Jill is a wonderful agent and friend.  She helped sell our townhouse in 2005, and we are working with her to sell and buy homes in 2009.  I am very comfortable and have referred friends and family members her way.  Her ethics and professionalism are without question, and she possesses a keen “business instinct” to get the best results for her clients.  Most importantly, she is empathizes with her clients (and their children and pets!) which makes her a welcomed visitor in our family.  We are very lucky to call her our agent and friend.

 Randy and Jean Wagner

Oustanding Professionalism

Hello!  I just wanted to pass along a much deserved compliment re: Drew.  He came out to our home today to inspect a bee problem and also recertify our home for the termite inspection which we were first buying our home.  I believe our realtor, Jill Barsky, had recommended your company to us for the required termite inspection at that time.

Drew was so very helpful, professional, and knowledgeable and I will be sure and refer all my friends to your company should they have the need for termite inspections or work and/or pest control as a result of his visit today.  He passed along so many great suggestions for us in terms of prevention.  We will be sure and request Drew be the one to come out for the annual inspections for our home.

It is a pleasure to be able to refer a company that has such stellar employees.  Also, the person whom answers your phones is also an asset to your company.  She is very pleasant and extremely helpful as well.

Thank you for your good work.  It is very nice to encounter such a well run business.  I have dealt with many contractors for various things since we've purchased our home last year and I can count on one hand how many I'd actually refer and CW Termite and Pest Control is definitely one of them.

Maria Glezos- 10/31/2008

Company News...

At least in theory: Mr. Meyer, who became a broker in 2004 after retiring from the New York City Human Resources Administration and now works for Barak Realty, has made plenty of sales but has yet to close a pet-related deal. "I'm waiting to get a couple of success stories," he admitted.

Until then, he is finding out which buildings permit pets and is collecting listings of Manhattan properties that mention they are pet-friendly. A report from the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association, based on a 2004 survey, revealed that 63 percent of households in the United States included a pet, compared with 56 percent in 1988. Dogs are in 39 percent of all residences, cats in 34 percent.

Landlords and co-op and condo boards in New York are generally free to ban pets, much to the chagrin of Cathy Wallach, a broker at the Corcoran Group in New York, who advertises as a "pet property specialist" in New York Tails magazine. "I think the law should be changed, that buildings should not be allowed to discriminate against people who have pets, but that's not going to happen anytime soon," she said.

Jill Barsky, who is based in Potomac, Md., and who, like Mr. Meyer, calls herself "The Pet Friendly Realtor," was involved with animal-rescue organizations before she became a real estate broker 12 years ago. She joined animal rescuers in post-Katrina Mississippi, returning with a dog to join the seven she already had.

Ms. Barsky may tell clients who are scared of dogs — or allergic to them — to see someone else in her office. "I tell clients there's something they need to know about me," Ms. Barsky said of her penchant to help stray dogs. "If I see an animal loose, we will stop house-hunting and assess the situation."

Ms. Barsky is unabashed about trying to find homes for more than just clients. "In my office, the joke is, if you're working with Jill and you don't have a pet, you will by the end of the transaction, so you better be prepared."

She makes a trip to an open house sound like a Stephen King plot line: "They're locked in the car and they can't get out," she said. "So they have to hear about pets."

Literally stooping to a self-promotional low, Ms. Barsky has her phone number and motto — "Finding Homes for People and Animals" — printed on "poop bags that come in a little canister thing," she said. She also has promotional T-shirts for dogs, and dog bowls.

Through animal shelters and rescue leagues for which she volunteers, Ms. Barsky weaves a vast, pet-friendly-housing web, with veterinarians and others in pet-related businesses who are also landlords calling her seeking tenants for their apartment buildings, and dog owners seeking places with a welcome mat.

She donates a portion of every commission to a pet organization of the client's choice, and at the closing brings toys for the pets.

When pet agnostics enlist her to help them buy apartment buildings as investments, she agrees to represent them only if they promise to allow pets. "It's win-win," she tells investors. "People who have pets really take care of the properties because they're so grateful to have a place to live and that they don't have to give up their pets."

In New York, David Calderazzo, who founded All Pet Property 12 years ago, said his slogan is "At All Pet Property, we like it ruff." He maintains a paw-positive-buildings database, albeit an amorphous one. "I know landlords that won't take a dog, but if they have five or six vacancies, they'll consider a small dog; if they have eight or nine, they'll take bigger dogs."

Mr. Calderazzo said that in pet-related deals, which make up about 20 percent of his business, he generally represents the buyer or renter. "There's a 1 percent vacancy in Manhattan right now, and for places where you can have pets it's even less," he said. But he chooses to see the water bowl as half full.

"It actually makes my life easier when they have a dog," he said. "Instead of 10 apartments, I'll show them 3. If you have a pit bull, all the better: I'll show you just 1."

Some brokers may broach giving Rex up in order to get a dream apartment, but Mr. Calderazzo is certainly not one of them. "I had one client say, 'Oh, I'll just get rid of my dogs.' And I said, 'Well, you just got rid of me.' And I dropped him."

He prides himself on assuaging landlords' concerns about pets, although doing so does not always mean he ends up with a deal. "I called a landlord and said, 'Would you take a diplomat with a dog?' " he said. "And she said, 'I'll take the dog, but not the diplomat.' "