curious ? regarding real estate

[theFallenGod]

Why is it that when looking for real estate most magazines feature small pictures of the homes themselves but giant glamour shot photos of the real estate agent?

I am looking for a home... I want to buy a home...

I do not care one whit about what the real estate agent looks like.

I have always found them to be a shady lot to begin with but those photos make me dislike them even more.

Why does it matter what the real estate agent looks like and why are they selling themselves so much when people are more interested in a home?

 

[racer2438]

One reason is not only are they selling real estate, they are also selling them self.

And the other is they got there point across and you remember there pic's so you will remember them when you need to buy a house.

And some are a bit shady, but many are not. We have purchased 8 homes and used one agent cus she has found stuff that was not right and advised us to walk away. So they do look out for you too.

 

[barnbuddy]

ahhh, lets see....

maybe they are trying to make a living????


it's marketing - people respond to a friendly face

 

[FPNY]

I'm a realtor and I AM NOT SHADY but thanks for the generalization. Most people look at the Internet when house shopping, not print ads. Check out trulia.com or realtor.com.....

 

[mbamike]

The "giant glamour shot" is our logo for our businesses. Just like the golden arches is McDonald's logo. In addition to advertising the properties we have listed, we are advertising our services too. We do not earn an income until we actually close a sale. So, we need to keep our pipeline filled with "pending sales" or we go without a pay check.

So, when you see a home which raises your interest, I want you to call me, not another real estate agent.

 

[FPNY]

The "giant glamour shot" is our logo for our businesses. Just like the golden arches is McDonald's logo. In addition to advertising the properties we have listed, we are advertising our services too. We do not earn an income until we actually close a sale. So, we need to keep our pipeline filled with "pending sales" or we go without a pay check.

So, when you see a home which raises your interest, I want you to call me, not another real estate agent.

Yeah, call me.......

 

[theFallenGod]

Ok But why is it that every other service I go in for, Car dealers, accountants, bankers, hairdressers and so on don't have their photos plastered everywhere.

The way I see it is real estate agents are trying harder to sell themselves rather than the homes.

And for the agents that work at larger agencies like Century 21, Remax et al. That's their company logo why do they require their own logo as well.

As for remembering the face... I remember the home not the pushy vain agent who was itching for my money.

I just don't understand why real estate agents, who are nothing but the go between between buyer and seller, make it seem like they are trying harder to sell themselves via their photos than the actual homes.

 

[metta]

Personally, I think the commissions that they make on the high end homes are crazy, however, I do realize that the job is not as easy as people think. That there is a lot of psychology going on and constantly pushing through paper work trying to make things go smoothly.

I think that percentage of the commission should gradually go down as the price goes up.