Hello all! So this post has been brewing for awhile, but I thought I’d give myself some time to de-stress after all my house hunting woes were finally settled. So here goes…

Dublin is currently experiencing a housing crisis. With the influx of university students returning for their new semester combined with the increasing number of businesses setting up their headquarters in Dublin (which is due to low business taxes and Brexit making London a less appealing startup location), it makes the perfect recipe for the shark tank that is the real estate market (no seriously, if they smell blood, you’re a goner).

Not only is living in Dublin, especially anywhere near the City Centre, expensive, it’s also extremely competitive to actually obtain a lease. I looked obsessively for apartments for about a month and a half before I finally got one. I was constantly (this is not an exaggeration) prowling the various renting sites looking for places in my price range and in the area I wanted.

So let’s start with the basics: where to search for housing. There are multiple sites that specialize in housing in Dublin, like Rent.ie and Daft.ie. Plus the classic craigslist option (but beware, there are catfishes GALORE here, so I wouldn’t even chance it). I personally found that the best website to look at was Daft, which had the widest selection of properties and usually the most up to date listings of all the sites. Here you can search for apartments/flats and houses to rent, as well as house shares and short term lets, which might be more convenient depending on how long you plan to stay in Dublin/your price range. Make sure that you have a maximum price range in mind going in, and if you find a place that seems to fit the bill ask whether the bills are included in the price because it can vary.

When you go into daft you’re initially prompted for an area you want to look at, as well as a category (rent, buy, share). Put in your desired region and type of property, then search. That will bring you to a page of properties, BUT next click on the “Advanced Search” button. This will allow you to narrow the results by number of rooms, price, etc.

After you do this, you’ll be presented with a full list of all the viable properties in the area you selected. I found that the best thing to do was to every morning do a search and filter it by “Date Entered.” That way, any time a new property is listed, you can easily see it. Another thing I found handy was to use the Map View, which shows you an interactive google-style map of Dublin, and marks where flats/apartments within your search perimeters are. If you see little numbers on the map, that signifies a cluster of properties in one area, if you zoom in you’ll see them all specifically. This feature is great because it allows you to see exactly where properties are in the scheme of the city, as opposed to looking at the properties in the list view and having to google their location to check where they are (because just because it’s “Dublin 8” doesn’t mean you’re going to be looking over the canal).

Once you find a place that you like email or call the realtor/renting agent immediately. Rooms and flats get snapped up extremely quickly, so you want to make an appointment to view as soon as possible if you find a place you like. I found that if you called, it was easier to get a time for a viewing, as they receive tons of emails every day and are more proactive about the people who take the time to call.

Once you have a viewing set up, be prepared for a crowd. There were multiple times where I would show up for a viewing I had scheduled and there would already be tons other groups of people there to see the same place.

So, if you’re serious about finding an apartment bring a landlord reference and proof of employment/sufficient funds documents with you to the viewing. Most apartments or houses to rent will ask you to provide these documents anyway, so if you have them on hand, you can make an offer immediately and have a better chance at getting the place if it’s something you want.

If your offer is accepted, the first thing you’ll need to do (after you break out into song and dance), is pay your deposit and first month’s rent, as well read over/discuss the lease agreement. Make sure you’re not locked into something you can’t handle. Also, be prepared for most leases to be 12 months, anything less is a little bit rarer to find (and would be more common if you’re doing some sort of house share/sublet).

All in all, it’s a pretty stressful experience, but if you keep at it you’ll eventually have luck (hopefully, if not you can set up a very homey box in St. Stephen’s Green and call it a day). My housemate and I moved into our flat about a month ago and the comfort of having your own place in Dublin makes it much easier to feel at home.

So here’s a photo of my flatmate Hanna and I almost crying with joy as we received our keys and good luck with your search!!