Letting apartment taking ages

U

ULS

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I have a letting agent dealing with letting out my apartment and 2 months ago they advised me what needed to be done and told me it would take about 2 weeks to let out once it was ready.

It is in Newcastle, CO Dublin which I would consider a good location and is in perfect condition.

Over a month ago it was ready to go and the letting agent told me it would take a little longer to let out as the market was slow.

It is currently on daft.ie and on the letting agents website, there is no TO LET sign outside the apartment which is facing a main road with own access.

Can anyone advise what else I can do to get this place let out sooner?
 
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i am living in newcastle myself at the moment...i think there are just too many apartments to let at the present time, giving the amount of building thats gone on here lately. good luck though.
 
What defines Newcastle as being a particularly good area - for renting?

At the end of the day anywhere will rent if it is priced competitively. What rent are you looking for, what are other apts in the area looking for on Daft? How does that compare to, say, a similar apt in the IFSC?
 
Told by several agents it was a good area, didnt buy it for an investment. There are several large industrial estates in the area and minutes from N4, N7 and M50. There is no point in comparing it to the likes of the IFSC as it is a completely different area! The rent is competitive for that area.

I am just wondering if there are any suggestions on alternative ways of letting it other than 1 estate agent advertising it on Daft.
 
there is a very busy shop/fuel station/post office....in newcastle,some people place ads on the noticeboard there. could be worth a try!
 
ULS said:
Told by several agents it was a good area, didnt buy it for an investment. There are several large industrial estates in the area and minutes from N4, N7 and M50. There is no point in comparing it to the likes of the IFSC as it is a completely different area! The rent is competitive for that area.

I am just wondering if there are any suggestions on alternative ways of letting it other than 1 estate agent advertising it on Daft.
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Property on Daft.ie has a very high visibility. It's one of the most visited websites in the Republic.

There are 3 obvious ways you can get a tenant more quickly.
1. Increased advertising (local, national papers etc)
2. Lower the price
3. Call your letting agent very frequently. He may have quite a few properties to let, and may try to let other property before yours. If you call frequently, he may give yours priority.
 
I think you do have to compare, even though they are different areas. The IFSC will attract a premium rent - Newcastle will not. If you are looking for a similar rent as an apt in a more desirable location then you may simply be looking for too much. For someone renting price is generally the number 1 priority.

The other apts that your apt is competitive against, have they rented?

You can take it as a given that someone renting in an area is renting there out of convenience - people don't rent somewhere to commute to somewhere else.

Daft and the Evening Herald are the primary resources for renters.
 
If you look at the graph in the link below you can see that the number of properties for rent in Co Dublin on the daft website have increased from about 2,200 in Oct 2007 to 4,500 now:

http://daftwatch.atspace.com/daftcounty_1.html

When there is such a huge increase in rental supply like the, the best way to ensure that your property is rented out is to lower the rent!
 
Newcastle is great, and it will suit a lot of tenants.
But it's not as rentable as somewhere in Dublin 1 for instance.

If you want, paste the daft link in your next post (if its not against the posting guidelines), and we can critically evaluate the ad.
 
Maybe try renting it out yourself instead of using a letting agent, that will give you a feel for the market. As previous posters have said if the rent is set too high and there are lots of similar apartments available it will make it harder to rent.
 
ULS said:
I have a letting agent dealing with letting out my apartment and 2 months ago they advised me what needed to be done and told me it would take about 2 weeks to let out once it was ready. It is in Newcastle, CO Dublin which I would consider a good location and is in perfect condition. Over a month ago it was ready to go and the letting agent told me it would take a little longer to let out as the market was slow.

It is currently on daft.ie and on the letting agents webside, there is no TO LET sign outside the apartment which is facing a main road with own access.

Can anyone advise what else I can do to get this place let out sooner?
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Do a search on Daft for comparable apartments. Then sort by price.

Set your price below the lowest one that comes up. You can leave out outliers like a clearly derelict place, but don't let your emotion fool yourself into thinkng that you place must be worth more than others. Rental void is the killer of successful property investment.

While people say property is about location location location, you can't move your apartment. So for you it is price, price, price.
 
As others have said.
Price your property the same as similar properties to rent in the area.

Change your letting agent. They are just a hole to bury money in for no gain.

Maybe try and rent it yourself.
 
minion said:
As others have said.
Price your property the same as similar properties to rent in the area.

Change your letting agent. They are just a hole to bury money in for no gain.

Maybe try and rent it yourself.
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I feel the need to repeat myself for emphasis.

Price you property below other on the market. If still no intertest keep reducing.
 
Camry said:
I feel the need to repeat myself for emphasis.

Price you property below other on the market. If still no intertest keep reducing.
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Trouble with doing that is some people will think there is something wrong with it. There is just too much property out there and there is no floor under the rental market so rents are on the verge of collapse anway.

I would say price it near the bottom of the existing range and hope it gets rented before the market falls further.
 
A friend of mine currently has an apartment to let and has deliberately priced it less than all similar properties on daft (a drop of €60 from last time it was let over a year ago) and has not received any phone calls at all about it. It is in a good location and was snapped up every other time it became free. The rental market just seems very quite at the moment.
I would advise that the OP put up a sign outside the apartment and ensure that the photos on daft do the aprtment justice.
 
totally agree with deefox - ensure your pics do the place justice, the amount of crap pics on daft is incredible - if the pic is crap people won't bother viewing
 
Camry said:
I feel the need to repeat myself for emphasis.

Price you property below other on the market. If still no intertest keep reducing.
Click to expand...

No need to do this, unless your place is worse than the others at that price. Then its worth less - obviously.

You need to pirce within current market rates. No higher. No lower.
You just need to improve your own letting skills.


You'll be seeing a lot of posts from non-landlords telling you to price lower.
And a lot from amateur landlords telling you to price higher.

But most landlords in here know the business and will give you good advice.

If others with similar properties are reducing their asking prices, then reduce yours to be the same as the average.
Again, if your place is in good condition and well presented you will have no problem letting it.

On agents - my pet hate - Ditch them if at all possible. They will gouge your money out of you for doing nothing more than you can easily do yourself in far less time, and then take no responsibility if things go wrong. In my book, taking your money means assuming responsibility for their work.
 
im no landlord but i know a bit about sales,renting is simply selling someone the use of your house and if everyone is selling something similar at a similar price but nobody is buying..the you have to drop your price to get a bite...its not ideal i know,but better that having the place lying empty making you noting at all. half a loaf...and all that!!
 
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