Renting - need strategy advice

suavek

Hello! Long story short, I got a great software development job in Dublin. My first day is 2nd of March. I need to rent a new home for my family (wife and 2 year old boy) and we'd like to move in sometime late February.

The tricky part is we currently live in another country. So far I've found out it's impossible to arrange antything over the phone, one just has to be in town and attend the viewings in person. (Please don't laugh, in some coutries landlords wouldn't mind if you sent a friend to see the place, and the whole process isn't so rushed as in Dublin.)

I can spend a couple of days in Dublin before the big move to go to some viewings, and my question is when should I come? I was thinking about next Friday (30th), but maybe it's too long in advance? Maybe 6th Feb would be a sweet spot?

I realise it's a lottery either way. I'd simply be grateful for some advice.

Victor

You don't say where (or how far) you are coming from or how often you could travel or how long you could stay. You might have to look at several properties before you are able to rent somewhere. Your new employer may have some local contacts, so check with their HR department.

Due to the recession and despite a growing population, very few properties have been built in Dublin in the last 6 years. This means that, as the economy has recovered, rents have risen sharply. Consequently, landlords can be choosy about which tenants they pick and can be demanding when it comes to paperwork - references from previous landlords, bank statements, etc. Typically, you will be required to sign a 1-year contract (you can assign the lease to a new tenant, but they would need to be acceptable to the landlord) and pay a deposit of 1 months' rent. As you will be newly arrived, some landlords may ask for more. Do not pay registration fees, insurance or other charges - they are trying to rip you off. Do not rent a property without seeing it first.

Congestion can be bad in Dublin, especially at rush hour, so chose your location / commute carefully www.a-b.ie Put your exact locations (prospective home and work) and relevant dates and times into www.a-b.ie and tweak the settings. Make sure you have selected "take neighbouring stops into account for origin and destination maximum 20 min walk".

I wouldn't necessarily move your family immediately - what if the job doesn't work out? What about school for the children? http://education.ie/en/find-a-school

Note that costs are different in Dublin to other places. Health insurance is cheaper than the USA, although if you are an EU worker, you may be entitled to free hospital care. Food, transport (especially motoring) and some 'luxury' goods can be more expensive than most places. Income taxes can be high, but, as you will be renting, you won't have to pay property taxes. You will have to pay for utilities - electricity, water, waste, heating (district heating is rare), phone / broadband, TV. Combined phone / broadband / TV packages are available, so shop around. Expect a minimum contract of 12-18 months. Air conditioning is unnecessary, but winter heating is important - some properties can be poorly insulated.

Tax-wise, you may be able to write off your relocation expenses, but you need proper advice for that,

suavek wrote: »

I was thinking about next Friday (30th), but maybe it's too long in advance? Maybe 6th Feb would be a sweet spot?

I think Friday might not be a good day - people are too focused on the weekend. On a Monday-Thursday you might be able to get an evening viewing, but this is less likely on a Friday.

hardCopy

Some companies hire a relocation service to handle employees moving from overseas. If yours don't provide this you might be able to hire one directly.

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suavek wrote: »

Hello! Long story short, I got a great software development job in Dublin. My first day is 2nd of March. I need to rent a new home for my family (wife and 2 year old boy) and we'd like to move in sometime late February.

The tricky part is we currently live in another country. So far I've found out it's impossible to arrange antything over the phone, one just has to be in town and attend the viewings in person. (Please don't laugh, in some coutries landlords wouldn't mind if you sent a friend to see the place, and the whole process isn't so rushed as in Dublin.)

I can spend a couple of days in Dublin before the big move to go to some viewings, and my question is when should I come? I was thinking about next Friday (30th), but maybe it's too long in advance? Maybe 6th Feb would be a sweet spot?

I realise it's a lottery either way. I'd simply be grateful for some advice.

I've had experience of this. So would suggest the following:

The rental market in Dublin is crazy at the moment. So while you may find something in a couple of days. It's more likely that you won't. You are also going to be commiting to living somewhere for 12 months.

What I suggest is you rent a reasonably priced Airbnb for the first month.

And take the month to find somewhere suitable on a long term basis for you and your family.

Good luck with with move.

MarkAnthony

+1 one the come here on a temporary basis first. Dublin (like many cities) has the issue of a very nice area being very close to an area you'd really want to be well aware of your surrounding in.

It's also got a public transit system that can be described as patchy at best.

Get to know the place for a week or two, I'd suggest coming over yourself and crashing in digs and then bring the family over. Just my two cents.

suavek

Thanks a lot for the replies, lots of useful info there!

Just to clarify, I'm coming from Poland. There're lots of Ryanair flights to Dublin but it still doesn't make coming over every time somebody posts an interesting ad on daft.ie very practical.

I'm not completely new to Dublin. I spent almost a year (10 months to be exact) living in Artane and working at an internet cafe in Temple Bar when I was still a student about 8 years ago - that's when I created my boards.ie account.

Schools are of no concern for us at the moment as our son is only 2 years old. What we are looking for is having a playground nearby and lots of green spaces to wander about, and the sea is also a big attraction. I guess areas around St Anne's Park (Clontarf, Raheny, Killester) would be great, maybe Blackrock... I'll be working near Four Courts, we don't want to live in the city centre, so a-b.ie looks really useful for gauging commute time! I usually cycle to work though so maybe the congestion wouldn't affect me that much.

What I gathered from the posts above is (please feel free to correct me or add some points):
1. I should come for at least a week and starting on Friday is not a great idea, as I'd be likely to waste a weekend
2. I should take things like a letter of employment, references from the current landlord etc. to the viewings
3. If I go to a viewing and decide the place is really nice and would suit us well, I should say I want it on the spot, as opposed to calling the next day or something like that.

Should I consider the prices advertised on daft.ie as final or do advertisers expect people to haggle? It's really a question about a custom, for example in Poland you usually sit down and negotiate before signing the lease, so prices on ads are set a bit higher in order to compensate. (It is a bit silly if you think about it, but that's the way it works!) Guess with the market in the state you described the answer is going to be along the lines of "don't take your chances", right?

Thanks again for great responses!

athtrasna

Schools should be on your radar to be honest, depending on the area people put their babies' names down for schools as soon as they are born.

Haggling, you're more likely to need to offer above the advertised price than get away with offering less than the advertised price, demand far exceeds supply in Dublin

MarkAnthony

While it's fair enough if it's personal preference but I would have thought city centre would have been ideal starting off. D7/8 Near the phoenix park and a short stroll into work.

Mrs OBumble

athtrasna wrote: »

Schools should be on your radar to be honest, depending on the area people put their babies' names down for schools as soon as they are born.

Haggling, you're more likely to need to offer above the advertised price than get away with offering less than the advertised price, demand far exceeds supply in Dublin

+1

You might also want to work out where the Polish schools are (Galway has one, so I'm assuming Dublin has several), and think in terms of that. Even though your child is only two now, time files.