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If you’ve ever binge-watched a luxury real estate show, you’ve probably noticed that the agents look almost as polished as the multimillion-dollar homes they’re selling.
For some, that’s no coincidence.
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Ashley Reidy Quinn, co-founder of the Asset Advisory Team at Coldwell Banker Warburg in New York City, recently sold a six-bedroom, 10.5 bathroom Hamptons home for $59 million. She says cultivating a polished appearance is just as much a part of her job as negotiating multimillion-dollar deals.
“I tie my personal appearance hand-in-hand with how I show up for a client,” Quinn told Business Insider (1). “It’s part of the full-picture business portrayal of you as an individual, so I take that very seriously.”
The investment
Looking the part doesn’t come cheap.
According to Business Insider, Quinn spent roughly $100,000 on clothing in 2025 alone, filling her wardrobe with luxury brands such as Celine and Hermès.
Her beauty routine comes with recurring costs, too. Every few months, she spends about $427 on Botox, $175 (plus tip) on a deep-tissue treatment and $165 (plus tip) on a signature facial. That’s before factoring in regular manicures, skincare products or the cost of keeping her designer wardrobe up to date.
Quinn isn’t the only professional who views appearance as a business investment. A NerdWallet survey found that 75% of Americans believe in “pretty privilege” — the idea that people perceived as more attractive receive personal and professional advantages (2).
That belief isn’t just anecdotal. Research published by INFORMS found that attractive MBA graduates earned an average salary premium of 2.4% over 15 years and were more likely to land prestigious, client-facing roles — suggesting appearance can influence professional opportunities beyond first impressions (3).
An associate professor at Middle Tennessee State University who has studied the role of physical attractiveness in real estate said that people expect luxury realtors to pay significantly more attention to their appearance than those in other professions.
“If they’re going to spend that much money to buy a property, they’re going to expect the level of service they’ve seen on television or social media, and that includes everything from the car the agent drives, the clothes the agent wears, and how the agent looks when they walk in the door,” he told Business Insider (1).
Read More: 7 top habits of 'quietly wealthy' Americans. How many do you follow?
Selling the luxury lifestyle
When clients are spending millions of dollars on a home, they’re not just buying square footage — they’re buying an experience. For many agents, looking polished is part of delivering it.
Alex Hall, an agent at the Oppenheim Group and star of Netflix’s Selling the OC, told Business Insider that looking the part can be just as important as industry expertise (4). In her view, if you don’t make the right first impression, you may never get the chance to prove what you know.
“It’s one of the most important elements of being in this industry,” she said. “How you’re perceived and what you look like, whether you like it or not.”
Hall also invests heavily in her appearance. She told Business Insider she typically spends about $1,000 a month on skincare treatments, another $1,000 on wellness and roughly $500 on hairstyling, in addition to occasional designer purchases.
But buyers appear to value something else. According to the National Association of REALTORS®, experience was the most important factor people considered when choosing an agent, followed by honesty, trustworthiness and reputation (5).
Research suggests that while a polished appearance may help agents build their careers, it doesn’t always benefit their clients. A study published in the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) found that more attractive real estate agents often landed more listings and earned higher commissions, but the homes they sold didn’t consistently sell for higher prices or sell any faster (6).
That may be because luxury real estate involves far more than making a memorable first impression. Behind every sale are weeks or even months of pricing strategy, negotiations, inspections, financing hurdles and contract reviews. A polished image may help an agent get in the door, but market expertise and negotiation skills are what ultimately get a deal across the finish line.
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Article Sources
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.
Business Insider (1); Nerdwallet (2); INFORMS (3); YouTube (4); National Association of Realtors (5); SSRN (6)
This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
