Are letting agents struggling?

I have been made an offer by a residential lettings company for work and really wanted to get a feel for how this market is at present in Dublin. This area of work is nothing new to me as I have many years experience in this field however to consider this role would mean relocating to a certain degree to Dublin which is not an issue. As the role is about 50% comm I need to know are many residential properties renting or are they simply sitting on the daft website. I do understand that alot of eastern europeans are relocating home again but at the same time people do have a tendancy to move properties particularly tenants or are they currently staying put where they are given the economic climate. Rents have obviously dropped and its a tenants market but are there any areas of the Dublin lettings market that remains bouyant. Any suggestions or comments are greatly appreciated.

I have just completed a letting of an apartment which I take care of myself. It is in Dublin 6 and a good standard apartment. I can say that it was the most difficult in 20 years. Usually I am successful after one or two viewers. This time I had nine viewers before I found a very nice Polish couple with excellent verifiable references.
Associates who own properties in Citywest, Parkwest, Blanchardstown are finding it very difficult.

Along both Luas lines seem to be o.k. but still competitive with rents dropping

Talking to a letting agent the other day, and he told me that times are getting harder for them. So i suppose that landlords are doing the lettings themselves in the current economic climate.

A friend of mine owns his own estate/letting agency and they have gone from a staff of 45 to 7!!!!!!!!!!!!! All in the last year. In south of ireland so not sure if it's the same.

I manage a number of rental properties on behalf of someone else. I currently have two recently vacated apartments. I have an ad on daft and an ad up in the local Centra and yet I've only received two calls so far in the past week - neither of whom is now interested. The apartments are pitched at a rent lower than any comparable property in the area. So, yes, I think letting agents must be struggling at the moment. Additionally, there seem to be a lot more people on rent allowance now than there used to be so if you have landlords who refuse to consider this then it will be more difficult again.

I can't comment on Dublin but in this weeks Carlow Nationalist newspaper there were at least 3 columns of houses and appartements to let.

Things are tight at the moment. Rents are dropping along with commission rates. My guys used to charge 6%, but are now charging 4%.

Also in the past, we could charge a month and a month, however now we are opting for just a month upfront and waiting for the other month until the welfare coughs up. Very few Polish or Africans, but these are replaced by Lativians and Lithuainians.

On a personal note, its not that things are quieter, just more normal, (as it was five years ago.

As a person who is looking for accommodation under the rent allowance system I am finding very hard to get any landlords who will rent to me. I am a 56 year old man non drinker /smoker with a good record with all landlords over the last 10 years. Once rent allowance is mentioned your treated like your from mars or a criminal. I am aware that some people on RA are lot of trouble sometimes but it is sad to all people on RA are treated like this. I would insisted that the rent allowance would be paid direct to the landlord not to me. The maximum rent allowance I will receive is €520 per month but this those not get you much in the Kildare area