Originally Posted by
you&me
Tech is amazing at when dealing with widget-like commodities, but falls short when it comes to anything more expensive and more nuanced... AFAIK, there has yet to be any market that routinely deals in $1mm+ transactions where a middle man of some sort has been eliminated altogether thanks to a technological disruption.
I think the best hope - if you want to call it that - for tech in RE beyond improving the experience of the buyer (which you're already seeing with virtual tours), is to improve efficiencies throughout the entire transaction process, which ultimately probably means facilitating auctions. At that point, agent commissions are greatly reduced, if not eliminated, but they'd be replaced by auction fees which would likely end up being similar amounts.
Personally, I don't have a problem with the RE agents role and their compensation... I have a problem with shitty agents, doing a shitty job and tripping over unsuspecting clients that unwillingly put the care of a major life decision in the hands of someone that might have less training than a bus driver. But that's a whole 'nother issue...
For now, I think it was most succinctly put - Don't hate the player, hate the game.