MAY
26: It’s a fact - beautiful real estate agents can sell their homes for as much
as 2.3 percent higher and that could translate into hundreds of thousands of
baht for the seller. However, does beauty trump strong sales skills and sound
market knowledge?
Recent
research from Australia’s University of New South Wales discovered just how far
our behavioural biases reach in terms of buying. It examined the ‘standard
deviation increase’ in real estate agents’ physical attractiveness, finding
that for every step up the ladder of perceived beauty, the final selling price
of a property reliably increased.
“Our
research shows that that the degree of attractiveness of a real estate agent
spills over into the property they are selling, making it more attractive in
the minds of buyers,” said researcher and Business School Senior Lecturer
Robert Tumarkin in a statement.
The
study matched photographs of estate agents rated on attractiveness in
independent tests, with property sales that had generated the same average
investment. It found that good-looking agents were achieving substantial price
premiums.
It is
an expansion of the ‘halo effect’, where a person’s overall impression of
something affects their evaluation of its individual aspects. With regard to
property, the research purports that attaching a beautiful estate agent to a
property produces an overall picture so good that it distorts our ability to
isolate and accurately discern the true value of a property.
A
similar U.S. study in 2013 found that based on the nature of agent commission
and the profits yielded from an increased property sale price, ‘beauty enhances
an agent’s wage’.
Frank
Mixon, a Professor of Economics at Columbus State University’s Turner College
of Business who conducted the study, said he was hardly surprised by the
findings, however qualified them by noting that “attractiveness is not the ‘be
all, end all’ – it just helps to tip the scales when competitors are otherwise
equally talented or skilled”.
As
long as attractive agents are not using beauty to supplement, rather than to
complement, other productive activities it is up to buyers to be more discerning
when considering a listed property.
As far
as sellers are concerned, while there appears to be an attractive advantage to
hiring a beautiful estate agent, there are a few other considerations to keep
in mind when researching prospective estate agents. It is important to find an
agent who:
•
Shows clear commitment to their clients.
• Professional experience in your market and a depth of knowledge of your local area.
• Can offer positive references from previous clients.
• Has a great marketing strategy that they can tailor to your property.
• Professional experience in your market and a depth of knowledge of your local area.
• Can offer positive references from previous clients.
• Has a great marketing strategy that they can tailor to your property.
Beauty,
as the saying goes, is only skin-deep and is not a match for in-depth knowledge
and the ability to sell your property for the best possible price in the
shortest possible time.
