needs to fundamentally transform to survive.

My thoughts:

1. The multiple listing services seem like a legacy monopoly and currently do more harm than good. Pre-internet, it had its place in collecting, indexing, and consolidating information. But right now the MLS bends over backwards to keep its ever-dwindling power. Independent websites could easily provide all of the information the MLS systems keep secret. But if your home isn't listed on the MLS, then the buyer's agent is going to ignore your house because they won't get paid a commission.

2. The compensation structure is messed up. Why should an agent for a $600,000 home get a 3% commission ($18,000) while a different agent on a $300,000 get $9,000? The work involved is likely identical.

3. A lot of the important work done by real estate agents are: (1) market analysis ($300), (2) preparation of offers and acceptance docs ($500), (3) reviewing documents ($500); (4) dealing with pre-sales disclosures ($1,000), (5) closing ($500), and (6) answering questions and giving advice ($1,000). These can all be separated out. The estimated costs above are less than $4k and would work in over 90-percent of sales. The most unsophisticated buyer or seller could get expert help in all of these areas without paying a fortune in agent fees.

If I'm selling my car to a private party, I clean it up to look nice and then list all of the features online. Someone contacts me, test drives the car, and then we go to the bank to exchange funds and transfer the title. A home sale shouldn't be much different: make the house look nice, list it online, show the house, sign the docs, and then go to the title company to exchange funds and transfer the title.

I think agents can be very important and are vital for many home sales. But like other industries, the whole profession needs to adapt to the modern environment.