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Comment by axod | Hacker News Reader

Slightly related:

When I first visited the US, I was really surprised at the adverts in newspapers for realtors (estate agents). They all had photos of the realtors faces?! Do people choose realtors based on their photo? How would that make any sense at all. Perhaps it's just some custom that's been passed down, but it really freaked me out.

Could you use some other picture of a warm fuzzy respectable person and say "Oh yeah James Hilby-Smithe is currently unavailable, I'm his associate I can help you"? Would that be legal. I wonder if any of them do this already.

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> Do people choose realtors based on their photo?

Yes, but not consciously.

> Perhaps it's just some custom that's been passed down

I'm sure they have tested ads without photos, or with photos of something other than people, and found that photos of attractive smiling real estate agents work best.

If it surprises you that this works, I recommend reading Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini. He is a psychologist who has spent years not just studying persuasion in laboratory settings, but "going undercover", taking courses and even doing jobs in all kinds of persuasion professions - door-to-door salespeople, fund-raisers, recruiters, advertisers, etc. He noted hundreds of techniques that he was taught, or that he learned or observed, and categorized them into six principles of persuasion, each forming a chapter of the book.

The book is useful to entrepreneurs who need to market their startups, and useful to humans, who need to understand the techniques that are being used by sales people and marketers of all kinds. I recommend it to everyone. (In case you're worried, Cialdini doesn't recommend unethical techniques, though he does describe some so that you know what to watch out for.)

> I'm sure they have tested ads without photos, or with photos of something other than people, and found that photos of attractive smiling real estate agents work best.

Describing real estate agents as people who use empirical study in their marketing efforts doesn't match with my experience. The industry is full of "do it because that's what we always do" attitudes regarding the marketing of homes. Zillow's research seems to back this up - agent headshot ads performed way worse than anything else (http://www.zillow.com/blog/the-top-and-bottom-performing-ads...).

They have probably tested is collectively, the poor bets going out of business and good ones staying in.

Real estate isn't quite as simple as just the listing ads. There are tons of things a real estate agent can be good at that make their ad quality irrelevant.

There are probably things they could do that would have a bigger effect than the ad quality. But as long as those ads have some effect, and faces improve them, they'll keep doing it.

Doctors and lawyers often put their faces in ads, too. It looks like people want to see the person they're buying a service from.

Real Estate Agents likely do not run Real Estate marketing firms.

I was surprised because if it was tried in the UK, I'm pretty sure it would not work at all. Estate agents show pictures of houses they're selling/sold. Never a picture of their face.

So there seems to be something different in our culture there.

Isn't is customary to put your photo on your CV in the UK? Why is it shocking to have the faces of your realtor when you have the faces of future employees?

(I am not sure if this is an out-dated tradition, but I remember applying for study abroad they wanted a photo with that application as well.)

No, we don't put photos on CVs. Only if you want to be an actor or model :/

A photo with your CV? That'd be totally weird. I've only ever needed one for security passes.

Even my CRB/security check (temp summer job in a civil service typing pool) didn't need one except as proof of ID.

I've only seen it done in mass-recruitment situations, like applicants for a graduate trainee scheme at a large company.

I'm not sure about the UK but it is expected in many (if not most) countries.

I can only compare the UK and the US, but in the US realtors are more solo than in the UK. In the UK you'd typically go with a reputable firm of agents, and even then you'd not usually deal with the same agent all of the time. In the US, you would, so personal appeal stands for a lot more.

Ah interesting. I hadn't considered this. I wonder why there aren't realtor firms in the US. I'm much more comfortable dealing with a well known firm than a single individual. I wonder how the fees compare. UK it's typically 1-3% of sale price.

There are realtor firms in the US, like Century 21. However many of them still use pictures of the realtor, like "contact Jane Doe, your Century 21 representative".

I don't know much about this, but I believe most of these firms in the US and Canada are running franchise operations. There may be a nationally advertised logo, and some listing and referral services, but it still all depends on the realtor. They split the commission with the agency.

I can’t think of very many objective criteria that would help someone choose one Realtor®¹ over another. They all get paid the same commission and they all have access to the same database of listings. So it makes sense that they would differentiate themselves from each other by using their handsome faces; what else is there?

¹That HN link to information about third-level keys has changed my life. Possibly not in a good way. :-)

you can't reference a good link without sharing it, that's just not fair :)

Linux compose key: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=962683

Past data on the houses they've recently sold, and for how much? :/

If you see an ad that says “I sold the house pictured here for $300,000”, then for all you know, the guy sitting at the next desk over could have sold it for $350,000.

That logic is quite odd. I'd rather have a data point saying "I sold a house like yours for $300k", than a smiley face. What does a smiley face tell me?

You can’t tell from the picture alone whether or not the house is “like yours” or not. In particular, you can’t compare how much purchasers can negotiate down the price when he or she finds stuff needing repair, or how much the agent can negotiate up the price by convincing purchasers that the floorplan is ideally suited for their special special needs.

What data, and how to present that in an advertisement?

Typically in UK adverts you have pictures of houses, summary of details, price, and if it's sold, they slap a big "SOLD" across it.

This shows you how well they can sell, and how much they get for properties. Adverts in papers are typically a full page, so there's plenty of space.

I always thought those ads were designed to say "we are not a faceless corporate machine; you will be dealing with an actual human."

I believe you're correct, however they pull this tactic in Canada however the majority of property sales are made through RE/MAX which IS a faceless corporate machine.

It's as if they're saying "Hi I'm an independent contractor, oh just ignore those 99,999 other independent contractors because I'm smiling!"

This reminds me of "Remington Steele" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remington_Steele).

Fun show, from the 80's.

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