First time landlord in Dublin City

beauf

I can't disagree with you about you your experience. I'm just saying my experience with good agents is entirely different.

One agent who I thought was terrible, another friend thinks is great. But then they haven't had experienced a bad tenant with that agent yet.

antoinolachtnai

beauf wrote: »

I can't disagree with you about you your experience. I'm just saying my experience with good agents is entirely different.

One agent who I thought was terrible, another friend thinks is great. But then they haven't had experienced a bad tenant with that agent yet.

I most likely wouldn’t use an agent myself but then I have a fair bit of knowledge and experience. The help of an agent (preferably a good one but even a mediocre one) would be of benefit to the OP where it might not be to other people.

Manion

Hi

Just a small update for those who maybe interested. We opted to modernise the property and let it out. I've learnt a lot over the last 6 months from the experience about expectations and what I really wanted to achieve. For every piece of advice I received I also received the opposite and equally emphatic advice.

We went down the letting agent route but quickly dismissed the first agent as they where being less than honest with us on a number of points and there seemed to be a very strong miss match of expectations. If I'm honest we where momentarily star struck by the rent figure quoted by the letting agent and didn't really question enough how they planned to hit that number.

We were on the point of packing it in and leaving the property vacant until post Brexit when we came across a more reputable letting agent. He spoke a lot of sense and also very clearly outlined the statuary obligation of a landlord which he would not fudge. This was actually very encouraging as generally if someone is willing to apply sharp practices they don't draw a line at their clients.

We opted for a below max market price listing as it became obvious the local market price for a similar property was being inflated by stacking and packing tenants into properties. We quickly got tenants in who on paper seem like a great fit. We'll see how the first 6 months go. So fingers crossed.

riclad

Look on revenue.ie landlord expense,s .You are taxed on your annual salary plus rental income minus expense,s claimed as a landlord.
you, cannot simply take out a large pension to avoid paying any tax on the rental income .
You are better off leaving the front room as it is ,just look for a good tenant .
Who has a good job and can afford to pay the rent.



https://www.revenue.ie/en/property/rental-income/irish-rental-income/index.aspx

you can claim the accountants fee as an expense against rental income.
300 euro for 1 years tax return.


https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/money_and_tax/tax/income_tax/how_your_tax_is_calculated.html

for tax year 2020 , you can claim 100 per cent of mortgage interest as an expense against rental income .
You need send in a tax return before october 30th every year,
you can fill in a paper form and send it in by registered post to the tax office or use the online tax return service on www.revenue.ie ,use form 12 .
i find firefox is the best browser to use for this ,
chrome did not work properly when i tried it , when i clicked the form ,it said error , lost connection to server .
I used firefox and it worked fine.
Make a note of any reference no you get and keep the pdf file it shows you after the form is complete .
You need to keep all reciepts and documents relating to the tenancy for 5-6 years , in case the revenue ask you for more info re expense,s claimed in previous years .

www.ros.ie is the online tax return portal,

register an account there anytime before you wish to make a tax return online.

Mic 1972

what sort of services does a letting agency provide?

i wonder this because there are things that i would rather do myself
- calling repairman, i have my own for everything and i would never call anybody else
- finding the right tenant, i would do this by myself rather than relying on an agency
- tax return, you can do online or use an accountant

what else do they provide?

riclad

They find a tenant ,they go through all the doc,s , id, proof of employment, provide you with document,s ,like a lease, tenancy agreement etc

get a deposit,
they deal with tenant,s ,eg item x need,s a repair.
You might say i need a tenant, maybe a couple ,2 working people,
who are in full time employment by a company.
will you take hap client,s , tenants on welfare.
for a house ,usually a single mother with 2 kids.

they will give you advice ,is it a good idea?
how much deposit to ask for, 6 weeks, plus ?
You can claim the cost of an agent against rental income as an expense.
so say your on holiday,s the oven, or the fridge breaks, down.
you are a 100 miles, away , are you going to come back to fix it.
In the middle of your holiday ?
you can give them a no for plumbers, locksmith, etc in case of emergency.
Also theres companys that mainly do home repairs .

i find the paper form , form 12, much easier to fill in,
the online form 12 ,use,s vague language , which is not as simple or
easy to understand as the paper version i printed off .
You can fill the online tax return,
then go back and add to it, or change it,
anytime, at least until a certain date.
the online form has no note,s section.Online form has 1 line , capital expense,s , put a no in the box, eg 1200
The paper form ,has notes,
eg i put in in note,s section , i,m claiming x amount capital expenses, for
fridge bought in 2016,
oven bought in 2012.
of course you need to find a good agent.
Every tenant has to have a rent book,this is a legal requirement.
this has the name of the landlord or the agent and a phone no.
buy one in easons book shop.

Manion

I don't seem to be able to register for ROS.ie given I'm already a registered for Paye.

Mic 1972 wrote: »

what sort of services does a letting agency provide?

i wonder this because there are things that i would rather do myself
- calling repairman, i have my own for everything and i would never call anybody else
- finding the right tenant, i would do this by myself rather than relying on an agency
- tax return, you can do online or use an accountant

what else do they provide?

They may recommend an accountant but they wont complete your tax returns. The value of a letting agent really depends on you and what you want to achieve. In the end there was apparently 150 approx applicants for our property to whittle through, I cannot imagine how long that would have taken us.

riclad

An agent interviews tenant,s ,maybe shows them the house,
you can claim the cost of an accountant and an agent as an expense against tax on rental income,
so in a sense an agent costs you zero,
as it reduces your tax bill,
Last time i checked an agent charges, about the cost of 1 months rent.
But that was years ago.
An agent will have to spend time talking to tenant,s ,
checking have they id, payslips, proof of employment,
they work for company x, salary is x amount.
can they afford to pay the rent ,plus the deposit.
and say there,s problem, the tenant can call them, eg fridge stops working, etc
An agents job is to manage the property, vet tenant,s find a good tenant
and interview prospective tenants .

Edgware

Using a downstairs front room as a bedroom.? If you have gas heating better check that with Bord Gais

Manion

If I understand correctly letting fees maybe tax deductible at the marginal rate of tax. I'm unsure how it would Work out free...

Claw Hammer

Manion wrote: »

If I understand correctly letting fees maybe tax deductible at the marginal rate of tax. I'm unsure how it would Work out free...

It is not free. Some people are so obsessed with not paying tax that they waste money just to get a tax deduction.

Mic 1972

Claw Hammer wrote: »

It is not free. Some people are so obsessed with not paying tax that they waste money just to get a tax deduction.

ehehehe, true

riclad

Say a landlord a paid 4k tax in 2018.
if he spends 1200 euro on a letting agent,in 2019
it means the amount of income that,s liable for tax is reduced by 1200 .Most landlords pay 40 per cent tax or more on rental income .

You have to go onto the website,
i think its ros.ie and make an account.
make an account, wait a few days, then you can make an online tax return.
Its a 2 Step process .
make account ,

Wait, log out of account.
maybe 2 days later login to your account,
make a tax return.
i think each account ,has a user id no.
it has a user name, and password.
your user name might be your email adress.
i only did it once .

because your are on paye does not stop you making an account ,
or using ros.ie

My friend is on paye , full time office employee for a company, she uses ros .ie to make online tax returns
as a landlord .


https://www.ros.ie/oidc/login/noCertsFound?lang=en&client_id=rosint_rp




QUOTE ;

Individuals registered for PAYE or LPT only should usemyAccount

Claw Hammer

riclad wrote: »

Say a landlord a paid 4k tax in 2018.
if he spends 1200 euro on a letting agent,in 2019
it means the amount of income that,s liable for tax is reduced by 1200 .Most landlords pay 40 per cent tax or more on rental income .

So you pay out €1200 to save €480 on tax leaving it costing you €720? Not exactly free is it, even by your calculations?

riclad

No ,its not free , i agree, re fee for agent .
if you buy a new fridge , for 400 euros,
you claim 50 euro per year ,over 8 years as a capital allowance.
So you get 400euro to claim as an expense against rental income .

Claw Hammer

riclad wrote: »

No ,its not free , i agree, re fee for agent .
if you buy a new fridge , for 400 euros,
you claim 50 euro per year ,over 8 years as a capital allowance.
So you get 400euro to claim as an expense against rental income .

An agent is not a fridge.

The_Conductor

riclad wrote: »

No ,its not free , i agree, re fee for agent .
if you buy a new fridge , for 400 euros,
you claim 50 euro per year ,over 8 years as a capital allowance.
So you get 400euro to claim as an expense against rental income .

A fridge is expenditure on fixture and fittings- and is depreciated at the rate of 12.5% over 8 years. I.e. you are allowed 12.5% as a cost against rental income (not against tax) over 8 years.
A letting agent is a running cost- and is wholly deductible against rental income in the year in which the services are procured.
I.e. the letting agent is providing a service with a cost associated with it towards letting the property- your fridge is a white good which you depreciate as scheduled.

My head hurts trying to figure why you're using two different types of costs in the explanation.

Claw Hammer

The_Conductor wrote: »

My head hurts trying to figure why you're using two different types of costs in the explanation.

He is trying to distract attention from the fact a letting agent's fee was free because it is tax deductible

Manion

The_Conductor wrote: »

A fridge is expenditure on fixture and fittings- and is depreciated at the rate of 12.5% over 8 years. I.e. you are allowed 12.5% as a cost against rental income (not against tax) over 8 years.
A letting agent is a running cost- and is wholly deductible against rental income in the year in which the services are procured.
I.e. the letting agent is providing a service with a cost associated with it towards letting the property- your fridge is a white good which you depreciate as scheduled.

My head hurts trying to figure why you're using two different types of costs in the explanation.

So a letting agency fees are tax deductible at the marginal rate of tax.

circular flexing

Manion wrote: »

So a letting agency fees are tax deductible at the marginal rate of tax.

Revenue have a guide about what is deductible

https://www.revenue.ie/en/property/rental-income/irish-rental-income/what-expenses-are-allowed.aspx

Looks like only the initial agency fees are deductible.