problem renting small room

J

jimmyok

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Hi

I have been renting out my old house in navan for three months now and have three tenants in the 3 big rooms , but the small box room I am having a lot of difficulty getting rid of , even considering the room is only 250 euro ( dropped it down from 300 euro ) .

We have had a lot of viewings and no one seems interested . I am considering handing the whole house over to a letting agent as its just too much hassle , we have a lot of other things to worrie about !

The only place I have been advertising is on daft , maybe thats the reason ...

Anyone got any advice , I am told that the rental market in Navan is very good ...

Cheers
Jim
 
Can all but guarantee an agent won't achieve a higher return for you over the course of the year, and from the threads in this forum it's debatable whether they'll be less work.

People may have been happy to rent box rooms in a house full of strangers 10 years ago but not any more. Renting rooms individuslly is always harder. Ideally you should simply let the place to one set of individuals and let them worry anout the ins and outs of the rooms.

Do you have a seperate lease agreement for each tenant, and a seperate registration with the PRTB?
 
hi howitzer

I have'nt registered any of them on the prtb yet. I just havent got around to it , they are all on a one year lease , which was agreed verbally ...

Are you saying i would be better off renting the whole house to a family or are you saying that one of the people currently renting should be responisble for renting out the rooms ?
 
I was renting a room in a house a few years ago and the landlord had problems renting the box room.

We were happy enough as 3 people sharing was more than enough. The rent for the room was €200 and it still did not move. There's so much choice out there the only reason you would take such a small room is if you only wanted it 4 nights a week.
 
I'd stop digging and normalise your existing leaseholds while you're still in "start-up" mode. If you don't sort these things out now you never will, and certainly an agent won't care less for your legal or taxation situation once they get their fee.

A verbal lease is worthless. You could turn up tomorrow, no rent paid, all the furniture gone, house on fire and the insurance company refusing to pay, all with no comeback. As it is you already have to pay a late fee to the PRTB.

All the above could cost you a lot more than the 250 a month you're spending your time looking for the box room. Spend your time sorting out your tax and legal affairs.
 
Ok , I see now that is a priority , But still doesnt really answer my original question , regarding the best way to get rid of the room ...
 
Who would want to live in a small room with 3 strangers for 250 euro a month?
There is no market for what youre offering. Consider yourself lucky youve found 3 people to rent your other rooms to.
 
really helpful , thanks. I am sure you have done exhaustive research on the rental market in Navan.
 
jimmyok said:
really helpful , thanks.
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To be honest, it is.

You mentioned that you only used daft and wondered if this might be the problem. Personally, daft would always be my first stop if I was renting and I'd confidently suggest you are reaching a very large % of your potential market by advertising there.

What Hobbes T pointed out is your real problem. People just don't want to pay for a box room sharing with strangers. Eventually, you might find someone to take it from you... but you're appealing to a very small number of people.
 
Satanta said:
To be honest, it is.

You mentioned that you only used daft and wondered if this might be the problem. Personally, daft would always be my first stop if I was renting and I'd confidently suggest you are reaching a very large % of your potential market by advertising there.

What Hobbes T pointed out is your real problem. People just don't want to pay for a box room sharing with strangers. Eventually, you might find someone to take it from you... but you're appealing to a very small number of people.
Click to expand...

Ok so renting a small room while sharing with strangers is a problem , than what is the alternative ? I am aware of the problem , the post was for suggestions for a solution.
 
jimmyok said:
I am aware of the problem , the post was for suggestions for a solution.
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Your query re daft appeared to suggest otherwise.

At the moment, your hands are relatively tied. You have current tennants so your only real option is to hope you manage to find a taker for the room or else let it sit idle.

The most obvious long term solution, previously suggested by Howitzer, is to rent the property as a whole (e.g. not renting individual rooms). Here you broaden your appeal to a group where having a box room isn't as large an issue (if not sharing with strangers the need for a refuge in your own room isn't as large) or to a smaller group where they have the advantage of a "spare" room for any friends that stay over. This is probably the best bet to achieve a premium for the property (although it won't add a huge amount of additional rent, it should at least minimise the vacant periods).

It also provides other benefits in that you have less paperwork (re PRTB registration of a single leese rather than multiple), less advertising/interviewing of tenants (as you're renting the whole house you don't need to take care of individual rooms / if someone does move out, chances are the others in the group will suggest/look for a friend to take the place etc.) and minimise the potential of calls from unhappy tenants complaining about a fellow housemate.
 
Satanta said:
Your query re daft appeared to suggest otherwise.

At the moment, your hands are relatively tied. You have current tennants so your only real option is to hope you manage to find a taker for the room or else let it sit idle.

The most obvious long term solution, previously suggested by Howitzer, is to rent the property as a whole (e.g. not renting individual rooms). Here you broaden your appeal to a group where having a box room isn't as large an issue (if not sharing with strangers the need for a refuge in your own room isn't as large) or to a smaller group where they have the advantage of a "spare" room for any friends that stay over. This is probably the best bet to achieve a premium for the property (although it won't add a huge amount of additional rent, it should at least minimise the vacant periods).

It also provides other benefits in that you have less paperwork (re PRTB registration of a single leese rather than multiple), less advertising/interviewing of tenants (as you're renting the whole house you don't need to take care of individual rooms / if someone does move out, chances are the others in the group will suggest/look for a friend to take the place etc.) and minimise the potential of calls from unhappy tenants complaining about a fellow housemate.
Click to expand...

Thankyou Excellent post , this is what i was looking for . So i have been thinking about this as well , and there appears to be a lot less headache ...

Cheers
 
One alternative option is to offer the room to one of the others in the house. Whoever offers the most gets the room. Not only will you discover the 'price' of the box room and rent it; you get an already vetted tenant, and you will be left with the now vacated big room ready to let.

Hows that for a bit of parallel thinking :)
 
hi

Have you tried the evening herald? Also try putting up a small add in your local area EG supermarkets notice boards, and maybe the local paper.Is there a hospital or any place that a large volume of people work in?
 
Aye there is Navan hospital , and we are going to put up notices in the local stores this weekend .
 
Hobbes T said:
Who would want to live in a small room with 3 strangers for 250 euro a month?
There is no market for what youre offering. Consider yourself lucky youve found 3 people to rent your other rooms to.
Click to expand...


Hobbes is correct - who would pay 250 a month to share with three strangers??
 
Ya I agree its hard enough sharing with one don't mind three. If I was in this house and a 4th person came I'd be looking for somewhere else to live.

Renting the house as one unit is a good idea as you may get a family or couple or else just leave well enough alone.
 
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