Real Estate Has Gone To The Dogs

Q: Has a dog ever helped you land a listing or make a sale?

Laura Levy

Broker associate, Laura Levy Group, Coldwell Banker in Boulder, Colo.

It was a new listing. The first time I went to visit the house, I walked into the family room and there is this white dog laying on this great red couch, holding court and looking very regal. I just cracked up. His name was Yeti. He was some sort of doodle—I don’t know which kind, maybe a goldendoodle. Here in Colorado—this is dog country—dogs are members of the family.

When I was talking to my videographer, Ryan, about filming the house, I said, “Yeti needs to be in this; this has to be from Yeti’s perspective. Just follow the dog around.” It was hilarious. Yeti knew exactly what to do. Ryan said, “I followed the dog and I got great stuff.”

At the end of the video, Yeti is kind of over showing the house and he wants a walk. This house happened to be across the street from a fabulous dog park. You see his mom—the homeowner—walking him to the dog park, and then you see him running around in the sunshine, all happy. We used a drone.

People loved it. The video got about 16,000 or 17,000 views on my Facebook page alone. The house sold for full price and it sold fairly quickly. When the people who bought the house moved in, the neighbors asked if they were the ones who had purchased Yeti’s house.

Yeti didn’t come with the house. He has been a bit high maintenance since then.

Dina Goldentayer

Executive director of sales, Douglas Elliman Real Estate in Miami Beach, Fla.

People love their dogs, their fur babies. I had a client who brought his dog on every showing. They’d see how the dog reacted to the energy of the space when he was placed on the floor. It was a little dog, a chihuahua.

I showed them 25 or 30 homes. The dog eliminated a lot of properties. He didn’t like beachfront. He didn’t react well to sand.

When they put him down on the ground, he’d come undone—a full-on meltdown. That basically shifted their search. Miami is lucky to have two waterfronts, the ocean and the bay, so we shifted the search to the bay. We found a modern waterfront house. There were no objections. I think the dog really unwound. He was relaxed, looking over at the water. They bought the house for $6 million. The dog loves the sunsets there.

Minette Schwartz

Real-estate agent, Compass in Miami Beach, Fla.

The house was in Sunset Island. It’s a very nice neighborhood—the most sought-after in Miami Beach. We went to the listing presentation and there were four or five brokers there competing for the listing. One of my team members was with me, and she took a liking to the owner’s dog—an Australian labradoodle. The dog was part of this listing presentation. We were sitting around the dining-room table and the dog was running around, a huge, huge dog, very fluffy.

The owner starts narrowing it down, and we came back for a second meeting. We didn’t talk about the house, we talked about the dog. My team member was super-into this dog. It was, “I love the coat of this dog; I love the size and friendliness,” and, “Can I get the breeder’s name?” The color of the dog’s mane was the same color as her hair.

My team member gets the breeder’s name, we get the listing. Then she flies to Illinois to buy the brother of this dog—a different litter but the same mother.

The first few months of owning the dog, she was saying, “What did I do? I was trying to get the listing and make conversation!” But she was so taken with this dog. They’re pleasant, very loving and caring.

We didn’t sell the house. The owners changed their minds and decided not to sell. At least my teammate got a dog out of it.

Affluent Aussies with a savvy financial mindset have been sharing the expense of their luxury lifestyles for years through yacht and private jet syndicates, and now the idea has stretched to high-end holiday homes.

A concept known as Second Home has reached the millionaire playground of Queenstown, New Zealand and the idea is tipped to soon take flight across the ditch.

Longtime co-ownership pioneers John and Sharon Russell started selling shares in luxury boats in Sanctuary Cove on the Gold Coast in 1999 and have now entered the holiday home space with Second Home.

Investors can purchase shares in a fully-managed vacation property, but unlike a timeshare, each owner’s name is on the title. As a result, the shares remain a sellable and appreciating asset.

“This is very similar to buying into a boat syndicate where you own a share and can use it as if it’s yours, without the full cost and responsibility of owning the boat outright,” Mr Russell said.

“With Second Home, you are purchasing the bricks and mortar of a New Zealand holiday home valued at over A$2.5 million – with your name on the title, and access to it and all the wonderful activities in and around Queenstown for six weeks each and every year.”

Currently under construction in the Kiwi ski town, there is a three bedroom apartment in the Jacks Point development on the shores of Lake Wakatipu, pictured. Eight shares of the architecturally designed, fully furnished apartment are available, from A$325,000 and include six weeks usage of throughout each year.

Mr Russell said the concept is a far cry from the better known short term rental schemes.

“This is not a hotel or Airbnb with tourists coming and going – the only people who stay in the home are the owners and their guests, who we encourage to get to know each other,” he explained.

“Second Home is ideal for people who aspire to own a holiday home and return with family and friends to enjoy the same region each year, but don’t want to invest so much capital in owning an apartment outright, only for it to be locked up for months on end.”

Additionally, he said the ongoing costs of owning a holiday home are also shared among owners.

“In the case of Jacks Point, each investor’s share of expenses is about $7000 annually, which covers body corporate and management fees, insurances and maintenance,” he added.

“Overall, that’s still significantly cheaper than booking accommodation each time they’d like to holiday in New Zealand.”

Property prices in Queenstown have increased by approximately 7 per cent a year over the past decade, with property experts tipping the median will continue to rise.

While Queenstown property prices have come off their post-pandemic high, the longterm snapshot of the popular holiday destination show that it has experienced incredible growth.

Data from realestate.co.nz showed from the beginning of 2015 to the end of 2024, average asking prices in Central Otago-Queenstown Lakes rose 106.6 per cent.

After hitting a peak in November 2022, house prices fell 5.27 per cent before bottoming out in December 2022. The average price of a Queenstown property in December 2024, according to CoreLogic NZ, was A$1.65m with values up 2.17 per cent over the three months prior.

“There can be some very lucrative capital gains to be made by buying into a shared holiday home,” Mr Russell said.

Second Home’s other NZ location is a six-bedroom, French-style chateau in the Carrick Winery in Central Otago. It comes with a Land Rover Defender 130 and six e-bikes. There are 13 shares available, valued at A$445,000 each, with annual expenses of around A$8,600.

The Russells also have one $40,000 share remaining of thirteen in a four-bedroom villa near Florence, Italy, where shareholders can enjoy an authentic Italian rural lifestyle for one month every year.

Real Estate Has Gone To The Dogs

Why man’s best friend can be an agent’s best ally.

Q: Has a dog ever helped you land a listing or make a sale?

An intriguing new holiday home concept is emerging for high net worth Australians.