DJ Soucy was an assistant to a corporate banking executive in Chicago, but he wanted out of the job and the big city.
His husband, Damien Palladino, could live anywhere, so they essentially threw a dart at a map and ended up in St. Petersburg, Florida, in 2017.
"I was tired of living near 65,000 people within a one-block radius, but we didn't want to live in the middle of nowhere, either," Soucy told Homes.com.
Every other house they ever bought "was like a Disney movie — perfect," he said. But the experience with their agent in Florida was terrible, and Soucy figured he could do better.
Needing a job anyway, he earned a real estate license and started selling homes. Those first two years, he was holding two open houses a week, every week. Then the pandemic hit in 2020, and historically low mortgage rates fueled a sales boom that made him even busier.
Then one day, he got a text.
Donations help animal shelter
"My husband sent me a picture of our dog slumped across the couch looking out the window, waiting for me to come home," said Soucy, head of the five-agent DJ Soucy Group at Compass. "It got me thinking. I spend all this time trying to help people find homes. There's got to be a way to tie in my love of dogs."
So, he began teaming with Pet Pal Animal Shelter in St. Petersburg, offering to cover the $200 fee for his clients who wanted to adopt dogs. Most people moving into or out of a home aren't ready to care for a new pet, so in most cases, Soucy, 58, said he sends the shelter the $200 as a donation in his clients' names.
He said he has raised more than $50,000 for the shelter in the past five years. Pet Pal mostly spends the money on medical care for the animals, Executive Director Scott Daly said.
"DJ is amazing," Daly said in an interview. "He helps us pay the bills."
Soucy's efforts hit social media, and other agents have reached out. He said agents in South Carolina and on the east and west coasts of Florida have started similar donation programs. A lender in Tennessee has also launched one, and a title company in Michigan has expressed interest, too, he said.
"St. Pete's our favorite place we've ever lived," Soucy said. "People think it's the weather, but it's not. It's the people. And I like dogs even more than people."
The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What's your home like?
We live in a historic neighborhood, Historic Kenwood, but our house was built in 2004. It's a two-bedroom, two-bath modern home with a 48-foot-long saltwater lap pool.
What's your favorite spot in your home and why?
Probably the back porch, overlooking the landscaping and watching the dogs play out there. We have an English Mastiff and an Italian Mastiff. They have their own turfed area.
After you moved to St. Pete, when did you start to feel like a local?
It happened pretty quick. The neighborhood has porch parties where everybody brings a dish to share. So, the first month after we moved in, I showed up and there were like 80 people there. One woman named Kay came up to me and said, 'You look new.' I told her we just moved in. She took me by the hand and started introducing me to everybody.
What's the most bizarre thing that has happened to you on the job?
At a home inspection, the inspector needed to access the crawl space under the house. When he got inside, he found a man intoxicated, sleeping in there. He asked, 'If I'm not in the way, is it OK if I stay here?' We said, 'You are in the way, and you are trespassing. It's time to go.'