The Dublin Community Blog

It is being reported that The Sunday Times property survey from yesterday showed property prices in Dublin have fallen by up to 27% in 2007. Unfortunately I did not get a copy of the paper yesterday so I’ve not been able to read the report but surely a 27% would be a crash of the most dramatic kind, certainly worthy of more than 3 paragraphs on an Irish internet news site?

I’m wondering if anyone in the real world is seeing such a dramatic drop in prices. If you are interested in buying property are you waiting an watching the price of your dream home drop towards your budget? If you are trying to sell are you slashing the prices and watching your property sit on the market for months on end?

Last week, I found myself back in Dublin along with thousands of other students looking for a flat. I had been discarded by the Trinity accomodation services and was fortunate enough to have to look for a room in September, the most competitive of months in this respect. My search was crowned in success in under 4 days, but I realised along the way that it is extremely difficult to find somewhere that is both affordable and acceptable, and that prices have been steadily rising since I moved here in 2003.

Finding a place to live in Dublin is akin to a theatrical audition/beauty pageant. It is all about making a lasting first impression which will convince a landlord of your ability to pay the rent and keep a place clean. In these circumstances, being a student evidently does not help, and one is inevitably thanked for one’s interest upon delivering this news in an apologetic fashion. As if being a student wasn’t compatible with normality and responsibility, even more so for us male students who are deemed more likely to burn a house down at the end of a 4-day binge.

Initially, my search took me to public viewings along with dozens of other punters. Once I had shown interest in overpriced bedsits due to a lack of alternatives, I went through the usual rejection process whereby overwhelmed landlords rejected me based on prejudiced first impressions, choosing the most ‘respectable’ of candidates instead (ie. a young professional, a shit-for-brains accountant who likes getting ‘trolleyed’ 3 night a week, living solely for the weekend). Some use scare tactics, doubling or tripling the required deposits to narrow the field down. One memorable character took advantage of the situation and opened a bidding war: “Whoever gives me the most money gets the place.” In this world, students don’t have a chance. 

Eventually, it becomes clear that second-tier housing is the only remaining option to us low-lives. Here is proof: one letting agent, unaware of my student stigma due to my English accent (which, surprisingly, helps!), told me over the phone that he did have a 2 bedroom flat available but that he couldn’t really show it to me because it could only really be rented to students, and would I please wait for something more suitable to come up, please? So we worthless human beings are left with so-called ‘student housing’, synonymous with ’shit-rundown-cold-dreary-overpriced’. Some of the places on the market are appalling, and it is commonly thought that a student should be grateful enough to be given somewhere to live, and should accept whatever is thrown his way.

The solution, it seems, is for everyone to engage in a show of solidarity with the student population of our wonderful city, and give up all rented housing, and squat in the city centre until all accomodation is done up to standard. Then, and only then, should places be re-allocated randomly, and life can resume. Until then, I will carry on paying 650 Euros a month for the right to live in a damp, dark, dump in Dublin. Savage.         

Since I have written a couple posts about moving to Dublin, we have gotten a few comments/questions about the cost of living. Here is an attempt to clear a few things up.

Dublin is expensive. According to the 2006 Mercer study on cost of living, Dublin ranks 18th in the world. But what does that mean?

Accomodation. The two main sites that I know of to look for rental accommodation are daft and myhome.ie

1 Bedroom: expect to pay 1,000 Euro a month (or more) in pretty much any area.

2 Bedroom: a quick Daft search revealed at least 2,000 a month but I know people paying less than that.

Pint of Beer/Cider: 5 Euro

Dinner Out in City Centre: 35-50 Euro for 2 people, average place, 1 starter, shared dessert, 2 mains/entrees, generally water to drink. This is a mid place. Of course there are cheaper and a lot more expensive places.

Public Transport:

Bus: Fares range from 1-2 Euro per journey depending on how far you go. If you go outside what is considered Dublin, then the price goes up. You can get a monthly bus pass for 83 Euro per month for the Dublin area.

Train: This is a more reliable mode of public transport. Fares vary on distance travelled. You can get a monthly ticket for 85 Euro a month

Luas: This is the most reliable form of public transit. Again, fares vary on how far you travel. You can get a card that you put money onto and swipe as you get on and off the Luas.

Monthly bus and train tickets: 113 Euro per month

Monthly bus and Luas: 92 Euro

Automobile: Since I don’t have a car, I have no idea what the insurance or tax cost. I also don’t know what it costs to buy a car. I have been told that having a smaller engine means lower insurance. I do know that both insurance and tax are checked by the police twice a year. Petrol usually costs between 1.00-1.20 per litre. I also don’t know what parking costs when in city centre.

Groceries: This varies hugely on what you eat. As with anywhere else I have lived, if you want a lot of fresh fruit and veg, your bill will be higher. Note, these are city centre prices and may vary in other areas. I don’t know since I live and shop in city centre.

I usually pay about 4.99 for 4 chicken breasts. A litre of skim milk is under a Euro. Bell peppers are usually 99 cents each (for the higher quality ones). Eggs are usually about 1.79 for 6 eggs. Apples are usually about 1.69 per kilo. Our total bill is usually between 60-80 Euro per week for two people. It isn’t that much less to shop for one person.

Television Liscence: 158 Euros per year

Electricity: Lately our bills have been a bit over 100 Euro per month (one-bedroom)! However, we don’t have the
most energy effecient apartment.

Cable: We use NTL cable and pay 30 Euro a month for digital cable (we have a bit over 200 channels)

Clothing: Again, this varies on your personal style. I am not surprised when a jumper (sweater) cost 50 Euro. Same for women’s trousers.

I hope this helps people get an idea of costs of living. The difficult thing is that so much depends on how you live and what your goals are. Another big factor is your debt level (I have student loans so good chunk of my income goes to that). You can get pretty cheap flights to the rest of Europe. If you have a car, your cost of living goes up a lot. If you eat out frequently, again your cost of living soars. A few of my co-workers make about 35,000 a year. Most of them have money to travel. Most also share accomodation. Two of them live with their partners so they have dual income, no kids. Another couple I know live on 55,000 Euro a year in a 2-bedroom apartment in Dundrum and have a car. They don’t travel as much as they want to but have made 2-3 trips around Europe per year.

Daragh here posting this on behalf of RedMum….

I went looking on YouTube for the video of a happy slapping incident which has been reported in a lot of newspapers in Ballymun where a young girl’s alleged assault was captured on video and posted to the popular site. I found this clip instead and think it is probably better that I didn’t find it, hopefully that clip has been removed. This one show a time lapse demolition of one of the towers in Ballymun and is cool. There’s more from the author here.

I have thought about posting a series of posts on how to move to Ireland from another country for a while. I am starting this series because it is fresh in my mind because I have a new coworker from another country. Also, if there are any recruiters who work with international moves reading this, PLEASE give this information to your clients. My and my coworkers’ recruiters fell very short in facilitating our international moves.

Anyway, here are few things that you should consider at BEFORE you move. They are not in any particular order.

1. What type of work visa/authorization/permit do you need? Do you need one? The Oasis website is an informational site set up by the Irish government and has information on different types of work permits.

2. Cost of living. Everyone that I know who has moved to Dublin is surprised at the cost of living. Dublin is expensive! I pay an average of 5 Euro for a pint of beer/cider and 10-15 Euro for a main (entree) at a restaurant. I also pay about 400 Euro a month for groceries for two people.

3. Cost of housing. I know that this is part of cost of living but I think that it warrants its own point. Prices of accomodation varies greatly throughout the city depending on where you are and the size/type of accomodation you rent. Daft is a good website to give you an idea of how much renting costs and you can search by area of city and price. The other part of housing: you may need a written reference. Usually when you are new the country the agency/landlord will accept a letter from your employer saying that you are employed. It would be helpful to have a letter from your current landlord saying how long you have been in your accomodation and that you pay rent on time. Not all landlords require this.

4. Banking. Getting a bank account is a pain in the arse in Ireland. It is helpful if you have bank statements from your current bank. You will get a debit (Laser) card faster this way. Having bank statements doesn’t affect your ability to get an account but they are happier if you have that information. I will talk more about the process of getting a bank account in the “when you get here” post.

5. Cost of move. Investigate transport costs (e.g. plane, train, ferry). What are the weight restrictions for your travel method? Do they allow excess baggage and if so how much does it cost? Shipping tends to be quite expensive so investigate these costs also if you are going to have boxes shipped over. Also consider the cost of the work permit/authorization/visa as well as 100 Euro for your garda card. You need the garda card to reside legally in the country if you are a non-EU citizen (not sure about EU citizens).

6. Find a job. It is helpful if you have a job before moving over because there are some work permits that you are not allowed to get while in Ireland. People that I know have had the most success with Irish Jobs. Monster is alright and Loadzajobs is also pretty good.

That is all that I can think of right now. Oh, the international move can be quite overwhelming and expensive.

Ok, once again apologies for the cross-post, but, this is important to me!

Right, I said I’d guage things and decide whether or not to add the facility for people to make donations to me via this website. I’ve decided that I am going to, so, please, please give as generously as you can.

The target for me is to raise EUR 4,000 by the end of August, but, that’s the minimum target, I would like to raise a whole lot more. It costs EUR 5,000 to build a complete house, which is broken down as follows:

roof:
EUR 1500

doors & windows:
EUR 500

exterior painting:
EUR 250

bathroom:
EUR 500

walls:
EUR 1000

kitchen & misc:
EUR 500

foundation:
EUR 750

I will be running a few fundraisers over the next few months also…so keep your eyes peeled. But, please don’t let that put you off donating here and now anyways!

PS. If you’re a blogger / journalist / rock-star / politican / business leader / broadcaster or regular Joe, can you please, please spread the word, not only about my campaign and fundraising efforts, but of what the Irish Township Challenge is all about!

As most people know, the housing market in Dublin is crazy. We have recently decided to explore the option of buying our own place. I had hoped that may desire to own my home would diminish when I moved country but it seems to keep popping back up. We met with a mortgage person a while back and had decided to wait to start looking for places since we don’t qualify for a 100% mortgage and wouldn’t have a down payment until August. We don’t qualify for the 100% mortgage because we haven’t been in continuous employment for a year. I haven’t had a break in employment for 6 years (even though I moved country in that time) but the bank won’t count the first six months I was here as continuous employment since in Ireland there is a probation period. Why don’t they just say 18 months in current job then? That is really what they mean. Qualifying for a 92% mortgage was surprisingly simple. The broker didn’t really do a credit check or anything to get approval in principle. In the States, they do these complex calculations based on your credit history, employment history, etc. and come up with a mortgage amount and interest rate. I like that it seems people here all get the same interest rate.

So, on Monday we happen to see a place out in Parkwest that looked interesting. We saw two apartments. Both were two bedroom, two bathroom. The smaller one was listed at 300,000 and had a small balcony. It was small but large enough for two people. The other one was actually spacious but had a bid of 340,000 put in by the first person who saw it! We went back to look at the smaller apartment yesterday for a second viewing. The apartment was nice. It needed flooring since no one has lived in it before but that wouldn’t be that hard or necessarily that expensive.

Here’s the major catch for us: we take public transit and it was a 20-25 minute walk from the Luas! The Cherry Orchard Arrow station is supposed to move but they don’t know when. We saw about 5 busses on our two round trip walks to and from Park West to the Luas station. That is NOT well serviced by public transit like the ads claim. We decided that we weren’t interested in the Park West even though it seemed like an OK value because it is a long walk from the Luas and there isn’t anything to do out there. If it had one or the other drawback, we would have gone for it but it had both and we thought that we would be bored. There is one restaurant (a Chinese/Thai place that is expensive but pretty good) and Bennigan’s bar. I coudln’t bear that thought that Bennigan’s would be my local instead of the Porterhouse. So, we will keep looking and see what we find.

There was also another drawback for both of us: the whole park has a cold feeling to it. There is no character and at night it is pretty much deserted other than the car traffic. We want more of a neighborhood feel and a place that has some character. New places tend to feel very sterile. They are nice in that they wouldn’t need a lot of work but we aren’t opposed to working on a place and modernizing it.

I think that we made the right decision since I would have a nasty commute from Raheny/Glasnevin to Park West and with the time that we spent walking, we could have been in Tallaght where we might be able to get a small house closer to the Luas line…