According to some rather debatable research out of the University of New South Wales, the attractiveness of a real estate agent spills over into the property they are selling, making it more attractive in the minds of buyers. Examining what is called the ‘standard deviation increase’ in real estate agents' physical attractiveness, the study found that for every step up the attractiveness scale, the final selling price of a property increases by 2.3 per cent.

“Attractive real estate agents do achieve substantial price premiums” says UNSW Business School Senior Lecturer Robert Tumarkin. “Our research shows that the degree of attractiveness of an estate agent influences the amount of money they receive from buyers. I was curious about why in Australia there is so much emphasis on the estate agents, and not on the property they are selling. There’s a huge incentive to be as rational as possible when buying a home."

Tumarkin's research, which was conducted with UNSW Business School colleague Joakim Bang, is particularly pertinent to the Australian market where selling agents show properties directly to buyers. In the US, prospective buyers almost never meet with selling agents because buyers use buying agents to represent them.

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