Emigrating: Renting out a 4bed house - What to look for from potential tenants?

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BobbyFowler

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Myself & MrsF will be emigrating soon so we're putting up our 4 Bed Place for rent.

Took a few pics & put the ad on Daft.

Got a response pretty quickly. It's 6 Eastern Europeans in their late 20's. Met 3 of them & they seem nice with jobs locally. They don't want a short term lease as they plan on staying for a good while. They like the place & will get back to me on Monday. We're not heading off until June/July & they're happy to wait till then (they're in apartments in the same area at the moment).

Hadn't expected such a quick reply & hadn't put a huge amount of thought into what it is I should be looking from them.

I presume I should get something like 500 Euro from them to reserve the place & then when they're moving in to have a months rent + a months rent deposit?

Should I get Landlords references / job references from one or two of them?

They mentioned that while they wouldn't smoke in the other areas of the house, would it be okay to smoke in the kitchen. Not sure if I should put a blanket ban on smoking in the house full stop or say if their idea is okay. Anyone else with experience of this?

I know a friend of mine has some kind of rental agreement with tenants of his so I'll follow up with the document he has.

If anyone has tips of what I should be looking out for, I'd be happy to get some feedback.
 
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Re: Emigrating: Renting out a 4bed house - What to look for from potential tennants?

This rings alarm bells with me sorry.

Do you know what sectors they work in? Many Eastern Europeans here are working in areas connected to construction and those jobs are far from secure in the current economy.

You should meet all of them and ensure that there are only 6 people moving in. There's a 2 bed apartment near us which is registered with the PRTB as 4 bed spaces but there are at least 8 of them in it!

I would want references for all tenants, and check them out. Just because it's written down doesn't mean it's true.

As for smoking, our property is rented as non-smoking. The risk of an un extinguished cigarette to your property is too great IMO.
 
Re: Emigrating: Renting out a 4bed house - What to look for from potential tennants?

I would rent it out nearer the time before you go - people securing a rental property 4 months in advance rarely pans out - what if they get a better offer or see a more suitable place and want their booking deposit back. If you don't give it to them they might get stroppy (and they know where you live!).

Also, make it no-smoking full stop - unless you are smokers yourselves and the house is already ruined with the smell.

They'll need to be registered with PRTB, as will you so you will need PPS #'s off tenants.
 
Re: Emigrating: Renting out a 4bed house - What to look for from potential tennants?

Cheers for that

There's 2 couples & two others. I got a broad overview of where they worked - the two ladies were in Diageo in Clondalkin while the guy was working in computers - not sure about the other 3. They're in apartments at the moment & are looking at something bigger. To be fair, we've got the house looking really well & the photos reflect that. They said they'd been looking for a while & hadn't found anything. Fair point on the non smoking - I'll make sure that's the case. I'll ask all 6 for references if they're still interested. A question - do people ask for work references or just landlord references?
 
Re: Emigrating: Renting out a 4bed house - What to look for from potential tennants?

BobbyFowler said:
Cheers for that

There's 2 couples & two others. I got a broad overview of where they worked - the two ladies were in Diageo in Clondalkin while the guy was working in computers - not sure about the other 3. They're in apartments at the moment & are looking at something bigger. To be fair, we've got the house looking really well & the photos reflect that. They said they'd been looking for a while & hadn't found anything. Fair point on the non smoking - I'll make sure that's the case. I'll ask all 6 for references if they're still interested. A question - do people ask for work references or just landlord references?
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You can ask for references to state that these people work in such and such a place. I have to write them for my staff regularly enough. I don't state any attributes, just that Mr(s) x works in y since z.
 
I would be very concerned about letting to a group of six young people. The likelihood of the same six people being there at the end of the letting period is slim - couples break up, the singles could become couples, friends fall out, someone could lose their job and try to sublet the couch to make up the rent! There are risks with anybody who would rent but I think they are significantly higher with a (large) young group from abroad. I would insist on references from all six - both work and previous landlords. Do check them out (as others have said) because these can easily be forged. Inisist on no smoking and say that the cost of painting the house will have to be taken from the deposit if the house does smell of smoke after the tenancy. Tell them that you are very friendly with the neighbors and that you'll be the first to hear about it if there are parties/noise,etc. Are you friendly with the neighbors? Is there someone who could keep an eye on the property while you are away? You could put a clause in the lease saying that there will be inspections of the property every 3/4 months and have a friend/family member walk through the property checking that it is being maintained in good condition. Highlight this clause to all six - you would have to give notice of such an inspection but at least the tenants would be aware that the house must be kept in good order.
I would hold off on taking money from them for the moment given that the letting is not going to happen for another few months - tell them you will let them know in a months time. This will give you time to see if anyone else is interested. And still gives them plenty of time to find somewhere if you find someone more suitable.
 
DeeFox said:
Inisist on no smoking and say that the cost of painting the house will have to be taken from the deposit if the house does smell of smoke after the tenancy. Tell them that you are very friendly with the neighbors and that you'll be the first to hear about it if there are parties/noise,etc.
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The big problem with banning smoking from the house is that best case scenario the tenants will smoke outside your back door and do most of their socialising outdoors (drinking outside at weekends etc) with consequent disruption to the neighbours.

If there are 6 people living there and their pals are coming over this could really get on your neighbours wicks so be prepared for some potential grief. I've heard of people who have moved away from living next door to rented properties because of the constant noise from tenants in the back garden.
 
What about going through an estate agent to find tennants? Is it worth the fee? Anyone got a view on this?
 
fintans said:
The big problem with banning smoking from the house is that best case scenario the tenants will smoke outside your back door and do most of their socialising outdoors (drinking outside at weekends etc) with consequent disruption to the neighbours.
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It's funny in recent years around Dublin (and maybe elsewhere?) how many more people you notice standing outside the front door (or leaning out a house/apartment window!) smoking due to house rules such as these.
 
HI

I would get work ref dont be afraid to ask and do ring the employer anyone can put pen to paper.I would just advetise it for a while longer and maybe try for a family.You may have less hassel thats just my opinion.Have you tried the daft website i have had some good tenants from daft in the past.Just be sure to get your deposit they may be the best tenants you will not know until they rent your house.
 
I would considering using a letting agency, they would have a lot of knowledge of what to look for and if something does go wrong while you are away they can also look after things like running repairs etc. If you decide not to use a letting company I would still recommend having a chat with one, you can pick up some great tips such as what details to get from potential tenant eg photocopy of passports, reference, sample contracts etc
 
fintans said:
The big problem with banning smoking from the house is that best case scenario the tenants will smoke outside your back door and do most of their socialising outdoors (drinking outside at weekends etc) with consequent disruption to the neighbours.
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The other problem with this is that they may well get into the habit of throwing their butts out over the wall, particularly if they border the street. We have this problem now with the one rented house on our street. The missus is chasing the litter wardens to get it sorted.
 
The guys didn't go with the house - they found something available a bit sooner. Anyway, I'm better prepared for the future. I've updated my page on Daft & have included "Non Smoking" on it. Cheers for the tips.
 
BobbyFowler said:
The guys didn't go with the house - they found something available a bit sooner. Anyway, I'm better prepared for the future. I've updated my page on Daft & have included "Non Smoking" on it. Cheers for the tips.
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When people rent a property out they generally want it straight away - you should just leave it until a couple of weeks before you leave the property - otherwise it's wasting your time and theirs. Best of luck with the rental. I am a landlord and I've been lucky with my tenants over the years but you need to very careful because they make your life a misery if you get bad ones.
 
As an absentee landlord, the tenant will have a legal requirement to deduct tax before paying your rent. Not a lot of people know this, so you may have a bit of explaining to do.
 
Complainer said:
As an absentee landlord, the tenant will have a legal requirement to deduct tax before paying your rent. Not a lot of people know this, so you may have a bit of explaining to do.
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Unless the OP can get one of his family/friends to act as agent for him, which would be preferable IMO.
 
murphaph said:
Unless the OP can get one of his family/friends to act as agent for him, which would be preferable IMO.
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I thought the legal obligation remained, regardless of who acted as agent, as it arises from the location of the landlord. Many 'professional' agents are ignorant of this requirement.

Are you certain that the obligation to deduct tax goes away if they have a local agent?
 
Complainer said:
I thought the legal obligation remained, regardless of who acted as agent, as it arises from the location of the landlord. Many 'professional' agents are ignorant of this requirement.

Are you certain that the obligation to deduct tax goes away if they have a local agent?
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Revenue says:

Landlord and Agent
Where rents payable to a
non-resident landlord are paid to a
person whose usual place of abode is
in the State, for example to an Irish
based estate agent, acting on behalf of
a non-resident landlord, the tenant is
not obliged or entitled to deduct
income tax. The non-resident
landlord is chargeable in the name of
the Irish agent. The Irish agent is not
entitled to deduct tax from the rent
on payment to the landlord but
would normally retain sufficient of
the rents to satisfy the tax payable on
the rents. The agent should not issue
an R185 to the landlord.
The landlord is assessable in the
name of the Irish agent (Section 1034
TCA 1997). While the assessment is
in the name of the Irish agent, the tax
to be charged is the amount which
would be charged if the non-resident
landlord was assessed in his or her
own right. Accordingly, relief will be
given for any personal allowances to
which the non-resident landlord is
entitled and tax will be charged at the
marginal rate of income tax.z
 
Although the OP used the word 'emigrating' they may not have meant the finality that term implies. There are differences between domicile/residency which will affect the OP's tax situation.
 
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