Advice re First time renter etc

chillywilly

I'll give you a little background info. Im 23, starting second year of a business degree course in September. I also work for myself which is where my income is coming from. I'm thinking of moving out of my parents house before the end of the year, and moving into a 2/3 bedroom apartment or house with my girlfriend, my best friend and his girlfriend. All three are in full time employment.

It would be myself and my girlfriends first time renting but my friend and his girlfriend have lived together before. I have a couple of queries about the situation.

Firstly, would the landlord look unfavourably on us because myself and my girlfriend have no rent experience/references? Especially on myself because I have no employer either?

Secondly, the apartment we are looking at is really a nice penthouse apartment but surprisingly affordable. It's been on the market for a while now and wondering is this because of the recession or because the landlord is picky about who he/she wants to live there? Im wondering would the landlord prefer older couples in there 30's/40's as opposed to 2 couples in their early 20's, one of which is a full time student! We want to live there to enjoy each others company and enjoy living on our own, not for partying...i would not like to live in a party house! I just think the landlord mught get that impression because we are young and i am a student!

This obviously varies from landlord to landlord but wanted to hear of peoples experience if they had any.

Thanks!:)

Danbo!

Is it surprisingly affordable for a penthouse or in general? A landlord cant be picky in these times, so maybe its due to lack of interest in the place that its still available.

If your friend and his girlfriend have refs from previous landlord, your girlfriend has one from work and you say you are self-employed rather than full time student I dont think there should be a problem.

starfish12

I was renting in Dublin for 4-5 years and we found it difficult for 'fancier' places to consider students, most won't, however the fact that your group is a mixture and couples could be in your favour. It might be worth your while to ask the other couple to be the point of contact with the landlord, most prefer to have 1 or 2 people to deal with rather than a bigger group, makes life easier for everyone.

Most landlords I've rented from actually were more concerned with a statement of employment from my employer at the time rather than references from previous landlords.

chillywilly

Stee wrote: »

Is it surprisingly affordable for a penthouse or in general? A landlord cant be picky in these times, so maybe its due to lack of interest in the place that its still available.

If your friend and his girlfriend have refs from previous landlord, your girlfriend has one from work and you say you are self-employed rather than full time student I dont think there should be a problem.

I think for the specs of the apartment and in comparison to smaller, less attractive aprtments the price is good! Works out at around 110-130 a week which I think is pretty good!

I agree with you about not mentioning the full time student thing, it does sound a lot better to say self employed! I wonder would it reflect bad on me if they found out I was a full time student.....on the other hand if im paying them and I'm not wrecking the place they have no need to be worried!

Thanks for the reply!

chillywilly

starfish12 wrote: »

I was renting in Dublin for 4-5 years and we found it difficult for 'fancier' places to consider students, most won't, however the fact that your group is a mixture and couples could be in your favour. It might be worth your while to ask the other couple to be the point of contact with the landlord, most prefer to have 1 or 2 people to deal with rather than a bigger group, makes life easier for everyone.

Most landlords I've rented from actually were more concerned with a statement of employment from my employer at the time rather than references from previous landlords.

Yes asking my friends to deal with the landlords would cut out a lot of my worries.....Since im a student and self employed, what kind of documents could I give the landlord if he asked?!

Cathmandooo

I wouldn't worry at all about the lack of references. If your friends have previous landlord references then you should be fine. Get a reference from your bank to say you're in a good financial position to pay such a rent.

The place has probably been vacant a while because the asking rent was too high so I'm sure the landlord is thrilled to get renters in now. He would be very stupid to knock ye back.

Make sure you check the place out thoroughly before committing to anything. Then when you're in take photographs of the place, particularly any parts that might have wear and tear so you have proof that it wasn't done by you and any further wear and tear is natural.

Make sure the rent isn't too high though, 130 a week for 4 people would work out around €2,000 per month? It would want to be a pretty spacious place for that.

chillywilly

Cathooo wrote: »

I wouldn't worry at all about the lack of references. If your friends have previous landlord references then you should be fine. Get a reference from your bank to say you're in a good financial position to pay such a rent.

The place has probably been vacant a while because the asking rent was too high so I'm sure the landlord is thrilled to get renters in now. He would be very stupid to knock ye back.

Make sure you check the place out thoroughly before committing to anything. Then when you're in take photographs of the place, particularly any parts that might have wear and tear so you have proof that it wasn't done by you and any further wear and tear is natural.

Make sure the rent isn't too high though, 130 a week for 4 people would work out around €2,000 per month? It would want to be a pretty spacious place for that.

hmm, my bank Halifax is closing so i have just opened a new bank account so i dont know about getting a letter from my new bank! Hopefully i'll be ok with my friends references!

I just checked out the rent, it's 1800 for that particular apartment....which is a 3 bedroom. If i was to go for that apartment i would try to negotiate down as there is no harm in trying! I plan on living with 3 others but it would be useful to have a 3rd bedroom incase we wanted to rent that one out.

Idbatterim

Op could I ask where in dublin this property is located?

Cathmandooo

chillywilly wrote: »

hmm, my bank Halifax is closing so i have just opened a new bank account so i dont know about getting a letter from my new bank! Hopefully i'll be ok with my friends references!

I just checked out the rent, it's 1800 for that particular apartment....which is a 3 bedroom. If i was to go for that apartment i would try to negotiate down as there is no harm in trying! I plan on living with 3 others but it would be useful to have a 3rd bedroom incase we wanted to rent that one out.

I hope you can negotiate the rent down, €1800 is still fairly high.

Don't count on being able to sublet the 3rd bedroom, I know my own lease prohibits me from subletting.

4 people in one place is more than enough anyway, you'll possibly be on top of each other as it is.

chillywilly

Cathooo wrote: »

I hope you can negotiate the rent down, €1800 is still fairly high.

Don't count on being able to sublet the 3rd bedroom, I know my own lease prohibits me from subletting.

4 people in one place is more than enough anyway, you'll possibly be on top of each other as it is.

Ye i agree 4 is more than enough, i was just thinking that is we really needed the extra income that sub-letting might come in handy. But point taken about not being able to sub-let.

I would have thought 1800 was fair basing it on the amount of bedrooms and how much it works out between 4 people p/w - €112. What price would you think is fair based on the information?

I like to think im quite good at negotiating so that wont be a problem

Georgio_77

1800 for a 3-bedroom apartment is way too much, in my opinion. You can rent a 3-bedroom house for a 1000 these days.

Cathmandooo

chillywilly wrote: »

Ye i agree 4 is more than enough, i was just thinking that is we really needed the extra income that sub-letting might come in handy. But point taken about not being able to sub-let.

I would have thought 1800 was fair basing it on the amount of bedrooms and how much it works out between 4 people p/w - €112. What price would you think is fair based on the information?

I like to think im quite good at negotiating so that wont be a problem

It would very much depend on the property how much it would rent for. But at the end of the day it's your money and if the place is comfortably big enough for 4 people then go for it and hopefully you can knock a couple of hundred off it.

chillywilly

Cathooo wrote: »

It would very much depend on the property how much it would rent for. But at the end of the day it's your money and if the place is comfortably big enough for 4 people then go for it and hopefully you can knock a couple of hundred off it.

thanks for the replies! Gave me things to think about!

the_syco

chillywilly wrote: »

I plan on living with 3 others but it would be useful to have a 3rd bedroom incase we wanted to rent that one out.

People don't like living with a couple, as it'll be often "them and you", so someone living with two couples... may not be feasible. Also, you must consider if it's possible, space wise. Are there three double rooms with ensuites, etc, or what? For example, if there's one kitchen, one sitting room, and two couples, the person subletting him may find it uncomfortable when trying to do stuff like change the TV channel. Finally, how many parking spaces come with the apartment? Consider that whoever sublets may have a car, how does that fit in?

Finally, where in Dublin? Are we talking East Wall, Smithfield, what?

Hope it ain't this place in Dublin 1. Maybe a penthouse in Dublin 2 or a penthouse in Dublin 4. Maybe an apartment in Smithfield, Dublin 7 or this place in Dublin 14. I know it's not the house in D4, but it doesn't look that bad.

What I'm saying is that €1800 in some places can get you a nice place, but in others, you're paying for the location, and you get a small bathroom. As you've never rented with anyone, I ask you this: how big is your family, and how easy was it to work out a bathroom schedule to suit ye all? Now think of people who are not family.

chillywilly

the_syco wrote: »

People don't like living with a couple, as it'll be often "them and you", so someone living with two couples... may not be feasible. Also, you must consider if it's possible, space wise. Are there three double rooms with ensuites, etc, or what? For example, if there's one kitchen, one sitting room, and two couples, the person subletting him may find it uncomfortable when trying to do stuff like change the TV channel. Finally, how many parking spaces come with the apartment? Consider that whoever sublets may have a car, how does that fit in?

Finally, where in Dublin? Are we talking East Wall, Smithfield, what?

Hope it ain't this place in Dublin 1. Maybe a penthouse in Dublin 2 or a penthouse in Dublin 4. Maybe an apartment in Smithfield, Dublin 7 or this place in Dublin 14. I know it's not the house in D4, but it doesn't look that bad.

What I'm saying is that €1800 in some places can get you a nice place, but in others, you're paying for the location, and you get a small bathroom. As you've never rented with anyone, I ask you this: how big is your family, and how easy was it to work out a bathroom schedule to suit ye all? Now think of people who are not family.

Well the apartment we were looking at now seems unlikely as my girlfriend now wants to bring her dog with her!! So looks like we will be going for a house. As I said, I dont want to live with more than the four of us and now realise that sub-letting is probably a no-no.

Here is the link to the apartment we were thinking of.....

4 bathrooms, 3 double bedrooms ensuite.....looked pretty sweet to me but my girlfriend insists on bringing her dog:P

http://www.daft.ie/searchrental.daft?id=881863

Nice ey?

Cathmandooo

chillywilly wrote: »

Well the apartment we were looking at now seems unlikely as my girlfriend now wants to bring her dog with her!! So looks like we will be going for a house. As I said, I dont want to live with more than the four of us and now realise that sub-letting is probably a no-no.

Here is the link to the apartment we were thinking of.....

4 bathrooms, 3 double bedrooms ensuite.....looked pretty sweet to me but my girlfriend insists on bringing her dog:P

http://www.daft.ie/searchrental.daft?id=881863

Nice ey?

Very nice place

A house can be an advantage, think of the bbq's out the back garden. There's a good few houses around that area, not as plush as the apartment, but much cheaper and more suited to your requirements.

chillywilly

Cathooo wrote: »

Very nice place

A house can be an advantage, think of the bbq's out the back garden. There's a good few houses around that area, not as plush as the apartment, but much cheaper and more suited to your requirements.

To be honest that apartment is so nice it really inspired me to move:D

Ye there is definitely positives to having a house....more space, garden for the dog, bbq's etc! I just saw that apartment and really wanted to live there

Im from that area so I know where to look anyway!!

Idbatterim

I emailed Landmark Properties about this property several weeks back and thought Id test the waters and put in an offer of E1600. The response...

"Thank you for your interest. The rent is 1850pm for this absolutely exceptional property. Your suggested rent would not be acceptable. If you would like to view the property please let us know. Landmark Properties"

The property has been on the market for ages at this stage, it is an absolute bargain for what your getting, compare it to some of the other 3 beds apt's in the other D.14,16 & 18 areas!

the_syco

Did an advanced search of Daft, of
Anywhere in Dublin
Max rent €1,800
Pets allowed (for the dog)
3 bedrooms
House to let
Photos only (most places with no photo's have a tendency to be holes)

3 Bedrooms (1 single, 2 double), 1 Bathroom
Drumcondra, €1,600
http://www.daft.ie/2905044

I then added "parking" to the advanced search, in case you have a car, and set the bedrooms to at least two doubles, and got 61 matches.

/edit
I put "ensuite" into the "Property description" box, and got 6 places. Since there's two couples, having more than one bathroom may be a good idea. http://www.daft.ie/2896675 in Stepaside D18, has three bathrooms for €1,400 and may suite you if you're going to UCD. Seems to be in a cul-de-sac. 52 minutes walk to the nearest Luas, though (10 minutes by car, but dunno where'd you park the car).

=-=

As for the dog: why is she bringing it, and how are the other couple with the dog? Also, where are you doing the course? No point in getting a nice house one side of Dublin, if your college is at the other side.