Working as a real estate agent. Bringing the clients in line with the market

Eliza Benites-Gambirazio

Journal of Cultural Economy, 2020, vol. 13, issue 2, 153-168

Abstract: Drawing on ethnographic observations and interviews, this paper examines the market work performed by real estate agents in a residential market. The research explores how agents are engaged in market work to sell themselves, the market and the products in order to sell houses. Agents first invest in the clients by self-presentation techniques (likeability, availability, appearance, taste). They also work to bring the clients in line with the market by making them accept the market and its hierarchies; and finally, they enable clients to conform with the market, by relying on prices as signals and taste hierarchies. They act as market devices contributing to market valuation as they are engaged in making residential choices emerge, balancing the cold reality of the market with warm relationships to foster clients' engagement in transactions.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1080/17530350.2019.1697954

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