By Andrew Batt:
A new study has revealed that attractive real estate agents sell more properties and achieve at higher prices.
The authors of the report asked 402 people to score real estate agents in the United States on a scale of 1 to 10, from very unattractive to very attractive. Property transactions conducted by the same agents over a seven-year period were also taken into account.
Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, Sean Salter, Associate Professor of Finance at Middle Tennessee State University and a co-author of the report, said: “When you see a more attractive person, you think ‘Superman.’ They’re going to be good at whatever they do. You think they’re attractive, they’re smarter, they’re funnier—they’re probably a better real-estate agent.”
The research also discovered that agents rated as being attractive listed their properties for US$20,275 more, and sold for US$15,622 more, than average-looking agents.
But while beautiful real estate agents made more money per transaction, they made 17 fewer listings and made 11 fewer sales, on average, during the period of research.
The results were published in Applied Financial Economics.
Andrew Batt, International Group Editor of PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact him about this or other stories email andrew@propertyguru.com.sg
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