15 or so years into this internet thing, it's not difficult to see that entire fields of expertise have been utterly transformed by the digitization and commodification of information that was once rare or hard to access and therefore valuable. The real estate industry is no exception. It WILL be transformed. You can't stop the internet. Ask the immensely wealthy and powerful multinational record companies how trying to stop it is working out for them. Then ask Apple whether applying forward thinking, redefining the retail space for music has added to their bottom line.
Will all realtors be put out of work? No. There are some services they provide that are truly valuable and worth paying for. There are people who need the assistance and guidance realtors offer. So good realtors who provide needed services will survive the coming transformation. The others will find new careers. But some services that realtors provide are simply busy work, padding to help justify the fees. Realtors also provide some services that can easily be done over the internet, without human intervention. Of course most of them won't admit that. Their goal is to make every last minuscule item on their list of services seem indispensable.
The real estate industry is fundamentally flawed. Someone with a little vision, technical savvy, and a lot of capital will come along very soon and start hacking away at its roots. Look soon for TV, newspaper and web ads touting no commission and a menu of for fee services.
Hell, if I was well-capitalized I'd be doing this myself. It's only a matter of time.
I'm going to read some Foucault now.
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