The internet should have been the death of the real estate agent long ago.

Agents just run an MLS report for you before they take you out to look. They’re just filling out a form to generate their report. So when looking for homes, Real Estate agents are unnecessary. They might have some ‘inside’ information about a handful of units in a particular area, but just how much is that info worth? Essentially you are paying for easy access to looking for homes (via those little doorhandle key locks).

Agents might have a fair amount of experience selling homes, but I honestly don’t think that their experience is worth 3-5% of the price of a home. It can be nice to have agents show your home, saving you the hassle of arranging visits during the day, but are agents necessary for coordinating the sale once a buyer is identified? That is about 10-20 hours of work to do on your own. Hire a good real estate attorney for about 500 bucks, and he can do it all for you.

I don’t hate agents, they’re nice people, but if you’re looking to maximize your money on the buying or selling end, in 2008 America, a real estate agent is not a necessity expense.

Not only do I agree with what you are saying, I think that its absolutely mandatory that the Real Estate industry stop thinking about how to protect their data, and start thinking about new and innovative ways to add value to working with a REALTOR.

If over 80% of buyers use the internet as the primary tool when looking for a new home and sellers have the ability to search using the very same tools we do, its more important now than ever to make sure exposure is at the forefront of our strategy.

http://www.easylistings.ca is our answer to a slow moving, narrow minded Real Estate Association. Stay Tuned!

Thanks for the great Blog!

PS: Tell Blair his blog domain name violates the NAR’s trademark of the word “Realtor”… email/call me if you need more details (jay@thompsonsrealty.com)

RAH- *well* said.

Perfectly said in the entire last paragraph!

Today’s agent is running scared of new technology to better help the “clients” approach to the largest investment of the buyer’s lives. As a Broker myself, I know how much we hate change. But it’s inevitable. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could go back not to many years, sit behind our desks and wait for the phone to ring? Show the house, present the offer, then close and off to the next. Not any more, the Internet savvy buyers are searching for the content you mentioned as well as “walk through check lists” and tools to help them choose.

The Agent of yesteryears that doesn’t embrace the change of today’s buyer’s needs and expectations will become the “caveman” commercial of Real-estate in the not to far future.

I’ve just started reading your blog on a regular basis. I’m not a realtor, I am a blogging/social media strategy guy who just happens to have his own house up for sale. So I thought I would share my own perspective.

While I may be a technology guy, I am far from qualified to sell my own house. I can Google, and I can search the MLS listings with the best of them. But I certainly am not qualified to figure out an appropriate selling price; I’m not gualified to negotiate the purchase contract, and without the help of my agent I would be absolutely lost during that period of time between sale and close.

A man who representes himself has a fool for a lawyer. I think that’s true in real estate as well as law.

I believe we are under the gun to provide as much information as we can through our real estate and blog sites.

Most internet clients want free access to listing information. They also want school stats, crime information, demographics, market data and as much community information as they can find–in real time if possible.

And if we are able to tell an entertaining story or two about the area, all the better!