The Futile Search for a Home to Rent in Dublin

I spent all of yesterday searching online for flats in Dublin and emailing or calling advertisers.

I sent about 25 emails and called about 5 numbers, so far I have spoke to one landlord and have a flat to go and see in Dunshaughlin.   This one flat stands out as being very cheap at 1200 euros per month and still being within commuter distance to Dublin city.

later...

We went to see the flat in Dunshaughlin, it seems like the development that its in is mostly occupied by retired people and the bedrooms are tiny.   The living room and the dining room/kitchen are OK, but the bedrooms both have single beds in and neither room appear to have space to put in a bigger bed.  This came as a surprise because it was advertised as 2 double bedrooms!

We decide to keep looking.

I have had a couple of agents flatly refuse to show us properties because we are not both working, I explained to one of those agents that if I liked the property I could pay a years rent up front, he still said it was too much of a risk to take on a tenant who was not working!

I spoke to a private landlord and he said that because rents are so high in Dublin that they only rent to working couples on the basis that if one loses a job the other can still often continue to pay the rent.  I explained that as I was of indepandant financial means I was less of a risk and that I could pay a year up front and he agreed for me to go see the flat and talk to him.  However, after researching the building that the flat was in and considering that the flat was 1550 euros a month, I decided that I must be able to do better.

I widened my search online and noticed immediately that other areas outside of Dublin can be a lot cheaper for rent and that we could afford to rent a nice house with a garden if we looked further away.

I have decided now that we will check out of the hotel tomorrow morning and head up to Dundalk which is next to the NI border and see how we like the area.  There are properties advertised there that are much less than the prices of Dublin.   I have booked us for 2 nights into a cottage on Airbnb that is located just outside of Dundalk.

I got a reply from a house that we saw that looked exceptional in a place called Cavan.  I have made an appointment to view the house on Monday morning at 9.30, its an agent and they did not ask about employment status yet.  So my plan is to go to Dundalk for Friday and Saturday nights and then spend Sunday night in a hotel near Cavan so we can see the house there on Monday morning.