# Anyone finding it hard to rent a room out in lucan



## SNOWBALL (9 Jul 2008)

hi

A friend of mine has a double room ensuite in lucan snd she is finding it hard to rent out.She has had in on daft, the evening herald for 3 weeks and the local spars.She has it price ok €500 per month and no bills.She had a single room last year to rent and got loads of calls and rented it in a week.Any one else suffering the same problem? I cant think of anything else to help her out.


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## jpd (9 Jul 2008)

price it at €400 ?


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## jiz (9 Jul 2008)

price it at €300


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## Steve D (9 Jul 2008)

Have a look at the rental graph on this:

http://daftwatch.atspace.com/

The rental graph shows how the number of properties for rent has increased!

There is your answer! 

The only way to rent anything out when there is so much competition is to reduce the price!


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## bogota400 (10 Jul 2008)

Also been doing the rent-a-room gig for the last couple of years. Although not comparible with your scenario (i'm in regional backwater town), now finding it difficult to get tenants - whereas wasnt a problem before.
An excess of completed housing bought off plans by investors which remains empty has spoilt market.  Just to compound the matter, many of the tradespeople who had moved to the town have moved on.

Had assumed that prime urban areas would still be ok - but in your case, I see thats not the case.  Interested to hear feedback from others as regards their recent experience.


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## SNOWBALL (10 Jul 2008)

A yesr ago she would have floods of calls i have said to her there is a surplus of rooms available.I have said to her to contact the language schools and  host a student.Some stay for long term.I have sent some mails away for her to the schools this morning.I saw one this morning paying €170 per week.She knows she will have to do the half board.I think that is a better option than reducing her room to €300 a month.She is only looking for €125 per week and they have a large room with an ensuite and no other bills to pay.


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## Guest116 (10 Jul 2008)

SNOWBALL said:


> hi
> 
> A friend of mine has a double room ensuite in lucan snd she is finding it hard to rent out.She has had in on daft, the evening herald for 3 weeks and the local spars.She has it price ok €500 per month and no bills.She had a single room last year to rent and got loads of calls and rented it in a week.Any one else suffering the same problem? I cant think of anything else to help her out.


 
I just rented out 2 double rooms (one ensuite) and priced them at 400 and 440 each. 500 is steep for Lucan. Lower the price!

Double room in Lucan can be got quite easily for the 400-450 mark.


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## SNOWBALL (10 Jul 2008)

Does your € 440 for your ensuite  include bills or do they have to share the bills?


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## shnaek (10 Jul 2008)

This is the market at work - supply and demand. If there isn't a market for what she is offering at the price she is offering, then something has to give. Perhaps try the lower price but don't include bills.


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## Guest116 (10 Jul 2008)

SNOWBALL said:


> Does your € 440 for your ensuite include bills or do they have to share the bills?


 
Bills are extra.
Bills should never be included in the rent in my opinion, otherwise they could have the heat on 24*7 and you have to pay for it.


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## pinkyBear (10 Jul 2008)

try www.gumtree.ie - it also does short term lets.


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## SNOWBALL (10 Jul 2008)

ok so your bills are extra i think €500 per month is ok and they wont have any other bill to pay.if you are getting €440 there is only €60 in the difference and bills can work out expensive especially in the winter.Heating and electricity have gone up and then there is the bin tags.So if anyone takes her room that have it all for €500.I have suggested that she reduce it to €480 all inclusive.


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## Luternau (10 Jul 2008)

Why not take the dbl room yourself and offer another room for less money? In fact, if its their house and they have only one ensuite bathroom, as most houses in lucan do, thats the room they should be keeping for own use.


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## shnaek (10 Jul 2008)

SNOWBALL said:


> i think €500 per month is ok and they wont have any other bill to pay.


It doesn't matter what you think. It matters what people are willing to pay. This is the way the market works. I predict that dropping to 480 won't make a difference. She'll be another few months without a tenant, then she might drop to 460 and be another few months without a tenant. I guess it depends on how much she needs the money.

In my opinion she'd be better off dropping to 440 or 400 now, and leave out the bills. She could be earning money a lot sooner, rather than earning nothing from an empty room.


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## SNOWBALL (10 Jul 2008)

she has an attic conversion with ensuite that is for herself , she got a call from a language school and they will give her a student bed & breakfast for €130 per week.She can go full board  for €180.I have said to her in this current climate i would get the student.She is not struggling she has a very low mortgage about €59,000 euro but the money is handy for savings for her.


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## Guest116 (10 Jul 2008)

shnaek said:


> It doesn't matter what you think. It matters what people are willing to pay. This is the way the market works. I predict that dropping to 480 won't make a difference. She'll be another few months without a tenant, then she might drop to 460 and be another few months without a tenant. I guess it depends on how much she needs the money.
> 
> In my opinion she'd be better off dropping to 440 or 400 now, and leave out the bills. She could be earning money a lot sooner, rather than earning nothing from an empty room.


 
Fully agree. Nearly all house shares are based on paying an amount for the room and then sharing the bills. And some people searching for "rooms in lucan for less than 450" would not even see the ad from 500 even though the 500 is broken out into 440 for the room and 60 or so for the bills.

Just make it simple, 440 or whatever for the room, bills extra.


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## Guest128 (10 Jul 2008)

SNOWBALL said:


> ok so your bills are extra i think €500 per month is ok and they wont have any other bill to pay.if you are getting €440 there is only €60 in the difference and bills can work out expensive especially in the winter.Heating and electricity have gone up and then there is the bin tags.So if anyone takes her room that have it all for €500.I have suggested that she reduce it to €480 all inclusive.




I have to agree with shnaek. You should not include bills in rent. As a rentor I would not go for this as I would have no control over what I pay. If I want to sit in the dark and cold in winter to say money it should be up to me to do it. Tenants wont want to pay for something they might not use. You mention the Winter.....what about the Summer and Autumn when lights or heat are rarely on? You need to give the tenant the choice, pay what you use for. To be honest, im sure there are plenty of tenants who would have the heat would be on 24/7 to ensure they werent cold, sure why not as they're not paying for *use*!! Not saying this is a nice tenant but this does happen....so be careful on the bills front, it could end up costing you more than dropping the rent....


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## Howitzer (10 Jul 2008)

SNOWBALL said:


> she has an attic conversion with ensuite that is for herself , she got a call from a language school and they will give her a student bed & breakfast for €130 per week.She can go full board for €180.I have said to her in this current climate i would get the student.She is not struggling she has a very low mortgage about €59,000 euro but the money is handy for savings for her.


Are you aware of what the tax situation is with regards to this? This may not fall under the Rent-a-room scheme which I presume she currently rents under.


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## SNOWBALL (10 Jul 2008)

Howtizer

I posted her because i wanted to see if anyone else is suffering the same problem as my friend.I dont want a lecture on if she is obeying the tax system.€125 a week she is ok for the rent a room scheme.Please dont post if you have nothing that is relevant to my post

Thank You


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## webtax (10 Jul 2008)

SNOWBALL said:


> Howtizer
> 
> I posted her because i wanted to see if anyone else is suffering the same problem as my friend.I dont want a lecture on if she is obeying the tax system.€125 a week she is ok for the rent a room scheme.Please dont post if you have nothing that is relevant to my post
> 
> Thank You


 
Howitzer has raised a relevant point that anyone renting under the rent-a-room scheme needs to consider and I do not think his post merited this sort of reply.

BTW, if your friend is living in an attic conversion are they not renting out a double & a single which would put them near the limit?


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## rmelly (10 Jul 2008)

SNOWBALL said:


> Howtizer
> 
> I posted her because i wanted to see if anyone else is suffering the same problem as my friend.I dont want a lecture on if she is obeying the tax system.€125 a week she is ok for the rent a room scheme.Please dont post if you have nothing that is relevant to my post
> 
> Thank You


 
I don't think he was lecturing - he wanted to ensure your friend understood the implications. As her friend surely you want to be sure that the advice you give her is valid and not going to cause her tax compliance issues? Fair enough it might not be an issue, but what if subsequently she extended it to 2 students that might put her over the threshold?


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## webtax (10 Jul 2008)

Howitzer has raised a very relevant issue for anyone considering renting under the rent-a-room scheme and I do not think his post merited this sort of reply. Other people might use this thread for information besides yourself.

BTW, if you friend is living in an attic conversion how many rooms are they renting out? The €10,000 limit might be of more relevance than you think.


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## SNOWBALL (10 Jul 2008)

just to clarify she is only renting the one room out she has not interest in having  anymore than one person in her home.Can we stick  to the question please and not tax issues.

Anyone finding it hard to rent a room out in lucan?


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## rmelly (10 Jul 2008)

SNOWBALL said:


> Anyone finding it hard to rent a room out in lucan?


 
No


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## television (10 Jul 2008)

rmelly said:


> No


 
Good constructive comment there> not. 

Drop the price of the room is the only answer, and dont include the bills.


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## rmelly (10 Jul 2008)

television said:


> Good constructive comment there> not.
> 
> Drop the price of the room is the only answer, and dont include the bills.


 
television, read the OP's previous response - I have 'stuck to the question' as requested.


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## television (10 Jul 2008)

rmelly said:


> television, read the OP's previous response - I have 'stuck to the question' as requested.


 
I know but I am guessing that she wanted constructive elaboration so to speak.


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## rmelly (10 Jul 2008)

as far as I can see she's had 2 pages worth but doesn't appear willing to heed the advice.


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## SNOWBALL (11 Jul 2008)

if you can post something that is of interest please dont post.Just posting 
NO  in that manner you come across as being someone who has nothing
constructive to say.I can understand you are probaly living at home and have no knowledge of the rental sector and that is ok.


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## dereko1969 (11 Jul 2008)

there are 55 rooms available in lucan on daft between €400-€500 at the moment, all she can do is look at what else is available and price accordingly, if she doesn't want to do the student thing then dropping the price is the only option. 
tell her to add similar properties to hers to her saved adds list and then see how many are still available in a weeks time, likelihood is that those that are priced lower will have been let and those at the higher level will still be available.


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## Firehead (16 Jul 2008)

I don't mean to hijack the OP's original post but just as she mentioned that her friend is considering renting a room to a language student, I'm just wondering if anyone else has done this and what has been your experience of it.  We have the opportunity of renting a room to German student, half-board (which in effect really only means dinner in the evening as he/she will be at college during the day) for €140 per week.


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## Firehead (17 Jul 2008)

Mods, can you move my last post to a more appropriate thread, thanks.


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## z106 (17 Jul 2008)

SNOWBALL said:


> just to clarify she is only renting the one room out she has not interest in having anymore than one person in her home.Can we stick to the question please and not tax issues.
> 
> Anyone finding it hard to rent a room out in lucan?


 
Listen snowball - if teh room has been empty for weeks with no interest then quite obviously the price is too high.
I don't see why you have difficulty in getting this.


Lower the price - other people on this thread are renting in that area for lower.

And this whole 'bills included' is a very bad idea.

As soemone else says, people go on to daft with their ranges of say 400-450.
As a result they don't even see teh ad for 500 - regardless of bills being included.

To sum up this thread - lower the price and keep bill seperate.


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