Moving to Galway from abroad, some questions about renting

Cresskit

Due to a new job, my husband, two small children and I will be moving to Galway this summer. We're currently living elsewhere in Europe and don't really know much about how the rental market works in Ireland/Galway, so we'd appreciate any tips and information.

HR at the new job gave us some limited info, which we believe to be outdated/inaccurate (look in the Galway Advertiser for rental listings, you'd better start looking now if you want to find something available for July 1).

So here are our more specific questions:

*If we want to find a rental starting July 1, when would you suggest looking? How far in advance are listings usually placed? My husband plans to travel to Ireland to arrange accomodation for us prior to the actual move. He has the option of going either in the second week of April, the last week of May, or anytime in June to do so. Which of these times would be best to go?

*Is there a rental season in Galway City? Will it be easy or hard to find something that starts July 1? Would we have more luck, for instance, finding a place starting June 1?

*Do rental prices typically include certain utilities, or are all utility costs extra?

*How easy/hard is it to find family-appropriate rental accomodation in the city?

*How would you go about conducting a rental search from abroad, if you were us? Do renters use letting agencies in Ireland? Like, would you make an appointmet to go to a letting agency and ask them to show you all of their appropriate listings? If so, can anyone recommend a good agency that we might want to use?

Thanks so much for any input you might have!

01902

Hi.

The web site to check out is daft.ie everything is on there. If you go to an agent then the standard response I found in Ireland is everything is on daft! No effort to sell anything. Anyway, bills not included unless said so on advert. You would want a month or so before to come look, check areas out etc but seems to be view house and available imidatly unless said on advert. Im sure you wouldn't but never take a place just based on photo and adverts if you do you could get a nasty shock.

Just as a warning the traffic can be crazy in Galway for a commute. I have lived in Galway 3years now and it is an amazing place to live, best in Ireland by far!

ben.schlomo

Agree with most of the above post. I'll add that the family accommodation will be in one of the suburbs on the East or West side of the city, make your choice based on where the job is as you dont wanna be spending all evening in traffic across the city. A month should be plenty of time to find a place.

Mrs OBumble

Are you look for an executive-type home, or something more modest? The reason I'm asking is that the Galway rental market is actually quite tight at the moment, and if you're looking for a particular quality, then starting to look sooner might be recommended.

And I'd say that the place to look is www.daft.ie AND the Galway Advertiser (google it, their classified listings are on-line too). Unlike some places, Galway's print media is still worth a look for this sort of stuff.

The rental season is based around the college year, so it's more difficult to find places in August - October. This has less affect at the top end of the market. But July is the tourist high season. So if you don't manage to find a house immediately and decide to take a very short-term apartment as an interim step, then expect to pay a lot for that.

If you tell us what location your husand's job will be in, we can perhaps suggest some areas of the city that will make commuting sense.

Also, are the children old enough for you to be thinking about schools? That could impact your thinking, if you want to get then into particular ones.

Good luck.

ladiesman217

Hi Cresskit

As others have said Daft.ie is your best bet.
I nave been renting for about 15 years in Galway and have moved around a lot in that period.
Students will be looking for accommodation during the summer months and these are your competition as such.
What you constitute as suitable dwellings for you and your family may not be on par with a bunch of students which
may help to narrow your focus. Don't be afraid to try Athenry for accommodation, there is a new daily bus service
that brings you straight into the city centre, thats if your not driving. The bus journey is around 40-45 mins, a car
journey from Athenry town is around 30mins. The house prices are about €150 -€200 cheaper then the city.

A few bits of info when dealing with landlords and viewing house:

> Always sign a lease, this keeps everything above board.

> Try and stay away from houses that have storage heating, the heating bills form these can be eye watering

> Since 2009 a BER rating for a rented house has been a compulsory rule by law, so seek proof of this.
If its anything lower then C1 you'll probably better of in a tent.

> Also when handing over any deposits, alway gets a receipts.

> What I found from renting is landlords will do ALL their buying in second hand stores, buying beds, sofas and most other
household furnitures. Its very rare that you will see brand new furniture in rented houses. Just watch out for beds frames and mattresses
these tend to be second hand and not suitable for growing children and anyone else.

That just a few tips, others on the thread may add more.

Best of luck with it
ps hope your coming from somewhere hot in Europe, you might bring the sun with you. Hot summers in Galway are great

kraggy

Hey Cresskit,

Welcome to the Galway forum.

2 questions will really help us give you advice.

1. Where is the job?
2. How much can you spend on rent per month?


Then we will be able to give you better advice.

Cresskit

Thanks so much for the replies so far!

To answer a few questions:

1) The children are very young, so we're not yet concerned about proximity to schools. This also means we aren't necessarily looking for a place with a lot of space or a garden or anything yet (we could do a 2 bedroom flat in a pinch, though we're looking for something with 3); other things, like proximity to useful shops, etc. are a bigger priority.

2) Work will be NUIG. We will not have a car, so we'll either need to be within reasonable walking distance OR in a place with easy/fast/reliable public transport to campus.

3) We're hoping to find something for under 1200/month (and cheaper is, of course, better!) with reasonable utility bills

Seaneh

Well if you're in NUIG somewhere like this would be pretty much perfect for you.

http://www.daft.ie/searchrental.daft?id=1278270

Cheshire Cat

In that case have a look at Knocknacarra, Newcastle, Rahoon or Shantalla. They are all on the 'right' side of the river and you can walk and/or take a bus to NUIG. We are in Knocknacarra and my husband takes the bus o NUIG. Every now and again he walks and it takes him just under 30 minutes.

Mrs OBumble

Without a car, and with small children, your biggest challenge will be supermarket shopping. I'd recommend Tesco on-line.

For info about buses to NUIG, see the university neighbourhood map and look at the surrounding neighbourhoods too.

Seaneh

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Without a car, and with small children, your biggest challenge will be supermarket shopping. I'd recommend Tesco on-line.

This is good advice.
It's also worth look around Fr. Griffin Road/Fr. Burke Road areas and the rest of The Cladagh as you'd be walking distance to a pretty big supervalu, which is grand for pretty much everything.

jewelstar

Maybe something in Dun Na Coiribe on the Headford Road would also be an option, given the time of year you are looking there should be places available. Close to the University and Tesco/Dunnes. 3 beds are usually around the 850-1200 depending on quality and you have the option of houses or apartments.
Only drawback with those places is that if you have had students in before then they tend to be poor enough so always look for professionals only.
Good luck with your search, Galway is up there with the best places to live in Ireland and you are arriving just in time for the Arts Festival which usually has something for everyone.

fishy fishy

newcastle or shantalla are your best options. very close to nuig and also close to shopping. these two are your best options.

sorsha

Unfortunately rental market in Galway is disaster. Anything below 1000€ is bad and above -only ok.

dan hibiki

i would suggest looking at the areas between salthill and nuig...lots of nice estates and apartments along that route.

ben.schlomo

sorsha wrote: »

Unfortunately rental market in Galway is disaster. Anything below 1000€ is bad and above -only ok.

Rubbish, im in a lovely apartment in a great location for 800, i know someone in a lovely place in lower Salthill for less and a similar one back the West for less.

kraggy

Likewise. My friends in Knocknacarra rent a house for 850 per month. It's a 3 bed semi-detached in a nice estate with a big green area in the middle.

You'll definitely get something nice in a good location for that money. You won't even need the full 1200.

sorsha

ben.schlomo wrote: »

Rubbish, im in a lovely apartment in a great location for 800, i know someone in a lovely place in lower Salthill for less and a similar one back the West for less.

Maybe if you like 90's design, bad quality of everything from floors to doors, no insulation etc. Show me at least one nice offer on daft for less than €800 -I will move there straight away.
-and I guess "lovely" means something different to everyone...

this is lovely:
http://www.daft.ie/searchrental.daft?id=1317988

Cresskit

Hi again--just wanted to thank everyone who has contributed information to this thread.

You've given us some really good suggestions of neighbourhoods in which to concentrate our search, and I'm also glad to hear that grocery delivery is available (we're using a similar service where we currently are, and it would be hard to live without now that we're used to it).

We're still not really all that clear on when the ideal time would be for my husband to travel to Ireland to try to secure a place, though. Any more input on whether early April or late May would be better for accomodation-seeking (if we're looking to have the lease start in June or preferably July)?

ben.schlomo

sorsha wrote: »

Maybe if you like 90's design, bad quality of everything from floors to doors, no insulation etc. Show me at least one nice offer on daft for less than €800 -I will move there straight away.
-and I guess "lovely" means something different to everyone...

this is lovely:
http://www.daft.ie/searchrental.daft?id=1317988

http://www.daft.ie/searchrental.daft?id=1324489

Thats from a very quick look at the first page. But sure its probably got cardboard floors, eggshell walls and a tin roof.:rolleyes:

Mrs OBumble

Cresskit wrote: »

We're still not really all that clear on when the ideal time would be for my husband to travel to Ireland to try to secure a place, though. Any more input on whether early April or late May would be better for accomodation-seeking (if we're looking to have the lease start in June or preferably July)?

My general advice would be as close to move-in time as possible: you can try to organize in advance but in general I've found that
1) you may be asked to start paying from sooner than you need, and
2) until the place is actually empty, you cannot be certain that the last tenants will really leave.

That's my take, other people may have different opinions.

Das Kitty

Any time really, considering it's a family property you're after. The market for student accomodation is busy after the results of the Leaving Cert are published.

If I were you I'd use daft.ie and perhaps place my own ad in the Galway Advertiser. Your husband can line up viewings before he travels. There's plenty out there close to the university in your price range.

biko

As a suggestion, get a six months lease just to get "in the door" into Galway.
Once you're moved in you can either stay put or start looking 6 months down the road when you've become more familiar with the city.

JillyQ

OP I would suggest looking around the Salthill/Taylors Hill area. You should really start looking at the latest by the end of April.

seriouslysweet

Also, get childrens names down in schools if you've preferences. We moved here a few years ago and my parents had an awful time with younger siblings.

dastardly00

jewelstar wrote: »

Maybe something in Dun Na Coiribe on the Headford Road would also be an option, given the time of year you are looking there should be places available. Close to the University and Tesco/Dunnes. 3 beds are usually around the 850-1200 depending on quality and you have the option of houses or apartments.
Only drawback with those places is that if you have had students in before then they tend to be poor enough so always look for professionals only.
Good luck with your search, Galway is up there with the best places to live in Ireland and you are arriving just in time for the Arts Festival which usually has something for everyone.

I wouldn't recommend Dun na Coiribe if you have young children. It's not really an estate with families. It can be quite noisy with all the students.

charlie_says

The rental market is pretty crap in Galway city in my opinion. It's rare to see apartments or houses that have had anything but the minimum of work done to them and full of really bad second hand or old furniture. Many places I visited last year for a viewing were pretty dire and drab.

The problem is twofold I think, main market for rentals is students who will put up with bad accommodation and also a lot of old and badly built properties. You might get lucky, but I would stay out of the city center and stick to one of the newer suburbs for better standard of building.

bonzodog2

Another thing you might consider apart from price and location, is fuel type for central heating & cooking. Some estates in Galway have piped mains gas, this costs maybe 75 cent per day even if you don't use it. Also applies to some estates that have a large tank serving several properties, but not to a house with an individual tank/bottles. Disconnection and reconnection are also expensive, 250+.

The major alternative is oil, which has got a lot more expensive recently, and there has been a spate of oil bing stolen from domestic tanks by, err, dodgy members of the community....

Another couple of things; UPC is the best broadband provider in the city if you didn't want a telephone landline anyway, but there are parts of the city where wired UPC is not available - you can get TV over aerial, but not broadband.

There's several rubbish bin collection services - city council, citybin, greyhound and barna waste

mullety

Hello,

I'm moving to Galway in the summer, and am wondering about utility bills in Galway. I'm wondering,

First, what would be a rough estimate of monthly utility bills for something like a three bedroom apartment?

Second, these BER ratings look great, but what do they mean in terms of how high your utility bills are? How much difference to your monthly utilities bill would a B3, say, versus a C3-rated apartment make?

Third, is there any kind of heating to avoid? I used to live in Toronto, Canada, where some apartments had electric heating, for which the bills could tack on hundreds of dollars to your monthly expenses. Anything like this to look out for in Galway?

Thanks for any tips anyone can provide.

biko

I've used oil heating, electric heating and fireplace with backboiler.
Oil and electric are similar costs, maybe over 500 for a winter depending on how cold it gets. Fireplace with backboiler is best if you can get cheap turf.

Just get a place for 6 months. Once you have a foot in the door you can look around and find a place you like better.

ben.schlomo

mullety wrote: »

Hello,

I'm moving to Galway in the summer, and am wondering about utility bills in Galway. I'm wondering,

First, what would be a rough estimate of monthly utility bills for something like a three bedroom apartment?

Second, these BER ratings look great, but what do they mean in terms of how high your utility bills are? How much difference to your monthly utilities bill would a B3, say, versus a C3-rated apartment make?

Third, is there any kind of heating to avoid? I used to live in Toronto, Canada, where some apartments had electric heating, for which the bills could tack on hundreds of dollars to your monthly expenses. Anything like this to look out for in Galway?

Thanks for any tips anyone can provide.

You dont need heating in the Summer, problem solved.