the older part is geographically quite separate to the Finglas end and doesn't have the same over-supply of new developments, has more amenities, bus routes and is a far more pleasant place to live tbh. But you'll still have to price your apartment aggressively. As you say it make more sense to drop the rent then to have vacant periods. Remember that what you're seeing on Daft are asking prices, it's quite possible that they'll have to go lower as summer approaches before they can get a tenant. And don't underestimate the amount of work you'll have to do once you find a tenant. Best of luck with it.

PopeBuckfastXVI

miju wrote: »

do you know statistically ground floor apartments are actually broken into the least.

That's interesting. Have you got a link to the study?

I'm interested to see if it's breakins per apartment type, or if it's because in any given building there's significantly less ground floor apartments than others.

EnoughSaid

Have you thought about selling the property? The reason I am asking is because there is a large oversupply of rental property at the moment so you may not be able to get the rent that you are asking for, and you may have long void periods which might renting this out not a good decision. If the large oversupply continues then rents could fall further and you could end up in a situation where the rent is much less than your mortgage! How long would you be prepared to subsidise tenants?

If the apartment is in very good condition, so you have to remember that no matter how good the tenant is...they never look after a rental property as good as they would if it were their own! Problem tenants do exist, they may ruin it, not pay the rent and/or steal the furniture! These types of tenants may be rare but they do exist and you should be aware of it.

You need to tell your insurance company that you are going to rent your apartment and this will increase your insurance premiums. Legally, in most cases, you should also inform your bank. The bank who are likely to increase your mortgage payments to a buy to let rate.

mikemac

miju wrote: »

do you know statistically ground floor apartments are actually broken into the least.

Yes, have you more info on this? I'm kinda suprised by this

yosser hughes

You will end up topping topping up the rent with your own money to pay the mortgage. I would sell for what you can get if I were you. Huge supply out there and rents are dropping accordingly. Don't forget to tell the revenue. Did you get a first time buyers grant?

lafors

yosser hughes wrote: »

You will end up topping topping up the rent with your own money to pay the mortgage. I would sell for what you can get if I were you. Huge supply out there and rents are dropping accordingly. Don't forget to tell the revenue. Did you get a first time buyers grant?

We understand we'll have to "top up" the rent with our own money to pay the mortgage, no problem with that. As for selling it, not interested in doing that at the moment, we had it valued recently and while it had increased by 18% in 3 years (I took 10k off the valuers figure) I doubt we'd get that at the moment, there are a lot of apartments around the city on the market at the minute, and personally I thinks its definitely a buyers markets, hence why we bought a house

We'll be doing it by the book alright, my wife can't be dodging revenue with her job

Got the first time buyers grant (I presume you mean we didn't pay stamp duty), luckily they fixed it in the last budget so we didn't have to wait 5 years before doing this (or else pay the stamp duty).

@miju, its in addison park.

Cantab.

lafors wrote: »

@miju, its in addison park

lafors wrote: »

Comparable to any of those.
From looking at them I'd say €1450 so.

Here's a non ground floor for €1,400

http://tinyurl.com/5j9xjk

For a ground floor, you'd be looking at €1,350 tops.

iguana

Cantab. wrote: »

Here's a non ground floor for €1,400

http://tinyurl.com/5j9xjk

For a ground floor, you'd be looking at €1,350 tops.

The best apartment I ever rented was groundfloor because it had a really big patio garden which was substantially bigger than the little balconies that the higher apartments had. The ability to have 50 people over for a barbeque far outweighed any advantage of being higher up, so groundfloor places aren't automatically less desirable. Many people prefer houses to apartments and houses start on the groundfloor to.

ronbyrne2005

Factor in the possibility of rents falling in future too. How would you cope with rents stuck at 1200euro or lower for several years? Selling now might be a good bet as I personally don't think prices for aprtments in Dublin will be any higher than they are now for many many years, and banks seem to think further falls are on cards as they wont lend at high ltv for aprtments. My friend bought a one bed in glasnevin/phibsboro for 254k in late 2004 and with inflation he would'nt even get that amount in real terms now. I live in Mobhi Road/Griffith ave and know area well but can see prices falling much further in all aprtment blocks in area. houses on my road are down 20+% and can't be sold after months on market. Undercutting all other 2beds in your development may entice a buyer now at a price you will be glad of in years to come.

Aninterpreter

beeno67 wrote: »

I think that is the point of the posts so far. The most important thing by far is the price.

100% true

Schuhart

miju wrote: »

do you know statistically ground floor apartments are actually broken into the least.

I'm similarly intrigued by this. I've found nothing via Google, apart from various home security sites seeming to confirm that ground floor apartments are more open to being broken into.

BigglesMcGee

Id go for a ground floor every time. I love them. Been in loads of them over the years and never had any problems. They are usually bigger too. Also great when you have your own door and not a sheraed common hall, which can get very tatty.

On security of ground floor
I never had a problem with security at all and none of the people living in the ground floors around me did either. With apartments it was the higher floors that got broken into. As a guard told me once, when i was talking about this very thing, the theif is usually let in the main door of the apartment and goes as high as they can as there are less people passing to disturb them and they can work away in safety. Once in, they just look like anyone else moving in our out of an apartment. They never do so, but People should call the police, whenever they see anyone carrying stuff out of an apartment. If they are innocent, no harm done. If not ......

On the rent thing.
We were looking for a place for our daughter and i can tell you we looked at some tips (2 were even in someones shed in their garden). We gladly paid the higher price for a decent place for her. Not all 2 beds in an area are the same value, so Daft is only a rough guide (as my feet can testify to). I suppose you need to compare it to like apartments in all aspects, rather than just location.

While i'm officialy in shock at the price of renting (Just read that rents have fallen 2%. Woopie doo, that really makes me happy. Not much of a fall, hardly worth the ink its written on if you ask me), i can understand why people come on here and try and get you to lower your rent, regardless of whether they know all the facts about your property. Because its in all our best interests for rent to come down.

Market rates mean market rates whatever way you look at it, so you'll have to rent for that, and people will just have to pay it. If they wont its not market rate. What your market rate is depends on exact location, condition etc

The only advice i can give you would be that you make the place very nice and kit it out to a high standard. I really am sick of walking into 2 places next door to each other for the same price and one is clearly a dump compared to the other one. Its shocking. Whats the world coming to.