Living in apartment, thinking of renting

Chicke

I live in a two bedroom apartment bought close enough to the height of the boom . We now have two 18 month twins and we are finding the stress of such a small living space impacting on our quality of life and contentment.
We calculated that we have six years before the negative equity is cleared so if we were to rent , it could take that length of time at current prices before we could sell . That is also assuming that we don't have increase in salaries etc .
Have many people out there rented as a family knowing that they could be renting for 6 years. Is it worth the uncertainty for the increased quality of life?
Thanks

edellc

I was never lucky enough to be able to afford a mortgage so we have rented all our lives. I have a young family and at present rent a house...tbh if you can afford to rent out your apartment which covers your mortgage and then rent a bigger place for you and the children then yes I would totally recommend it. Most rental contracts are for a year and if you rent your place out and rent a place out for yourselves, if it all doesnt work out then its only a year so no big deal and you can move back.

You cant predict the future and how finances are going to be but you can change and improve the quality of your life now and if having a bigger place means a happier place for you and the kids that would far outweigh staying put to me.

If you do plan on renting out your place please be aware of the obligations of landlords and what will need to be done on your behalf, but for a happy life it is well worth it

best of luck op

Chicke

Thank you edellc for that.
Can I ask you have you been given notice of having to move by landlords much or really has it been you that has been doin the moving when you wanted to? I am very nervous myself of the lack of security of being potentially kicked out after a year.I don't want to be house hopping indefinitely but would like to settle to one house if we like it.
Do you find landlords intrusive or difficult in general. I know they have obligations but you hear horror stories about them not fixing things or doing regular inspections and being hyper critical

daltonmd

Chicke wrote: »

I live in a two bedroom apartment bought close enough to the height of the boom . We now have two 18 month twins and we are finding the stress of such a small living space impacting on our quality of life and contentment.
We calculated that we have six years before the negative equity is cleared so if we were to rent , it could take that length of time at current prices before we could sell . That is also assuming that we don't have increase in salaries etc .
Have many people out there rented as a family knowing that they could be renting for 6 years. Is it worth the uncertainty for the increased quality of life?
Thanks

I have been renting with kids for about 7 years now, children in their teens now and I have honestly found that the things that you look for in a home change as the kids get older.
When I started renting the quality was very poor, it was the boom after all, I found it difficult to get a place that accepted pets , all that has changed thankfully.
I rent unfurnished as I never wanted the worry of other peoples furniture. It's also a great opportunity to live in areas where you might want to send your children to school.
I never thought I would end up renting for this long, but I can honestly say that given what happened I am very glad I did and feel lucky. The real issue is quality of life and being with the ones that you love.
You are a family unit first and foremost and at the end of the day it is irrelevant whether you rent or own. It took me a couple of years to get around to this way of thinking, but I rent a lovely home, in a lovely area where the kids are happy.

If you can afford to do it then I fully recommend it.

Good luck.

daltonmd

Chicke wrote: »

Thank you edellc for that.
Can I ask you have you been given notice of having to move by landlords much or really has it been you that has been doin the moving when you wanted to? I am very nervous myself of the lack of security of being potentially kicked out after a year.I don't want to be house hopping indefinitely but would like to settle to one house if we like it.
Do you find landlords intrusive or difficult in general. I know they have obligations but you hear horror stories about them not fixing things or doing regular inspections and being hyper critical

As a tenant you have more rights now. When you are looking for a rental ask these questions yourself. Ask if he/she has any intention to sell in the near future. I have found that landlords, in the main are ok but you can be unlucky so check out as much as you can by asking them. You should also know by looking at properties, for example, if you look at a property and there are obvious issues that the landlord should have sorted before showing if he says "I'll sort it" say no thanks.

The amount of people who move in, with obvious problem and believe this is really amazing.
Check out for damp, Make sure showers/heating works, ask the landlord to turn them on. Check fridge by opening the door (you'd be amazed), run showers, flush toilets.

Don't be afraid to go through a property with a fine toothcomb, if you are dealing with an agent insist on the landlords contact details and PPS, this seperatesthose who are not registered with the PRTB - ask for a BER cert and do not move in until you have one, this is a legal obligation.

If an agent/landlord supplies these things then you have some comeback if there are issues down the road. Take nothing to chance, take no-ones word, get it all legal and above board.

edellc

When ever I have moved it has always been me that has made that choice to leave for various reasons, some places have been in bad condition, but certain issues you really dont know about until you move in, like damp they can paint over it so it looks okay but once your in it starts to come back as it has not been dealt with properly, but the majority of places are decent enough.

When you go for a viewing as said dont be afraid to open cupboards, fridges wardrobes, if you can bring your own furniture then thats great as most rentals have crap furniture unless your paying in the top end, and its nice to have your own bed and mattress.

Landlords well I have had a few and none of them worth the money they get tbh, but as long as you pay monthly via bank transfer they wont bother you much, if you do have an issue with something and they are slow or just wont do it then you have threshold to help you along the way, Landlords are not allowed to enter your property without prior notice and only at a time that suits you, so no need to worry about them sitting down with you to eastenders and making a cuppa they are not allowed, if something breaks again most are ok about getting it fixed, I think what the rule of thumb is, the quality of the property if it is looked after, decorated nicely and clean when you view it then the landlord will want to look after the properties upkeep whereas if its a bit scruffy and walls need a paint well then you know the landlord is a bit lazy about stuff and it will be an effort to get it done.

If you are looking on daft try avoid dubinrental.ie they take the biscuit for appalling agents and the little dealings I have had with them they are cowboys as are the landlords they work for

Graces7

Always learn your rights as tenants before signing anything.

And always ask and ask and ask.

We had six moves in as many years and always it was the things we did not ask that caught us out.

We prefer rural and private places which carry more unusual risks. And it is what the LL does not tell you,, eg that the driveway and front yard are regularly used to gather in cattle for market by the man who rents the surrounding fields... Wayleave they called it.

Or that your water supply and power are used for their sheep/cattle so the ll needs in and out.

Or that there was an old right of way past the door and an old man would kick up a fuss...

Ignore also promises of work to do; especially garden maintenance. Get what is needful etc before you sign and move.

If it is an old family home make sure no one is about to want it.

One aspect often forgotten is that renting pays when maintenance/repairs are involved. So if the washing machine etc breaks, he has to repair/replace, and the same with structural stuff.

This is a major reason I changed from owning to renting. Costs of repairs and the difficulty of getting them done in Ireland.

And good luck indeed.

Chicke

We are financially ok and have a financial buffer to deal with the unknowable .As a last resort , we can always move back .it is not an income issue we have, it is a capital issue , in that we have this huge liability on our household balance sheet.
My concern is the quality of rental stock as you are mentioning Grace. To me the idea of moving once a year for six years would eliminate any benefit of moving. However, you did say that it was you that did all the moving.
Is there anyway you could bring someone savvy or professional to look at the house to see that it is ok.
The houses we would be looking are in Dublin. They are lovely . They have been very well constructed and I know lots of people who have bought.It is these houses that we would hope to buy when our negative equity goes down

Sleepy

Have you talked to your bank about carrying your negative equity into a new mortgage for a more suitable home? There's a few of them offering these types of loans at present.

Personally, I've had fairly mixed experiences of landlords but usually more about them being slow to sort our repairs etc rather than them looking to move us out. I'd have thought in this climate most landlords would be only too happy to sign a 3 year lease after the satisfactory completion of an initial 6 month / 1 year lease.

daltonmd makes a good point about being able to rent in areas you couldn't afford to buy. I've rented in Clontarf for the almost 3 years at this stage and quite honestly, there's not a bank in the world that would touch me for a mortgage right now (nor should they tbh!) but even if they would, the multiple of my salary that'd be required to buy in this area would be insane.

Graces7

Chicke wrote: »

We are financially ok and have a financial buffer to deal with the unknowable .As a last resort , we can always move back .it is not an income issue we have, it is a capital issue , in that we have this huge liability on our household balance sheet.
My concern is the quality of rental stock as you are mentioning Grace. To me the idea of moving once a year for six years would eliminate any benefit of moving. However, you did say that it was you that did all the moving.
Is there anyway you could bring someone savvy or professional to look at the house to see that it is ok.
The houses we would be looking are in Dublin. They are lovely . They have been very well constructed and I know lots of people who have bought.It is these houses that we would hope to buy when our negative equity goes down

We were very unlucky indeed, in that four of those moves were due to bad lls and also to my health issues.
Remember too that we are at the bottom of the housing ladder as we need Rent Allowance and are very limited.

The last two moves ... one was due to flooding due to diggers nearby shaking the foundations so this was an emergency and little time to sort out a better place. Then the ****** decided to come home from abroad and tried to evict us. There were other issues there too re the state of the house. Which we had tried to get fixed and now would deal with better

This time I am wiser and as we had to take the place unseen due to distance, we are dealing far better with issues here.

NB here almost two years now and hoping to be here this next Christmas too.. I got ribbed rotten last year about being here TWO Christmasses.

This house is not and will not be needed by a family member which is another pitfall in Ireland.

It needs work but we will get to that if need be later.

For me, it is the garden that makes the rest worthwhile.

If you have professional friends eg builders, get them to inspect with you by all means. and as edellc says, open cupboards, look under mattresses, check doors etc.

Anything that seems out of kilter, get it checked

Don't take anyone else's word on anything either.

No harm in looking and inspecting a few either.

Good luck and blessings and peace