A Rotorua real estate agent is turning heads with his cute, friendly sidekick who accompanies him to open homes, charming both buyers and sellers.
Boris the Alpaca is becoming a celebrity in Rotorua as he's often spotted driving around town on the back of his owner Ray White agent Tim O’Sullivan’s Ram ute.
And unlike most farm animals, Boris does get around – often going into Ray White Rotorua’s pet-friendly office, client meetings and even open homes.
O’Sullivan, who co-owns Ray White Rotorua, says he can’t resist the sad eyes Boris makes at him when he goes to leave after bottle-feeding him in his paddock so, if the occasion allows, will let the five-month-old hop on the back of his ute.
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It’s also more convenient for O’Sullivan who still bottle-feeds Boris twice a day since discovering the wet bundle of fluff lying in a paddock in his lifestyle block in Hamurana in early December.
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His arrival was even more of a surprise as they hadn’t even realised the alpaca was pregnant because their male alpaca had died seven months earlier.
“We couldn’t tell that she was pregnant and secondly it didn’t even cross our mind that she was pregnant,” O’Sullivan said.
The baby alpaca, known as a cria, was only a few hours old and had been disowned by its mother.
Boris the Alpaca is even making an appearance in real estate listings. Photo / Supplied
O'Sullivan and Boris at an open home. Photo / Supplied
Boris’ mother rejected any attempt to be reunited with its baby so O’Sullivan turned to Google to learn everything about rearing the cria.
O’Sullivan says Boris still lives in the paddock with the two other female alpacas, but doesn’t really interact with them. He’s much happier hanging out with humans who shower him with attention and pats – something alpacas generally don’t like.
Boris – named after former UK prime minister Boris Johnson because of the pink near his eyes and funny looking hair-do – can sometimes be found at O’Sullivan’s open homes tied to the back of the ute on a long leash just nibbling on grass.
Open home visitors also can’t resist getting a snap or two with Boris who is quite photogenic.
He’s already appeared in a listing photo at 2 Walford Drive in Lynmore and O’Sullivan says it might not be his last cameo given how popular he is.
Boris is a welcome addition to open homes. Photo / Supplied
He's turning heads around Rotorua as he travels around the city in O'Sullivan's ute. Photo / Supplied
“I think I will start doing it because people just like it so much. It’s something different and he certainly breaks the ice when he comes to open homes.
“If I go to a house that I’ve got listed and Boris isn’t with me they are most disappointed.”
Boris is also becoming a familiar and welcome sight in Rotorua when he's being driven around on the back of O’Sullivan’s ute.
“Just driving down the road with him on the back of my ute – he creates a lot of interest. People have got their cameras videoing him, taking pictures. Even driving down the road you can hear people go, 'Oh look at that’.”
The young alpaca is only about 60cm tall, but could grow to about 180cm. They also live for between 20 and 25 years.
And while O’Sullivan admits Boris is becoming a bit of a point of difference for him, he is also wary about exploiting him.
“The other thing I’m worried about is that if he gets too well-known that somebody might pinch him and that would be heart-breaking.”
Earlier this month a Blenheim real estate agent also got an unexpected boost to his marketing campaign when ZM host Bree Tomasel was inspired by UK real estate agent Claire Cossey who uses songs to market her listings.
Tomasel randomly chose 4 Barratt Street in Blenheim and created a singing ad for it.
A marketing campaign for a modest Auckland house on Morrie Laing Avenue went viral after Ray White agent Linh Yee made a Bruno Mars-inspired video for it in May 2021.
The two-minute video highlights the development potential of the property and called on buyers to “Bid up!” for the property which sold under the hammer for $1.66m – $535,000 above its 2017 CV.
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