Because real estate agents are marketing / sales people. And sales people (unlike other non-sales professions) have figured out that a photo on a business card

Because real estate agents are marketing / sales people. And sales people (unlike other non-sales professions) have figured out that a photo on a business card is a smart thing to do? I also do this as an EE (Europe area). It just seems very intuitive[0] to me that people would be more likely to remember a face than just a name on a card after whatever brief meeting (especially in a market where this is not a common thing to do). I sure do. I'm horrible with names anyway. [0]to be totally fair: I have read quite a few business, marketing and sales books. My favorite is probably the classic "Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion" by Robert B. Cialdini. Second would be "Predictably irrational" by Dan Ariely. Main take away: influencing / selling and getting hired have surprisingly little to do with knowledge, education and IQ. It is more (all?) about human social dynamics and "predictably irrational" human psychology. Case in point: Trump. Think about it.