Thinking of Renting

We will provide you with an experienced & free market rent appraisal of your property.

Rental

If we find you a tenant (we get references, draw up leases, take deposits etc.) and if you want to manage the rental yourself and deal with it going forward we charge you a “one off” finder’s fee.

Alternatively if you want us to manage the rental  we charge a management fee and lodge the rent into your account periodically.

Vetting of Tenants

We insist on references and do check them. We also ask for one month’s rent as a booking/security deposit and one month’s rent in advance. No smoking or animals are permitted. We draw up a RTA Tenancy Agreement

Inspections

2 to 3 times a year (by appointment) but if necessary we can call more frequently. 

Landlord Responsibilities

-As a landlord you have a number of responsibilities such as registering each tenancy with the Residential Tenancies Board (fee €90) and to comply with housing standards, it would also be advised to get landlord’s insurance. To place a house on the market for sale or rent you also require a Building Energy Rating (BER) Certificate (usually costs around €280)

-LPT (Local Property Tax) is the landlord’s responsibility

-The landlord usually agrees to maintain the gardens if not then they usually provide a lawn mower for the tenants to cut the grass which is agreed in the lease.

Usually within 6 months of the tenant moving in a representative from Donegal County Council calls out to inspect the house to check that it complies with current housing standards and they issue a works notice. The works notice usually askes for a cert for the electrics (ETCI report, the cert costs approx. €300 alone and that is without any remedial works being done), a cert for the gas, a cert to say that the boiler was serviced with a commissioning report , window safety restrictors fitted, fire alarm, extinguisher & safety blanket, carbon monoxide alarm etc.

-A lot of prospective tenants are now in receipt of Housing Assistance Payments i.e. HAP which is a form of social housing support provided by all local authorities which replaces rent supplement. Under HAP, local authorities will make a monthly payment to a landlord through the managing agent. This payment is made on the last Wednesday of each month and is subject to terms and conditions including rent limits, on a HAP tenant’s behalf. In return, the HAP tenant pays a weekly contribution towards the rent to the local authority. This ‘rent contribution’ is based on the household income. It is calculated in the same way as the rent paid by a tenant of a local authority owned property.

-Please note that non-resident landlords are required to declare rental income and pay tax if applicable. In the interim we are obliged to retain 20% of all rent collected until we receive confirmation from the Revenue that the landlord has registered with Revenue and is compliant with regard to rental income in Ireland.