Moving house can be a very exciting time, especially if you are renting for the first time. However, it can be easy to overlook issues if you haven’t had the experience of moving into a property before. This means that your move can be stressful if you do not take the necessary precautions and plan out the move effectively.
Here are some tips on what to do when you are moving to a rented property in Ireland to ensure that it is as easy and as smooth as possible.
Ask questions
It can be all too easy when finding a property that you actually like, to want to seal the deal as soon as possible, especially if your search has taken a long time. But remember that there are practical issues that you need to understand first. For example, it is vital to understand who takes on responsibility for which aspects of the maintenance, whether pets are allowed, and the rules on smoking.
Of course, the issues here will be personal to you, but you need to make sure that everything you need to know is covered. You don’t want to commit to rent a property and then find out that many of the issues make it unsuitable to live in.
Pay a fair deposit
Any time that you are renting a property you will have to pay a deposit – but it is important to make sure that you are not being asked to pay an unreasonable sum. Many landlords across Ireland are now asking for as much as two months’ rent (an average of €3,000) as the standard level of deposit on a property.
If your deposit is in excess of this figure, or you are being asked to pay a fee that is more than two months rent, it could be worth re-evaluating your options. Having to put down this amount of money can have significant financial implications on you.
Organise your move
Moving is a big task and the last thing that you want to do is to leave it until the last minute to sort it out. Take the time to organise your move in detail so that the whole process runs smoothly. There are many things that you can do to sort this out, for example it is really worth getting all of your belongings that you are moving with into boxes as soon as possible, and making sure that all of your boxes are labelled.
Additionally, it can be completely worth working with professional movers to make sure that the whole thing can be accomplished in as little time as possible. Hiring a moving service is certainly more expensive than doing it yourself, but it can save you multiple car journeys and a lot of heavy lifting.
Deal with the details
There are a number of details that you will need to deal with too. These can look like a pain but it is definitely worth getting them out of the way as soon as possible, rather than doing them slowly and potentially forgetting about some really important ones.
When you are moving you need to consider little things like redirecting your post, changing the address on your driving licence, as well as contacting any insurance providers that you currently have to update your details.
Ensure an inventory is taken
It is important to ensure that an inventory of the property and even a schedule of condition is detailed and then signed by the landlord. These should provide details on any existing faults or issues within the property. This could include everything from marks on the carpet to chipped tiles and more. Essentially this is to establish whether you will get your deposit back at the end of your tenancy so it is vital that you should review the inventory before you sign it off.
While you might want to trust your landlord (and the vast majority of landlords are very trustworthy), it could be the case that items are missed off the inventory in error.
Take pictures and prepare evidence
For you own records you should also take photographs when you move into the property in case there is any dispute about the condition later down the line. If you do get into a dispute with landlords it can become costly and time consuming to deal with, as you may have to work with expert witness surveyors to prove that the property was in this condition.
Throughout your tenancy you should always take pictures and gather any evidence whenever something happens or goes wrong. Additionally, you should inform letting agents of damage as soon as possible.
This article about “What you need to do when moving to a rented property in Ireland” was written for Housing Hand – the only Rent Guarantor Service in Ireland by Annie Button. Follow the link for more information about how Housing Hand can help you rent in Ireland without a qualifying Irish Guarantor.
