I just returned from a week in California and it feels strangely familiar to come back, but it still hasn't started to feel like home yet. Mr. D arrived two days earlier than I did and strangely enough it snowed when he arrived. I, on the other hand, came back to sunshine, weird weather.
It was nice to be back in California and to visit with friends. It felt like a much needed therapy session since Mr. D and I haven't really met people in Dublin yet. It has been getting lonely here and I guess it feels even more pronounced since I spent a good part of last week bonding with my 4 month old nephew. The way he would smile at me seriously melted my heart.
We almost had a place to rent, a nice two bedroom house in Stoneybatter, but after reading through the lease I saw provisions added in that actually went against the Residency Tenancy Rights. The most egregious was the landlords wanted to retain the right to end the lease within the first 6 months without cause. That was a HUGE red flag that made us feel uncomfortable. I get what they are doing, they overspent when they purchased the house, they then newly renovated it, so they are eager to start earning back some of what they invested so they want it rented out now, but they are also adding a backstop in case the rental market prices keep rising. It was just disgusting to know these folks are going to extreme to take advantage of the housing situation.
So we're back to square one. Housing is not looking good here in Dublin and it just gets harder. We wonder if it's worth all the trouble. On the bright side, I haven't started my job search yet, but I have two interviews set up for this week and early next week. I don't doubt my abilities to get hired, but I worry about how long it'll take me to get my Stamp 4 and how low the salaries will be. Both positions are senior positions, so I should be able to negotiate a higher salary, but I still need to brace myself for how depressingly unequal salary is in comparison to the cost of living. Dublin is now more expensive than London, and recently dethroned Paris as the most expensive city in the EU zone. Now if only salaries would catch up...
It was nice to be back in California and to visit with friends. It felt like a much needed therapy session since Mr. D and I haven't really met people in Dublin yet. It has been getting lonely here and I guess it feels even more pronounced since I spent a good part of last week bonding with my 4 month old nephew. The way he would smile at me seriously melted my heart.
We almost had a place to rent, a nice two bedroom house in Stoneybatter, but after reading through the lease I saw provisions added in that actually went against the Residency Tenancy Rights. The most egregious was the landlords wanted to retain the right to end the lease within the first 6 months without cause. That was a HUGE red flag that made us feel uncomfortable. I get what they are doing, they overspent when they purchased the house, they then newly renovated it, so they are eager to start earning back some of what they invested so they want it rented out now, but they are also adding a backstop in case the rental market prices keep rising. It was just disgusting to know these folks are going to extreme to take advantage of the housing situation.
So we're back to square one. Housing is not looking good here in Dublin and it just gets harder. We wonder if it's worth all the trouble. On the bright side, I haven't started my job search yet, but I have two interviews set up for this week and early next week. I don't doubt my abilities to get hired, but I worry about how long it'll take me to get my Stamp 4 and how low the salaries will be. Both positions are senior positions, so I should be able to negotiate a higher salary, but I still need to brace myself for how depressingly unequal salary is in comparison to the cost of living. Dublin is now more expensive than London, and recently dethroned Paris as the most expensive city in the EU zone. Now if only salaries would catch up...