The stats are hardly surprising. It is of, course, something else entirely for Web users to commit to one of the most important and expensive investments of their lives. The more choices the Internet offers, the more confusing the homebuying process. For the consumer choosing among the many avenues to home purchase is like selecting a wine from an extensive list in a fine restaurant. The longer the list, the greater the need for recommendations from a sommelier.
Agents are the sommeliers of the real estate industry.
The struggles and failures of many real estate related dot-com sites reflects homebuyers reluctance to do business without the personal guidance of a professional they know and trust. Industry studies bear out continued consumer dependence on real estate professionals. Most homebuyers use a real estate agent as an important information source and to assist in the transaction. Most interesting is that surveys show that 9 out of 10 buyers planned to use an agent in their next home purchase as well. The homebuyers surveyed, the most important agent service was assistance in finding the home they eventually purchased.