Opinions on continuing to rent out property or sell

M

Mothergoose

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I have a property that my two children live in for college - I have two properties in Dublin - one I live in and one they live in. The property that they live in is 5 mins walk from their college whereas where I live in Dublin would be two buses. I have rented out two rooms to help pay for utilities, maintenance, insurance, property tax etc. The utility bills were included in the rent form the two tenants - my children don't pay rent there, and this is, I understand, allowed per Revenue until they finish college. However, I am 58 and completely exhausted by issues with tenants. It was mostly alright until last year when we rented for the first time to two Irish students - one left half eaten pizzas and half eaten packets of crisps in her room, and we got mice for the first time ever. She owned up and was really proactive in getting rid of them.
This year we had two tenants, one of who left lots of food uncovered for days after a party, refused to clean it up, and threatened my daughter with a kitchen knife that she was using when my daughter asked her to clean it up. She then let her friends stay in another tenant's room when he was away and then she told him it was my children's friends who slept there. Then she said it was my children who were leaving food around the house, though my children had texted me several times, stating that they couldn't get her to clean up. We got mice again, but she never told me for 2 months and then there was an infestation. Rentokill had to come out at a cost of 573.00. Before she moved in I had emailed her mother to say that a tenant last year had left food lying around and we got mice and could she ask her daughter to not leave food lying around uncovered and to be clean and tidy - obviously this did not work. She then started saying the house was filthy when she moved in - which was untrue as I don't let it during the summer and spend my days of cleaning it and getting maintenance done, and also she and her father took the room with no issue when they saw it. Her attitude was so bad, I suggested she leave in December, then she came back an hour later and said her parents had advised her to stay, then she left suddenly on 30th Dec without any notice. The room was advertised as a nine month let, and there are emails between myself and her mother confirming this. I didn't return her deposit as it was so stressful dealing with her that I was reluctant to let the room again. We have now got a Ukranian refugee who is lovely. Then she took me to the small claims court - I disputed everything. Then in correspondence with the Small Claims Court she stated my children and their friends were doing cocaine on the kitchen table and now all their friends are really upset about being accused of this, and stated that this tenant and her friends were the ones asking them if they could get cocaine or weed at a party they had at the house. My daughter is a trainee solicitor and hugely guards her reputation so she would definitely not engage in this behaviour or let her friends do it in the house.

I am so exhausted with it and I am moving abroad, that I asked the other tenant, who was generally ok, and who was only living in the house about 4 days per month, if he would wanted to stay until June as agreed initially, or he would like to leave with one month's notice before then. He said he would stay until June, but then three days later stated he wanted to leave in a week, and if I didn't give him his deposit back he would contact the Small Claims Court. I feel done with renting property. I have two rooms rented out in my own home under the Rent a Room Scheme, but obviously, I will be paying tax on this when I move abroad. I just feel done with renting to anyone though. I was thinking of selling one of the Dublin properties, and just using the money to semi-retire - I have a holiday home where I am originally from and would in three years or so like to retire there. I have no pension really as I gave up work for the children, then worked part-time then latterly full-time. Do people get tired of being a landlord as they age?

Any advice welcome. I am at the end of my tether. I think I don't cope as well with stress as I've gotten older.
 
Mothergoose said:
We have now got a Ukranian refugee who is lovely. Then she took me to the small claims court - I disputed everything. Then in correspondence with the Small Claims Court she stated my children and their friends were doing cocaine on the kitchen table...
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Can you clarify if it was the Ukranian who brought the small claims dispute? And if so, did the Red Cross or placement agency get involved?
 
Hi! DannyBoyD - no the Ukranian girl has only been in the house two months. She is absolutely lovely. She actually works part-time as a cleaner here, and carries her cleaning job to the house - basically, the house has never been so clean since she moved in - clean as in you could nearly eat your dinner off the floor.
 
Mothergoose said:
Hi! DannyBoyD - no the Ukranian girl has only been in the house two months. She is absolutely lovely. She actually works part-time as a cleaner here, and carries her cleaning job to the house - basically, the house has never been so clean since she moved in - clean as in you could nearly eat your dinner off the floor.
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Understood - you might want to edit your original post.
 
OP, your paragraphs in your opening post are too long for some of us to read with any level of comfort.

If you wish for more people to read it, you might consider correcting this.
 
You have been very unlucky. Its hard to advise. If you are worn out that should be something that you have to consider. Do you need this as you approach retirement? House shares with other unknowns will always carry risks of getting someone that causes difficulties.

I agree with DannyBoy saying you need to correct the post with regard to the Ukrainian girl. I guessed if you are saying she is great that she did not take you to the small claims court but that part follows directly after the sentence about her. Shorter paragraphs would make it easier to read.

Perhaps that girl has other Ukrainian friends that could take rooms?

Best of luck with your decision.
 
It seems your entire pension is effectively invested in Irish property, I would sell at least one of the properties and get some advice on what else to invest in to get a pension income.
 
OP: You have the answer to your own question. Don't rent to Irish students. They expect the landlady to wipe their arses like their mammies did until they left home! The safest bet will be a tenant from a European country with a renting culture, preferably a professional but students are generally ok too. They seem to be much more mature than we are at that age.

But if you are completely worn out by it and it's too much, why can't your own children take on the burden of looking after it? They will presumably expect to inherit it, so they should expect to manage it for you! Especially if they are remaining in Dublin when you head back to your home country. If your home country happens to be Germany you should be really careful about selling by the way. There are unique tax advantages there.

Don't forget also that you will be entitled to many years of PRSI credits for the years you reared your kids and had no paid PRSI contributions!! I am presuming you make over 5k a year in rental income and pay PRSI on this and that this was possibly the case while you were not working? If this was your only income during those years, those PRSI contributions should be Class S and these count for the contributory old age pension! You need to request a record of your PRSI contributions if you haven't already done so. You should ask in the pensions forum for advice there. Having a decent state pension would take a lot of pressure off your decision making here.
 
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