gregorygarver.com

[johnm]

I work for a small Massachusets news paper creating advertisments in photoshop. Alot of them are real estate ads, and no matter what the company, every real estate ad I make, they want to include a photo of themselves. I've noticed this everywhere. Why do real estate ads almost always include a photo of the real estate agent?Its not like its name/face recognition for repete customers, I mean, how often will you buy a house?

[James]

It really come down to basic business pratices.. Humans actually remember faces better than names....so it is a very good marketing idea..People buy and sell houses all the time...I am on my 3rd house in 4 years...So, that is the basic understanding on why their pictures are on the ads..

[Mortgageman]

Fortunately or Unfortunately appearance sells. If I'm going to spend time with an agent looking at homes, I may choose someone a little easier on the eyes. You don't see many mortgage banker pictures because, in most cases, we are not.

[Mortgagemom]

Real Estate Agents are independant by nature. When you buy, or sell a home, you hire an Agent, not a company. So name and face recognition is very important to them.They also do a lot of business by referral. So perhaps you may not buy a home all too often, but you know a lot of people that you could recommend your agent's services to. If you tell a friend, "use Susy Homeseller", and then they see Susy on a billboard or other print advertisement, it increases her chances to get the deal.In my business I work with a lot of Realtors - what I think is funny is that many of their pictures are from years ago, when they were thinner, younger, etc.

[tianaramal]

I agree with some of the previous posters as far as face recognition etc. I personally feel pictures on a business card looks tacky. In most other businesses there are no pictures on the card.