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| Fido's digs these days are as high-end as his masters' house. (Illustration by Monica Seaberry) |
Housing Boom Reaches Its Tail End: The Doghouse
BY SAM ALI
c.2006 Newhouse News Service
Posted on 11/20/2006 12:43:50 PM PST by Incorrigible
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Housing Boom Reaches Its Tail End: The Doghouse BY SAM ALI |
[Newark, NJ] -- The housing market is going to the dogs.
Literally.
As real estate agents struggle with a slowdown in home sales, a new source of income has surfaced: selling doghouses to pampered pooches.
Wipe that smirk off your face. The commissions are to die for.
On a typical "human" house, commissions amount to about 5 percent of the sale price, with half the commission paid to the seller's broker and half to the buyer's broker, or 2.5 percent each. On a doghouse, a sales agent can pocket a full 10 percent, compliments of a new Palm Beach, Fla.-based company called Doggie Mansions, which builds designer doghouses priced anywhere from $10,500 to $100,000 based on size, style and amenities.
"We know that in many areas the market has gone to the dogs, and the good news for Realtors is, so have we," jokes Stacy Small, 37, who along with her partner Donald Gorbach, 48, a veteran real estate broker, founded Doggie Mansions this past summer. "The housing market has been pretty slow and it's difficult to make money in a down market, and it occurred to both of us that this was a way we can have a sales force in place.
"It's a good incentive. On a $25,000 home, the commission comes to $2,500, and they don't have to split it with anybody."
A recent open house at the company's Palm Beach headquarters showcasing two models -- the Key West beach house and a New England country estate -- drew dozens of Realtors and about 20 dogs.
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer recently shelled out $25,000 on a two-story, brick-face Doggie Mansion for his three dogs -- two robust Rottweilers, Chuck and Homer, and a fine-boned Maltese named Muffin.
The 8-by-10-foot luxury dog retreat is equipped with air conditioning, a brushed micro-velvet suede couch, ceramic tile floors, large arched windows, a flat-screen plasma TV that loops classic canine movies like "Benji" and "Rin Tin Tin" and, of course, football-shaped doggie beds.
Though it's clearly the dog's territory, the dwelling can easily accommodate Palmer if he ever winds up in the doghouse.
"We used a hand-cut people-sized door and made sure the house has 7-foot ceilings so that Carson himself can comfortably join his pooches should he so desire," Small said.
Since nobody technically needs a real estate license to sell a doghouse, the owners of Doggie Mansions did not limit their sales pitch to Realtors.
Lauren Van Dzura, the owner of Bark Avenue Mobile Groomers in Monroe Township, N.J., thinks in an era when some pet owners shell out $5,500 for a Swarovski crystal doggie vest, mansions are a logical next step.
In fact, Van Dzura, 36, was so taken by the idea, she signed on as a Doggie Mansion sales agent.
"I talked to a couple of my clients to get some feedback and see how they felt about it, and I got a lot of positive feedback," Van Dzura said. "Once it catches on, it will be a great thing."
Joseph Ricci, a Realtor in Millburn, N.J., said the hefty commission may entice some agents to start pushing Doggie Mansions. But he won't be one of them.
"I think it's ludicrous, to be honest with you," Ricci said.
Van Dzura said she has seen her share of pampered pets.
"Some owners have entire rooms dedicated to their dogs, a bed, an armoire for their clothes, so that's pretty pampered," she said. "A lot of people don't take their dogs out unless they're in a stroller or properly dressed or with little booties so their feet don't get dirty."
Indeed, the fastest-growing part of the pet industry is super-high-end luxury items like Christian Dior cashmere sweaters for dogs, or luxury toys such as Chewy Vuitton plush bags and Jimmy Chew high heels.
The American Pet Products Manufacturers Association, based in Greenwich, Conn., estimates pet owners will spend $38.4 billion on their animals in 2006, more than double the amount they spent in 1994. That includes everything from Louis Vuitton carry-ons and pet therapists to gourmet cuisine and weekend retreats at posh camps in the countryside.
"Each year, the doghouses become more expensive," said Michelle Pollack, who designs high-end dog mansions for La Petite Maison. Her company specializes in creating doghouses that are detailed replicas of the pet owner's home.
"People request more and more elaborate doghouses, and that is the change we are starting to see. Originally, someone would say we want the shell to look good, and then as they see what comes out every year, they say, OK, we changed our minds. We want to include a television or three rooms or a guest room for the doggie's friends when they come over."
Pollack said she receives all kinds of requests from dog owners who fuss over every detail.
One client in Virginia wanted every brick on her dog mansion hand-painted to match the bricks on her own mansion. Other pet owners want their doghouses to include Bose sound systems so their pets can listen to music, or upholstered accents, like Pollack's exclusive faux giraffe print chaise lounges, which cost around $2,000.
Pollack says her doghouses run between $6,000 and $25,000 and are hand-crafted and personally signed by builder Allan Mowrer.
"Our clients fall into one of two main categories," she said. "The first set of clients it's all about the architecture and the aesthetics and that `Oh, wow' factor. They don't care if the dog ever uses it or not. The second group is all about their dog."
For example, when Allison Albert, an attorney in California, decided to have a white stucco Swiss Chalet custom-built for her 130-pound Bernese Mountain Dog, Ted, she wanted him to pick out the interior paint color.
Ignoring the fact that dogs are colorblind, Albert asked the folks at La Petite Maison to send three different paint samples and laid each one on the floor. Ted walked over to the chips and put his nose on the light blue one first -- so light blue it was, Albert said.
Albert also wanted the house to have marble floors and air conditioning, because Bernese Mountain Dogs are hairy and get hot in the California sun.
Ted has since died. And today, her other dog, Klyde, also a Bernese Mountain Dog, is not as smitten with his posh digs, she said.
"Ted went in there a lot, especially if it was hot, because it had marble floors and an air conditioner and he would go in and lay down on the cool marble," she said.
But today, Albert said she probably spends more time in the doghouse than Klyde does -- especially on hot days.
"I will go sit in the doghouse because it has an air conditioner and my house doesn't," she said.
Nov. 19, 2006
(Sam Ali is a staff writer for The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J. She can be contacted at sali@starledger.com.)
Not for commercial use. For educational and discussion purposes only.
What would the North Koreans think of this?
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
Everybody knows that the truly pampered pooch lives in the house (and sleeps in the humans' bed.)
As do mine.
I WANT ONE!! I can rent it out to some illegals for $500/mo.
Sunnyvale - Sunnyvale CA, 94085 Property Details Living Area 3,000 SQ. FT. MLS 646631 Main Features Type Multi-Family Floors 1 Story Listing Status For Sale County Santa Clara Year Built 1941 Zoning R2 Lot Size Lot: 8,000+ Sq Ft to .25 Acre $1,350,000Link for the irony-challenged/profoundly dense
Realtors who are doing badly in this market as either new or they are not professionals in the first place. The real estate boom has caused hairdressers, barbers, card dealers, car salesman and virtually everybody else to decide to go get a real estate license because 'it was so easy when they sold our house' that they think that this is some kind of gimmick, scam or hobby. Just like everybody and their brother was a stock picking expert back in 1998 because no matter what you picked they all went up. Normal markets require professionals with knowledge, skill and ability like any other profession. If somebody in the real estate business is thinking about doghouses, I would welcome them leaving the business of real estate because they were probably not providing value to anybody anyways.
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← Another sign of the Apocalypse... |
If you care about your dogs enough to drop 100,000 grand on a doghouse, why not just let them live in your house?
This is ridiculous, and the fact that this can support an industry says much about how we allocate resources as a society.
A.P. - New Doghouse starts at their lowest levels in 6 years
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
Bump
Hey, how big a home do you really need?!
It doesn't make any less sense than people I know who have spent $100K+ on playhouses/treehouses for their kids.
That's an odd statement since your tagline implies you support the constitution party.
Here in America we conservatives prefer individuals to allocate their own resources.
Two rottweilers and a maltese walk into a bar ...
Do they mean bowow factor?
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