A rollercoaster of emotions is how one college student has described his search for accommodation in Dublin, facing high rents, potential scams, long commutes and unanswered emails.
As many students continue to look for somewhere to stay ahead of their return to third-level studies this month, Riley Pesjak Richardson documented his search for RTÉ News.
The international student began his search last May, looking for a double room to share with his girlfriend, both students at the Institute of Art Design and Technology in Dún Laoghaire.
"I've gone through hope and stress and everything in between, because I was worried about not finding a place and not being able to get excited about the studies … but being hopeful because I’m very excited to live here in Ireland," Mr Richardson said.
After searching online for months, Mr Richardson arrived in Ireland three weeks before his European Film Masters was due to begin at IADT.
The 24-year-old, who was raised in the US, stayed between a city centre hostel and a friend’s house while trawling through Daft.ie and Facebook trying to find viable options.
"I posted the same post on seven, eight different Facebook groups," adding that he was warned about potential scams.
"Some people did try to scam me, somebody sent me a photo and the wall sockets were EU wall sockets, they weren’t Irish wall sockets. So I knew it was a scam," he said.
The international student said he sent up to 30 emails a day getting very few replies, saying: "It’s been exhausting … putting in so much effort and feeling like you’re getting nowhere.
"I was very down yesterday, it was very troublesome yesterday. I didn’t hear anything from anybody and I was really down in the dumps about it," he said.
He viewed a number of properties including one in Donaghmede in the north of the city, willing to commute to Dún Laoghaire.
But his persistence on Facebook finally paid off when a landlord offered him a double room in an apartment sharing with another student in Dublin 1.
He said: "The viewing went really well, I met the landlady, she was very kind and very nice.
"I feel really good about the place and it’s such a relief to be able to focus on studies now, and get to know Dublin, a relief to be able to focus on these things rather than where we are going to sleep."
With a deposit paid and keys in his hand he proclaimed: "It’s over, we have found our place."
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