Alison Wildes Crammond has less than two weeks to find a new home.
The 37-year-old has to vacate the property she rents in Bray, Co Wicklow, by 15 April.
Alison's landlord has decided to sell the house which she has been living in for the past seven and-a-half years.
Speaking to RTÉ's This Week programme, she said she has been looking for properties to rent since her landlord gave her notice to quit in June 2022 but has found nothing so far.
"You usually only have ten minutes to state your interest in a property when it goes up online and you literally have to beg. You have put something really positive in the email and get your own story across to get a reply," Alison said.
"There was one property I was looking at I'd say it was up for about 11 minutes before it was taken down. It had about two thousand five hundred hits. I did get a reply, but I wasn't shortlisted for that particular property," she added.
Alison is currently studying for a Masters online and is unsure as to where she will do her exams next month.
"Because I'm doing a Masters at the moment it's nearly impossible for me to be on Daft.ie every ten minutes but that's what you have to do to express your interest in a property before it gets taken down. It's impossible for me, as I'm trying to juggle my studies whilst trying to find a home for after the 15th. After the 15th I've nowhere to go.
"I have been looking at options as to where I'll do my exams...libraries in Meath, Dublin or Wicklow that may have a quiet place so I can do my exam on May 20th," Alison added.
Alison said her parents' home is already full so moving in with them is not an option.
She said she is stressed out trying to find a new home.
"I had to go and get tablets to help me sleep, I'm not sleeping.. I've got high blood pressure and I've a rash around my eyes from crying. Thank god I don't have children," Alison said.
Alison said she doesn't know where she's going to go after 15 April.
"I don't know where I'm going to go, I'm taking it hour by hour, day by day. I try to get up in the morning to see if anything has come to fruition from emails and my desperate pleas to people that I know," she said.
'Like a hamster wheel, there's no way of getting off'
Rebecca O'Riordan is living with her husband and two small children in Cork.
She was served with her notice to quit five weeks ago.
Speaking to This Week, Rebecca said her landlord is selling up and getting out of the market.
"When we got the notice to quit, we just cried because we made the stupid mistake that every person who's renting makes all the time, and I've made it so many times. That you start to feel like it's your home and we make this mistake every time. Where we start to feel safe, and the reality is you are never safe when you are renting. It should never feel like home as it could be gone overnight," Rebecca said.
Her eldest son is in school which is currently a five-minute walk from the house while her youngest child is starting in a special school in September.
However, Rebecca said she can't apply for transport for her daughter because she doesn't know where they will be living yet.
"The deadline for applying for transport is April and we've no idea where we are going to be living. We obviously can't put down an address to pick her up for school," Rebecca said.
"We did see a house this week which is not far from where we are currently. Just a regular house. It was going for €3,500 a month. You just get to the point where you've been trying and trying and you put so many things on hold so many aspects of your life that you just have to ask yourself, is this worth it? Is this what I want for the kids? Is living in this country of benefit to my children?"
Rebecca said they've been trying to save for a deposit to buy a property .
"Paying three thousand a month is crazy. No matter where we move to it's going to set back our deposit, " Rebecca said.
"However, we are lucky because we have a choice, we can either go and in a hotel in indefinitely ..because we are not entitled to emergency accommodation, we would have to use our deposit to pay for that hotel. And when that deposit runs out, we will still be over the limit. It's like a hamster wheel, there's no way of getting off."
Rebecca said they are thinking about emigrating.
"We are lucky to even have that as an option at this point. It's really sad that this is the only option we have left. There are no houses there," she said.
In Dundalk, Sandra Ukriné's landlord is also selling up.
She has 90 days to move herself, her husband, mother and two children out of their rented property in Dundalk .
"I saw a property that came up one morning and we sent in an email because the listing usually says, "please apply by email".
"If you call them, you will be disqualified. An application form was sent back to me but the property was taken down the next morning," Sandra said.
"We were recently talking to in-laws and he said we are able to have one bedroom. Of course the house will be overcrowded but we will manage for a couple of months...hopefully," she said.
"With two kids and four animals you would like your own space. You wouldn't like to be in somebody else's way and maybe get them in trouble with their landlord because you are staying on their couch. Also we have our own furniture. So should I give away the pets or give away the furniture? Or both?."
Sandra is hoping word of mouth will help her and her family find a new home.
"We are hoping over the next few weeks something will come up that maybe we will be lucky. I'm asking all my clients if they know somebody that has a property to rent," Sandra said.
