Where am I going wrong?

Suutari29

I have been searching for months and months to rent an apartment and it is impossible!
I have been to a couple of viewings for which I had to queue for hours to actually get in to the viewing, aside from that my biggest issue is to actually get a viewing. I have contacted countless places to arrange a viewing and I never hear back, so where am I going wrong?
I am a 29 year old female in full time employment and with my income I am more than able to afford the rent for the places that I have contacted, I have no children, no pets.
I have a work reference from my employer for which I have worked for over five years, I am happy to provide them with payslips but I just rarely hear back from anyone that I contact.
Unfortunately I have no landlord reference as I still live at my parents home - would landlords accept a reference from my parents?
It is very frustrating knowing that I am a reliable person who can afford the rent on the places but I just can't understand where I am going wrong!
Any advice would be greatly appreciated,
Thank you

SATSUMA

Youre not doing anything wrong, the market is flooded.

handlemaster

Suutari29 wrote: »

I have been searching for months and months to rent an apartment and it is impossible!
I have been to a couple of viewings for which I had to queue for hours to actually get in to the viewing, aside from that my biggest issue is to actually get a viewing. I have contacted countless places to arrange a viewing and I never hear back, so where am I going wrong?
I am a 29 year old female in full time employment and with my income I am more than able to afford the rent for the places that I have contacted, I have no children, no pets.
I have a work reference from my employer for which I have worked for over five years, I am happy to provide them with payslips but I just rarely hear back from anyone that I contact.
Unfortunately I have no landlord reference as I still live at my parents home - would landlords accept a reference from my parents?
It is very frustrating knowing that I am a reliable person who can afford the rent on the places but I just can't understand where I am going wrong!
Any advice would be greatly appreciated,
Thank you

Reference from your parents . Landlord would have a good laugh at that. My parents think im great

Old Perry

Offer more of a deposit in lieu of landlord ref maybe if you can.

bridster007

Offer LL 3 mths deposit or an offer to get your parents to go guarantor.

Tombo2001

Not saying this will get u a house but 1. If u are replying to ads, never ever tell your life story. The landlord does not care if u have been looking for months, are desperate, have a sick cousin or whatever....more specifically, it's not their problem and the last thing they want is having to deal with people's issues. 2. Send a LinkedIn profile, shows u are professional. 3. Make it absolutely clear u can move in at short notice. 4. Lock ur social media accounts apart from LinkedIn. Photos of you on the lash are not what landlords Should be seeing. 5. If u can show net pay slips and reference saying u are permanent at work, then this is useful information for a landlord. U can say these are available if wanted. ...... despite all of this, the market is very tight.

Mrs Shuttleworth

Suutari29 wrote: »

I have been searching for months and months to rent an apartment and it is impossible!
I have been to a couple of viewings for which I had to queue for hours to actually get in to the viewing, aside from that my biggest issue is to actually get a viewing. I have contacted countless places to arrange a viewing and I never hear back, so where am I going wrong?
I am a 29 year old female in full time employment and with my income I am more than able to afford the rent for the places that I have contacted, I have no children, no pets.
I have a work reference from my employer for which I have worked for over five years, I am happy to provide them with payslips but I just rarely hear back from anyone that I contact.
Unfortunately I have no landlord reference as I still live at my parents home - would landlords accept a reference from my parents?
It is very frustrating knowing that I am a reliable person who can afford the rent on the places but I just can't understand where I am going wrong!
Any advice would be greatly appreciated,
Thank you

There is another thread running in which us landlords are having the same experience with tenants, so it is very strange that many of us are not meeting in the middle.

As you haven't posted your exact wording to landlords when you reply I'm shooting in the dark but there may be a worry that being a sole female occupant you might end up having to apply for HAP in the future and if you saw the news recently a landlord got seriously screwed over by having to pay damages of 42k to three sitting tenants when they wanted to convert their payments to HAP and he said no.

It's only a suspicion but I usually assume a single applicant female is going to mean HAP. Very unfair I know as I'm female myself.

You might be better off staying at home and saving that money for a deposit and trying to buy down the line. Don't move out just because it's viewed as a rite of passage at a certain age.

Tombo2001

handlemaster wrote: »

Reference from your parents . Landlord would have a good laugh at that. My parents think im great

Don't why you are sneering, some landlords might be reassured that someone's parents care enough to support them in this way.

Tombo2001

Mrs Shuttleworth wrote: »

There is another thread running in which us landlords are having the same experience with tenants, so it is very strange that many of us are not meeting in the middle.

As you haven't posted your exact wording to landlords when you reply I'm shooting in the dark but there may be a worry that being a sole female occupant you might end up having to apply for HAP in the future and if you saw the news recently a landlord got seriously screwed over by having to pay damages of 42k to three sitting tenants when they wanted to convert their payments to HAP and he said no.

It's only a suspicion but I usually assume a single applicant female is going to mean HAP. Very unfair I know as I'm female myself.

You might be better off staying at home and saving that money for a deposit and trying to buy down the line. Don't move out just because it's viewed as a rite of passage at a certain age.

I completely agree with the last point, u are better off buying than renting right now, if u can afford it.

Paddytheman

Tombo2001 wrote: »

Don't why you are sneering, some landlords might be reassured that someone's parents care enough to support them in this way.

Bahahahahahahahaha are you for real. References from Parents, that's all this country needs to sort it right out.....

Dere Landlord,

timmys a great lad and cleans his dishes.

From,

Timmys mum

VonBeanie

Suutari29 wrote: »

I have been searching for months and months to rent an apartment and it is impossible!
I have been to a couple of viewings for which I had to queue for hours to actually get in to the viewing, aside from that my biggest issue is to actually get a viewing. I have contacted countless places to arrange a viewing and I never hear back, so where am I going wrong?
I am a 29 year old female in full time employment and with my income I am more than able to afford the rent for the places that I have contacted, I have no children, no pets.
I have a work reference from my employer for which I have worked for over five years, I am happy to provide them with payslips but I just rarely hear back from anyone that I contact.
Unfortunately I have no landlord reference as I still live at my parents home - would landlords accept a reference from my parents?
It is very frustrating knowing that I am a reliable person who can afford the rent on the places but I just can't understand where I am going wrong!
Any advice would be greatly appreciated,
Thank you

I don't think you are doing a lot wrong. Its important to be as organised as possible.

When replying to ads, don't use standard replies - write an individual email that addresses anything the ad specifically asks for.

If you are attending a viewing, have references, payslips and anything else with you.

I don't think a reference from your parents will help, but perhaps a letter of support/guarantee from them might be an added bonus.

Offering more than standard deposit might help.

Would you consider renting a room somewhere and using that to get an independent landlord reference?

Good luck

Son

Suutari29 wrote: »

I have been searching for months and months to rent an apartment and it is impossible!
I have been to a couple of viewings for which I had to queue for hours to actually get in to the viewing, aside from that my biggest issue is to actually get a viewing. I have contacted countless places to arrange a viewing and I never hear back, so where am I going wrong?
I am a 29 year old female in full time employment and with my income I am more than able to afford the rent for the places that I have contacted, I have no children, no pets.
I have a work reference from my employer for which I have worked for over five years, I am happy to provide them with payslips but I just rarely hear back from anyone that I contact.
Unfortunately I have no landlord reference as I still live at my parents home - would landlords accept a reference from my parents?
It is very frustrating knowing that I am a reliable person who can afford the rent on the places but I just can't understand where I am going wrong!
Any advice would be greatly appreciated,
Thank you

I feel your pain, Im single male early 30's and I have been trying to get an apartment for myself since before June. I have replied to many ads, mostly there is no reply or answer even though the ad just went live! I've looked in kill,clane,maynooth,naas and Dublin and I figure now its just a waste of time going to viewings, if I havn't got a place by now Im not going to get one,tempted to leave job and Dublin. The only conclusion I can come to is that people are offering more than the advertised rent and they are the ones getting the place,unfortunately Im just not prepared to pay more than whats already a high rent. Good luck.

Snoopy1

Mrs Shuttleworth wrote: »

There is another thread running in which us landlords are having the same experience with tenants, so it is very strange that many of us are not meeting in the middle.

As you haven't posted your exact wording to landlords when you reply I'm shooting in the dark but there may be a worry that being a sole female occupant you might end up having to apply for HAP in the future and if you saw the news recently a landlord got seriously screwed over by having to pay damages of 42k to three sitting tenants when they wanted to convert their payments to HAP and he said no.

It's only a suspicion but I usually assume a single applicant female is going to mean HAP. Very unfair I know as I'm female myself.

You might be better off staying at home and saving that money for a deposit and trying to buy down the line. Don't move out just because it's viewed as a rite of passage at a certain age.

WTF??? Seriously. Your assuming evey single female is going to be on.hap in the future.
There are plenty of professional single women out there that can afford rent, I rented for 7 years on my own and paid it all myself.

Dont be so demeaning to women

jsd1004

Paddytheman wrote: »

Bahahahahahahahaha are you for real. References from Parents, that's all this country needs to sort it right out.....

Dere Landlord,

timmys a great lad and cleans his dishes.

From,

Timmys mum

I had Timmy as a student tenant. Great lad..wrecked the place. Still have the garda summons for other issues. Mother still rings me for references. It was not Timmy..

Mrs OBumble

Look for a room in a house-share to start with. Use that to get a LL reference.

the_syco

Suutari29 wrote: »

I have been to a couple of viewings for which I had to queue for hours to actually get in to the viewing

Suutari29 wrote: »

I am a 29 year old female in full time employment and with my income I am more than able to afford the rent for the places that I have contacted

The next viewing that you goto, bring 1st months rent and deposit, and if you like the place, offer to take it there and then.

Stay where you are would be my advice and put the money you would be paying in rent into savings for a deposit for your own place.

Mrs Shuttleworth

Snoopy1 wrote: »

WTF??? Seriously. Your assuming evey single female is going to be on.hap in the future.
There are plenty of professional single women out there that can afford rent, I rented for 7 years on my own and paid it all myself.

Dont be so demeaning to women

As I said, it's very unfair, but that's how I view it. Nine times out of ten when I replied to an enquiry from a sole female what you then hear is "do you take the HAP"

The risk is the recent WRC decision. That was a defining moment for landlords. LLs like myself who can't "do the HAP" because we can't comply with the HAP regulations have to be very, very careful who we let into our properties or indeed who we correspond with.

__..__

Suutari29 wrote: »

I have been searching for months and months to rent an apartment and it is impossible!
I have been to a couple of viewings for which I had to queue for hours to actually get in to the viewing, aside from that my biggest issue is to actually get a viewing. I have contacted countless places to arrange a viewing and I never hear back, so where am I going wrong?
I am a 29 year old female in full time employment and with my income I am more than able to afford the rent for the places that I have contacted, I have no children, no pets.
I have a work reference from my employer for which I have worked for over five years, I am happy to provide them with payslips but I just rarely hear back from anyone that I contact.
Unfortunately I have no landlord reference as I still live at my parents home - would landlords accept a reference from my parents?
It is very frustrating knowing that I am a reliable person who can afford the rent on the places but I just can't understand where I am going wrong!
Any advice would be greatly appreciated,
Thank you

What do you send the landlord on first contact?
That's the point where most applications get binned.

When you contact first say I have a job, I earn x amount, I have been there for x amount of years. I am applying for myself, but gave not rented before, hope that's not a problem. Here are my work references. (If you had rented before you could include details and refs too, and reasons you left each property for the last 3 landlords, but you don't).

Basically you are telling the landlord that you don't require hap and you are earning enough and have a solid long term job. So he probably won't bin you and will follow up.
If that info isnt provided on first contact then it's probably the bin.

VanishingActs

I was searching for three weeks and getting basically no replies or viewings. Started adding my Linkedin profile to my emails and started getting replies to most of my emails and had a place within three days. Could be a coincidence but I do feel it helped! Try to perfect your email, also. Mine was basically: Name, age, occupation (full-time, permanent), list one or two hobbies, have employer & landlord references, deposit and rent ready to go, can move in right away.

Not quite in the same boat as I'm just out of college and happy to go into a house-share with other professionals, but actually getting the viewings is one of the big hurdles.

Askthe EA

Id say the house share advice is spot on myself, what you have to remember is for any LL nowadays, letting is as much about risk management as money making. If they have refs from one person and not another, theres a higher risk there.

Tombo2001

Askthe EA wrote: »

Id say the house share advice is spot on myself, what you have to remember is for any LL nowadays, letting is as much about risk management as money making. If they have refs from one person and not another, theres a higher risk there.

You have articulated really well here.

All the commentary from left wing politicians and press seems concerned primarily with demonising landlords as money grabbers; when the number one concern for landlords is that they wont be left in a legal no-mans land if things dont work out that ends up costing a small fortune.

pilly

OP, it's all down to your original email. Tailor each email individually rather than send a standard one and sell yourself in the email. Attach your work reference, state how long your working there etc.

Don't listen to those on here telling you to stay at home and save, if you feel the need to move now go for it.