Hot on the heels of our comments that PR companies are using less-than-authoritative surveys to fabricate news stories to promote their clients’ wares comes information about a “new trend” where real estate agents are including animals in  in their “staging” pictures.

“Staging” is where your real estate agent hires someone who rents furnishings to style the home you are trying to sell, to make it look a lot nicer than the hovel in which you actually live, in promotional photographs and for open viewings, .

“Research by Money.com.au reveals a growing trend of using ‘staging pets’ in property listing photos to appeal to homebuyers with animals,” says an email in my in-tray. 

“Canberra real estate agent, Catherine Halloran, uses pets, including her French bulldog, Rollo, specifically for staging property listing photos and social media. She said this approach encourages buyers to spend more time on a listing and makes it more memorable.”

Okay, fairs fair, we have been know to run pictures of fur-babies in this website, knowing that we will get a few more clicks than we would if it was just another shot of an anonymous high-rise building.

“Showing pets in real estate photos is a good way to break down barriers between sellers and buyers,’ says Ms Halloran. “I’ve had so many buyers look at whether a house will suit their pets before they even check whether their fridge fits,” she said. 

ALX Creative Media Real Estate Photographer, Alexandra Wetzel, said real estate marketing is shifting away from selling a property to selling a lifestyle.

“Staging pets in real estate photos has become fairly common over the last few years. However, it ultimately depends on the agent and vendor’s personal preferences,” she said.

Let’s get to this survey.  How common and useful are pet-friendly pics when it comes to selling a home?

According to the press release, research by Money.com.au found nearly 2% of all national listings came under the ‘pet-friendly’ filter on realestate.com.au.

Wait! Two per cent? Given that apartment blocks can no longer ban pets in most states, and houses are as pet friendly as you want them to be, what would qualify as “pet unfriendly”?  When you’re selling, you don’t care if the buyer wants to stable a horse in the spare room.

Look, its probably a “thing” rather than a quantifiable trend.  And why wouldn’t you have a cute critter in a picture to make the rented furniture look more homely?

But two per cent wouldn’t even get you out of the margin of error in the US presidential election polls.

However, you have to hand it to the PRs. They got coverage (and we got to run a picture of a cute pup).