We have officially been in Dublin for over a month and a few weeks. Our temporary housing is only good until the 1st of October and then we need to be out and in our own place. I told Kevin that in a few weeks the apron strings would be cut and we would have to officially “adult in Dublin”. Lucky for us, we still get the amazing team at IrishRelo to help us. This week, their job was to help us find a new place to move. The rental market in Dublin is fast moving and a bit insane. The better places go quickly and often people will get into bidding wars over the monthly rent, ended up paying more than the original asking price and paying a full year in advance. Having a “realtor” is a major plus when trying to rent. You have someone who has a relationship with all the property management companies and they can often get viewings before properties are listed. They do all the leg work for you.
There are a few sites like Daft.ie or Rent.ie, that will list available rentals, but the sites aren’t updated or monitored. In many cases, the listings are either already rented or are scams. We found a few places on the sites we liked, and our team found most were already rented out. On Tuesday, 11 Sept, we were allocated a “home search” day; basically, we got an agent to come out and take us to a bunch of different viewings and by the end of the day we needed to decide on a place to rent. It felt very high pressure leading up to the day, and we couldn’t seem to find anything we liked on the rental sites so we were not very optimistic that we would find anything to fit our needs. Lucky for us, the Irish Relo team are miracle workers and they had come up with several places for us to see.
The first house we looked at was a nice size and fully furnished. I really liked it. However, we don’t have a car so we need to be within walking distance to the LUAS and the children’s school. This place was at least a 30-minute walk to the children’s school and forty minutes or so to the LUAS station. That was just too far, especially with the crazy weather we have, don’t want to get stuck in a downpour walking to and from school. The second house we looked at was in a good location, still a decent size, but it smelled old and musty and like a smoker had lived in it. The family renting it out was really looking for a nice family to rent so when they saw us, we immediately were told they would take $200 off the original rent price. The third place we looked at, I really fell in love with but it was priced high and was unfurnished; however it was right across from the LUAS. The final house we looked was priced low and had a huge yard; but it was small and looked like it would fall apart any minute. Again, the renters were looking for a family and when the realtor told her about us she immediately took off $100 from the rent price. This place was the lowest priced place and had it not looked like it needed a ton of work, we may have taken it. Instead we went back and negotiated with the house we all loved, the higher priced, unfurnished one. We were able to sweet talk them down $200 and we took it.
On a side note, unlike the USA once a house or apartment is rented, the owner cannot change the price once a contract is signed. This means we will have this same rent until we move out, they can’t up the price each year due to “inflation” or whatever the excuse might be. The only time a price can go up is if the owner comes in and does some major upgrade work. So, we can stay here for ten years and never have to worry about our rent going up.
I don’t know if I mentioned this before, but part of the Microsoft relocation package includes a one-time bonus to help you move into your own place and buy anything they may have missed in the original package. I’ll just say it is enough to cover our first and last months rent as well as enough to get a handful of furnishings; IKEA anyone? The day we signed the paperwork to move in, we received this payment and Kevin’s first paycheck into our Irish account; so, we can go out today and schedule delivery of furniture. On top of that, the shipping company called to let us know that our sea shipment (the rest of our stuff from home) had arrived in Dublin and just cleared customs, it is ready for delivery and they could deliver it as soon as tomorrow morning. I’m really looking forward to the sea shipment as it has all our warmer clothes, the weather here has turned to fall with cold mornings and warm afternoons. Long sleeves and warm jackets and hats would be nice for our morning walk. A few weeks ago, I was telling Kevin that I probably packed too much in the sea shipment and wasn’t sure if it would all fit; now we are kicking ourselves because we could have packed so much more. Oh well, a fresh start in a new place is never a bad a thing.
At the time of this writing, we have just received our keys to the new place and our starting the moving and moving in process. It will probably be about a week before we are permanently in our house.
Now that the kids are in school and we have found a permanent place to live, we can really start settling into our new life. I’m excited for this next chapter, where it no longer feels like an extended vacation but turns into everyday reality. I love it when doors seem to continue to open and things just constantly fall perfectly in place, it makes me believe I am where I need to be. I absolutely love it here in Dublin so far, I have no complaints. I miss my family and friends that we left behind, but look forward to the new chapter that is slowly unfolding for us. It seems every day new things unfold for us and little confirmations happen to prove to Kevin and I that we are doing the right thing for our family. The kids are happy and adjusting well, we are both very happy with the experience so far; and we are looking forward to sharing all our experiences with our friends and family back home.
And now, pictures:
Pictures broke – sorry –
