Requesting landlord to retain room for me.

Solomon Pleasant

Xterminator wrote: »

Hi OP

there have been a fair few suggestions here, and very few of them take the landlords point of view into consideration.

he could easily rent the room to someone for the year you are away, and again the following year, as there is great demand. so why would he take less than the market rate from you?

it would be frankly insulting to ask him to take anything less.

I wouldn't be offering him less than market rate though? I'd be continuing to pay the same rent as I am now which is agreeable to both of us.

I agree, I'm not in a position to request lower rent.

pillphil

What if you ask him to sign a two year contract and allow you to take on a licencee for the first year?

Spanish Eyes

No guarantees or rights with a lodger.

None.

Are you a lodger or a co tenant on a proper lease?

Think about that please before shelling out the guts of 5 grand. Owner occupier can get rid of you with no notice, nothing, you have no legal rights as a lodger.

Solomon Pleasant

Spanish Eyes wrote: »

No guarantees or rights with a lodger.

None.

Are you a lodger or a co tenant on a proper lease?

Think about that please before shelling out the guts of 5 grand. Owner occupier can get rid of you with no notice, nothing, you have no legal rights as a lodger.

I am (to the best of my knowledge) a proper tenant and I have signed a lease. Our landlord is a registered landlord and everything is official as far as I know.

Solomon Pleasant

pillphil wrote: »

What if you ask him to sign a two year contract and allow you to take on a licencee for the first year?

Yeah I intend to probably ask him for a 2 year lease.

What do you mean by a licencee? Is that sub letting the room to someone?

quietsailor

At this stage OP you need to stop looking for advice on here and go talk to your landlord. Think about this from their point of view - they want the least hassle tenant that causes them no problems.

Now - here comes an existing tenant with some strange (to them) scheme while at the moment it is ridicously easy to rent out acomodation in Dublin. Put an ad in any paper, online site etc and the LL will be flooded with calls so why would they entertain your scheme. It sounds too ridiculous - you're going to pay them a years rent to reserve an empty room, their thinking could be "that sounds dodgy so better to go with another normal tenant"

Why not tell them what you've told us already;

1. I'll be gone abroad for all of next year and will be coming back to Ireland too late in the season to find somewhere to easilyrent.
2. I really like living here (if you do like it?)
3. I've been a good tenant and pay my rent on time plus I don't damage the house (you have - haven't you?)

If you tell them this and then follow with a request that you want to reserve the room for the academic year after this one and you're willing to pay the deposit plus 2 or 3 months rent in advance they would see that as a much more normal transaction and would be more amenable.

It has the upside for you that you won't be risking so much money

newacc2015

Most Colleges have accommodation for final years. The fact is you could easily get accommodation in the tons of new student complexes opening all over the City. There will be a few thousand more beds you come back in 18 months. They are pricey, so they are out of the reach of most people (about 800-900 for a bedroom).

I would just email one of them early next year.

smunchkins

My goodness, that is an utter waste of money.
You are letting fear of the unknown next year rule your decisions.
The rental market is in constant flux, there is always somewhere.
Do you know not know ANY final year students who will be finishing up then?
And as mentioned, what about the college accom route? And what about Airbnb? And what about hostels? (Or camping?)(Or friends?)
With the amount of money you're throwing away you could easily rent a short term let for a few weeks.
Or buy a car and commute from somewhere.
Seriously op, you need to be adaptable, and not "lock in" this room. What happens if there is an emergency during the year? Or you meet someone in your foreign country and want to stay on? Or you decide to take a year out to travel before commencing final year?
It sounds like you're trying to be responsible and line up a sensible accommodation solution for next year, but...this is not the way. I've been stuck in a lease myself. And had to move quickly. And had an oil leak. And had a landlord decide to sell up. And had to drop out of college to deal with an ill family member. I also paid rent for a room whilst I was away for 6 months, then I got a dog, and had to move out anyway.
Some things you just have to deal with as they arise. And the clever route would be to stash that money away somewhere for use as a rainy day fund/to get a fantastic room next year. Seriously, with the amount of rent per month you could afford to pay you'll get some really choice properties (I'm counting 540 sharing ads in Dublin between €650-€1000), with much less competition. You are probably used to the low end of the rental market, the higher end is not so crowded!
I'd definitely talk to your college accom office too anyway.
Good luck!

BrokenArrows

Solomon Pleasant wrote: »

Altogether it will cost me 5400€ for the year that I am abroad.

I'll be using it for my final year of college and possibly after I graduate.

It may well sound like madness but I'll only have 3 weeks after I return to find accommodation in Dublin. That's not an easy task, particularly when you throw the fact I'm a student into the equation. 4th year will be tough and I need the guarantee of somewhere solid to live and study effectively.

Thats madness.
You could stay in a nice hotel for 2 months for that price.

Save your 5400 and relax. You can come back and rent a room in an very nice non student apartment for your final year and double what you're willing to pay.

Dont be a fool and rent an empty room for a year.

__Alex__

Use a fraction of the money saved on not renting a room in Dublin this year to offer a two or three months' rent upfront and a bigger deposit to a landlord to help secure accommodation when you return. Use the money saved to also ensure that you can pay whatever the rents might be this time next year. Even with the new rent cap rules, increases can still happen. 4% on already high rent is still a considerable jump for a student. And just enjoy your year abroad and use some the money to live it up in a foreign land, as well as get good grades!

smunchkins wrote: »

Seriously, with the amount of rent per month you could afford to pay you'll get some really choice properties (I'm counting 540 sharing ads in Dublin between €650-€1000), with much less competition. You are probably used to the low end of the rental market, the higher end is not so crowded!

My thoughts too.

pwurple

I think OP wants the most hassle-free option, and is willing to pay for it.

Sounds logical to me, and the people who are saying stay in a hotel for a month and then put massive deposits down have obviously No Fing Clue how time consuming some 4th year college courses are, and how quickly you drop behind the curve. Spending hours and hours trawling for new places, interviewing and being refused, and then the settling in period of figuring out transport and utilities etc. 
That's all TIME wasted, and time is as valuable as money.


I'm a landlord, and here's my suggestion.

Offer to reserve the room a year in advance, by giving a deposit in advance now, maybe even a 2 month deposit (make sure you get this in writing, with a receipt).
Explain the situation to the landlord, and see how that goes.

oppenheimer1

pwurple wrote: »

I think OP wants the most hassle-free option, and is willing to pay for it.

Sounds logical to me, and the people who are saying stay in a hotel for a month and then put massive deposits down have obviously No Fing Clue how time consuming some 4th year college courses are, and how quickly you drop behind the curve. Spending hours and hours trawling for new places, interviewing and being refused, and then the settling in period of figuring out transport and utilities etc. 
That's all TIME wasted, and time is as valuable as money.


I'm a landlord, and here's my suggestion.

Offer to reserve the room a year in advance, by giving a deposit in advance now, maybe even a 2 month deposit (make sure you get this in writing, with a receipt).
Explain the situation to the landlord, and see how that goes.

Having done the room search in the last 6 months myself, its not that much hassle - it doesn't take over your life.

Perhaps I was more prudent in college because it was mostly my parents money I was spending on rent.

__Alex__

pwurple wrote: »

I think OP wants the most hassle-free option, and is willing to pay for it.

Sounds logical to me, and the people who are saying stay in a hotel for a month and then put massive deposits down have obviously No Fing Clue how time consuming some 4th year college courses are, and how quickly you drop behind the curve.

That's a big assumption to make. I'd say most people posting here have a college education. Speaking from my own experience of having done a time-consuming hard science degree at the height of the boom when there were also accommodation shortages, yes final year is time-consuming but three weeks before the academic year begins is plenty of time, especially if he can cough up for higher rents with the money saved on not renting out a room in his absense.

The OP could plough a year's rent into the room only for the landlord to decide to sell up when he gets back. There are no guarantees.

Asking the landlord to reserve the room is not a bad idea and if the landlord has no intention of selling, he might be happy to go with that. But he might then be happy with the tenant he gets for the year and return the holding deposit the OP might pay. I don't know if many landlords would want their options restricted by some agreement like that but I guess there is no harm in the OP asking.