Looking to move out from our first property, advice on checklist

TheDoc

Hi all,

I rarely post here on this forum but I keep in touch of the general going's on. I got good help here around this time last year when I moved out with my girlfriend for the firs time.

The experience was mooth sailing, we looked at a few properties and then got one that fit the bill, and was even able to go under budget. We've been happilly tipping away for the last year, but got the news we are expecting a baby, so have had to re-evaluate the living situation. We have decided that we need to move from the current location, and upgrade living space. Ideally a house.

The arragenement with my landlord has been brilliant, truely hassle free. I dealt with the property owner directly, and after a viewing and a chat originally, he was happy enough to take us onboard. We made a gentlemans agreement to one year. No documents, leases etc. I understood fully that it was leaving me open in a sense, but at the same time my girlfriend was in temporary employment and I was not aware of accurate expenses of renting, and wasn't sure if I could manage solo. so it gave me a kinda get out card if required. Turns out we have been more then comfortable, and I recently got a new job which has made things easier again.
i'd read about all the various things people had asked about here, the responabilities on both parties etc. There was probably a number of opportunities to perhaps deal with the landlord in cases of sharing expenses on some items, but due to the hassle free nature of the arrangement ( When I asked for any do's or don'ts, he literally said it's your place, it's your home, just don't paint the walls black and laughed). I did a fair bit of DIY, we re-painted the entire apartment, brought in a number of furniture items, replaced the blinds and all that sort of stuff. Never once got in touch to kinda share the cost, was happy to splash out to improve where we lived.

So it's coming to that time where we are most likely going to move out come March(assuming we can land something we are happy with) and I just want to make sure I tick all the boxes and do the right things. I truely appreciate the relationship I've had with the landlord and want to ensure he has a somewhat smooth and easy transition should there be new tenants lined up.

I've made a sort of checklist of what might need doing, but I'd appreciate advice from any more experienced tenants, and even landlords for things that might be useful. My checklist so far consists off

Notice
While we don't have an arrangement, I don't want to bail and leave him hanging. Planning to give him a good thirty days notice that we are planning to move, and see what we can arrange in the event that we can't source a new property.

Cleaning
I guess goes without saying. We've kept the palce spotless, and I'd go as far as improving the apartment with a re-paint, redoing the doors, working onthe windows and doors to remove draughts (place was and still is an incebox in winter), putting in cables for ethernet connectivity to various rooms(all cables out of view).

Proffesional cleaning
Something we are looking at. We got ourselves a dog shortly after moving in. He is a small house dog, that doesn't molt or shed fur. However the misses is an experienced dog owner and suggested we look into having something proffesionally done, so that there are no issues with allergies left behind for future tenants.

Honesty about damage
There has been no damage to anything since we moved in, hwoever after we moved in we started to spot some issues we didnt see on the initial showing. There was damage to the bathroom wall hidden behind a painting, and a few bits of roughed carpet and flooring that was hiden by tables and beds. I appreciate if the landlord did this, but plan to bring it up, with a view to "If you pulled a fast one, I'm cool with it, just so you know we didn't do it"

Organise a forwarded address to utility companies etc
The last tennants I've been told were travellers, who then got the property via rent allowance. We constantly get streams of their mail, had three debt collectors, and two Garda visits in the time of our stay. Somewhat common sense that I get in touch with my own suppliers of mail to advise any change of address.

List of issues we found
Anything that we found that might need attention. The apartment I'd imagine has a **** energy rating. It has wooden windows that on inspection were not maintained and are seeping drafts badly. The bedroom window has mold and every morning very visible water content on the window. Some other bits and bobs, just to pass on as something to address.


Anything else that I might not have considered would be greatly appreciated. Be gas now if I hit problems in what hs been a perfect tenant - landlord relationship, when it comes to getting deposit back

djimi

TheDoc wrote: »

Notice
While we don't have an arrangement, I don't want to bail and leave him hanging. Planning to give him a good thirty days notice that we are planning to move, and see what we can arrange in the event that we can't source a new property.

You might have an informal agreement with the landlord, but if you are in the property for more than 6 month then you are still covered by the part 4 tenancy and as such would be expected to give notice as per the terms of the part 4. You can of course mutually agree to any notice period that you like, but by the letter of the law you would need to give 42 days notice if you are there between 1 and 2 years.

D3PO

Firstly congrats on the impending arrival.

The main thing you need to do is give effective notice (Legally you will owe 42 days if your in there 1- 2 years) and as you have mentioned giving this and then having a discussion with the LL about amicably extending it if necessary. Im sure given you have a good relationship that he will be fine with this.

Really any of the problems re the carpet, mould, crack behind pic etc should have been brough up when you noticed them. Its very possible that a previous tenant was the cause of such things and then covered them up which could make the situation tricky if the LL attributes the blame to you.

Re the dog and cabling, paining etc. I hope you got permission for these things, if not you have left yourself open to possible deposit reductions if the LL says these things were not sanctioned and it costs to restore the place to how it was previously.

Im thinking worst case scenario, Im sure the LL will be fine and everything will be sorted, but really as a renter you need to cover your ass always. Everything in writing, and everything notified to the LL in a prompt manner.

More an FYI for your next rental than this one but not every LL is reasonable and if you leave yourself open enough somebody will take advantage of the situation eventually.

TheDoc

Thanks for the advice, it's a fair point. We had a chat before we agreed to take the place about the do's and don't and he was pretty vague. I gave him specifics in terms of the cabling I'd probably need to run and he was fine with it.

When we arrived a lot of the cabling was free hanging. TV pipes and cables just on the ground in the living room ( I tidied up and put out of site) the walls were a horrid colour and was really shoddy done with brush marks everywhere, so I did a proper job on it.

I'd have a strong argument alright, but I fully get your point, from reading the thread lucks like I struck lucky with a really good landlord. I only had to contact him twice in relation to a powershower and microwave, and in both cases we had resolution within 24 hours, including a callout by an electrician to look at the power shower.

The 42 days thing I didn't realise, so I'll make sure to drop him a line this week.

D3PO

side note but maybe see if he has a house you could rent if hes a professional LL he might well do. Better the devil you know. Could be a nice solution to you both.

TheDoc

D3PO wrote: »

side note but maybe see if he has a house you could rent if hes a professional LL he might well do. Better the devil you know. Could be a nice solution to you both.

That actually sprung to mind the other day, I get the impression this is his only property, but I'll ask ㄴ

TheDoc

Thought I'd drop an update on how things went.

Provided landlord with notice and the likes and he congratulated us on the arrival of junior, and we have been having good dialogue via phone and e-mail since.

He has the property up for let again via Daft, and yesterday had a few viewings. Gave me ample notice and asked if it was ok to do, which I agreed. We cleaned the place spotless and I'm pretty proud of how it looked, much better then when we first got in.

Sent the landlord a list of things to just make him aware, since he wasn't in the place for a year. Just some tips etc for showing prospective tennants, things that were ours and we are taking with, things we did, some average figures on electricity bills, repainting and DIY we did etc.

He got back with an e-mail that said he'd never seen such detail from a tennant and that it was brilliant to read. He rang me last night after the viewings giving me ample thanks for the what we had done to the apartment, that it looked incredible. Advised that if I didn't mind, write myself a reference, being nothing but complimentary about myself, and he'd happily stand over it. Told me to give his mobile to any estate agent or landlord that wanted it.

I asked him to maybe treat the viewings as possibly as our deposit inspection aswell, so he could kill two birds with one stone. Said he felt like he should be paying me extra

I think what really sealed it for us in terms of the relationship was me dealing with grief he ws getting some the previous tenants. They seemed to be settled travellers and were just about in massive debt with every utilities and billing company you could think off, and were in receipt of a number of social welfare payments.

During the year I'd knocks on the door from solictors, the Guardaí, debt collectors, I got handed a court order twice, and had some debt collectors come around who tried to get physical and got a few slaps. I took a day out and basically got in touch with every company, solicitors and debt collection agency and sorted it all out, ensuring nothing came near the apartment again either by person or by letter. He mentioned he had a lot of stress from the previous tenants and they left a world of pain and stress behind relating to bills and debts.

All in all a really good experience. Obviously keys haven't being given back so money hasnt exchanged hands, so that is the final note, and maybe a slipup, but so far I can't see how. When I see some of the threads on here, sometimes scares me about the whole renting debacle, but I've had nothing but a flawless relationship with this landlord, and with treating the property, his investment, with respect and how I'd want to be treated, it's being an excellent experience that hopefully stands to me for our next home.

If my next landlord is half as good as this guy, I'll be blessed.

dinnyirwin

You sound like a dream tenant.

I have had occasions where a tenant wanted to leave without the required notice period for things like pregnancy, job move, buying their own house, moving in with their girlfriend and am always delighted for them, and happy to release them.

As long as they dont start pulling tricks and help me out with the re-letting, making sure they pay their last months rent and leaving the place the way they got it, then im fine with people moving on in life. Happy for them. And yiu always know the genuine ones too, since you have had dealings with them for a year or more.

The only time i would have a problem with it is if they were there less than a year. That means i have two letting costs in a single year. Two PRTB payments too. And an extra vacant period in a single year - though vacant periods are rare in Dublin.

I read in your post that someone came to your door and attacked you. You should have called the cops on that one.

cookie1977

TheDoc wrote: »

Thought I'd drop an update on how things went.

Provided landlord with notice and the likes and he congratulated us on the arrival of junior, and we have been having good dialogue via phone and e-mail since.

He has the property up for let again via Daft, and yesterday had a few viewings. Gave me ample notice and asked if it was ok to do, which I agreed. We cleaned the place spotless and I'm pretty proud of how it looked, much better then when we first got in.

Sent the landlord a list of things to just make him aware, since he wasn't in the place for a year. Just some tips etc for showing prospective tennants, things that were ours and we are taking with, things we did, some average figures on electricity bills, repainting and DIY we did etc.

He got back with an e-mail that said he'd never seen such detail from a tennant and that it was brilliant to read. He rang me last night after the viewings giving me ample thanks for the what we had done to the apartment, that it looked incredible. Advised that if I didn't mind, write myself a reference, being nothing but complimentary about myself, and he'd happily stand over it. Told me to give his mobile to any estate agent or landlord that wanted it.

I asked him to maybe treat the viewings as possibly as our deposit inspection aswell, so he could kill two birds with one stone. Said he felt like he should be paying me extra

I think what really sealed it for us in terms of the relationship was me dealing with grief he ws getting some the previous tenants. They seemed to be settled travellers and were just about in massive debt with every utilities and billing company you could think off, and were in receipt of a number of social welfare payments.

During the year I'd knocks on the door from solictors, the Guardaí, debt collectors, I got handed a court order twice, and had some debt collectors come around who tried to get physical and got a few slaps. I took a day out and basically got in touch with every company, solicitors and debt collection agency and sorted it all out, ensuring nothing came near the apartment again either by person or by letter. He mentioned he had a lot of stress from the previous tenants and they left a world of pain and stress behind relating to bills and debts.

All in all a really good experience. Obviously keys haven't being given back so money hasnt exchanged hands, so that is the final note, and maybe a slipup, but so far I can't see how. When I see some of the threads on here, sometimes scares me about the whole renting debacle, but I've had nothing but a flawless relationship with this landlord, and with treating the property, his investment, with respect and how I'd want to be treated, it's being an excellent experience that hopefully stands to me for our next home.

If my next landlord is half as good as this guy, I'll be blessed.

Landlords are human too and most will respect good tenants. Fair play to you as a tenant for the way you handled things. If only all tenants were like you and all landlords were like him. For me good communication is key.

TheDoc

cookie1977 wrote: »

Landlords are human too and most will respect good tenants. Fair play to you as a tenant for the way you handled things. If only all tenants were like you and all landlords were like him. For me good communication is key.

Cheers, but it's just as much having a good landlord as well. Early on landlord kept in touch to check everything was ok, and then just naturally communications died down to just once a month. I'd send a mail advising rent was in, he'd ask was everything ok, I'd say yes

At the end of the day just felt it was the decent thing to do, obviously if he was a cretin and horrid individual to deal with, I wouldn't have gone to any efforts. But this was our what I'd call real first home of our own, and he gave us some pretty wide reigns to do whatever, and we appreciated that.

It is good when you have the good combo hit. That's been part of the frustrations at the moment with house hunting. I'm having to deal with estate agents mostly. I'd prefer to be dealing with the landlords directly, and kinda get a feel for them and let them get a feel for me. And then build a rapport from there. It's hard to sell yourself when a landlord is looking at your references on a piece of paper to be fair. But that's just the way its going at the moment

Thankfully have three properties this week where we are dealing with landlords directly, so I'd be confident of striking a deal there and then with one of them.

TheDoc

dinnyirwin wrote: »

I read in your post that someone came to your door and attacked you. You should have called the cops on that one.

Cops got involved in the end, don't want to go into specifics but the Guardaí were called by them after an altercation. Satisfied that I was who I said I was, and the debt collecting lads in the end accepted it and went off.

Decided to keep it pretty low key and exclude the landlord from the stress. I had been told by one of the neighbours that there was settled travellers there for a while and they were a nightmare constantly bringing in people in droves , excessive drinking, loud shouting and all that stuff. We have three neighbouring apartments, two of them with small children and one with a professional fella on his tod.

It's a decent little community they have there, two of the apartments have dogs ( us and the single guy) and every so often meet up in the shared garden and the two dogs play, and if the kids in the other apartments see their Da's bring them out to play around with the dogs. got the opportunity to explain to them what happened atleast.

As much as my landlord had stress with the previous tenants, the poor neighbours had a nightmare, having genuine fear of neighbours. Few times they have been pretty complimentary and thankful we came in. Have to say will miss that little aspect to it. I know in a lot of places now there isn't that sense of community or neighbourship, but in our little block of 4 apartments it is pretty nice

TheDoc

Just through I'd drop an update.

Finally got sorted, got the news yesterday which was brilliant.

Met with a landlord of a property, and as I felt all along, was able to sell myself well, we had a good casual conversation and he pretty much indicated I was his man. In the interest of fairness he said he would still meet the other applicants the following day, and I respected that knowing how hard it can be to get a place.

But he got back to say we were definitely his preference.

A tiny bit over what I was hoping to pay, but I think it balances out with it being a 3 bedroom detached house with a nice backgarden , and most importantly back to UPC Fibre broadband

I'm one of those positive folk, a real "ah it'll be grand" merchant. We took a risk by turning down some other properties we weren't overly comfy with, but low and behold at the 11th hour, a place we both fell in love with was presented.

Keep the faith!

For a matter of fact, as it's something discussed on a few threads. I had references but the landlord said he was cool without them, he typically only asks them from foreign nationals, but he took them anyway and called them.

I grew up just around the corner essentially from this house, so opened dialogue to that effect when he mentioned it was the family home for years. Got casually chatting about how the pub was ****e, the Chinese was excellent, all that stuff. It definitely built a rapport, was intentional on my part, and the benefit of the family home being around the corner seemed to give him comfort.

I mentioned about the DIY work and stuff I did in the previous apartment. repainting etc. He was noticeably impressed with it, and I told him the only calls he'd ever get from me is if something major took place. I wouldn't be calling him if a light goes out or something silly to that effect.


O and ironically, after sweating for two weeks getting no joy with a house, after we got the call for this one, and were thrilled to take it, we got two calls back from other places we looked, offering us tenancy We decided to stick with the first offer as the house was pretty much ideal.

Hopefully some of the above helps, but if your somewhat confident in building rapport, selling yourself and essentially speaking well in what boils down to a business transaction, and if your struggling to get places, try route out places that the landlord is letting himself.

Estate agents seem to just be a barrier, they send some documents to a landlord to choose from, and obviously they can't see or tell who you really are from a piece of paper. We'd a lot of failure over the last 2-3 weeks with estate agents, and then some landlords that we simply didn't feel comfortable with.

Typical that the first time we see a property we REALLY like, where we are dealing with a landlord that seemed on the level and we were comfortable with, it came through in the end.

Thanks to the folks on the forum aswell, was getting a lot of PM's and tips some of which definitely helped.