French bulldog Rollo is the reason property buyers can't say no

A swimming pool, a walk-in wardrobe and a butlers’ pantry are all fine for selling a home, but who can resist a French bulldog?

Including a sweet “staging pet” in a property’s listing is a selling technique which, for reasons lost on nobody with a soul, really works.

There is an increasing trend of using adorable animals in listings, research by Money.com.au has found.

Canberra real estate agent Catherine Halloran is one property pro who puts staging pets in her clients’ campaigns.

Don’t own a dog? No worries, because Halloran owns the best good boy in the ACT – Rollo, the French bulldog.

Rollo stars in her property listings, making light work of reclining on a rug in front of the heater.

Halloran says that pets in property campaigns encourage prospective buyers to linger a little longer.

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

This strategy doesn’t just tug at the heart strings. A pet-friendly property is s priority for some buyers.

Dogs and cars are adored family members, making them an important part of property decisions.

Staging pets help buyers with fur kids envisage themselves living there, and pushes these properties to the front of the pack.

For lifestyle properties in regional areas, even a staging goat can make all the difference.

Money’s research shows 3 per cent of all national listings fall under the “pet-friendly'” filter on Domain. New South Wales has the majority, with 5378 options.

Lucy Yang is a new homeowner in Richardson in the ACT. She secured a property that was the right fit for not just her and her husband, but also for her animals – dogs Drax, Hulk and Cheeky, and cat Sassy.

She said that pet-appropriate features in a property would elicit a higher offer from her.

“Having a picture where there was a dog on the couch or a cat sitting in the sun by the back door made it that much easier for us to imagine ourselves and our pets living there,” she told Money.com.au

“It showed us that pets had previously lived in and thrived in the comfort of that home.

Last year, a young couple in Western Australia made headlines when they bought a property for their golden retriever Alfred.

SOLD - $895,000

23 Paterson Gardens, Winthrop WA 6150

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View property

They purchased a tennis court – sold as a block of land to build a house on – at auction for $895,000, opposite Alfred’s favourite park. He now has a “playground” of his own, the agent said when the deal was struck.

They were the successful bidders on July 15 on 23 Paterson Gardens in Winthrop – a 566-square-metre plot in a green neighbourhood, 15 minutes from the Perth CBD, with birdlife, abundant eucalyptus trees and a water sanctuary.

Word is Alfred wasn’t at the auction, but he is understood to have checked out the site with his mum and dad on his next walk.