I may be looking at things from a small-town perspective, and it is highly possible that in the technological backwater known as Canada (where we don't have any true online lenders such as E-Loan, Lending Tree, nor do we have Know The Neighborhood, School Reports, etc.), the internet-empowered consumer does not do the research that a US-based consumer does. In the 75+ transactions that have originated online for me, I can only recall one instance where the people had done any searching online before they got to me. Once they found me, using my site which they found on the search engines or through my off-line advertising, I pointed them in the direction of where to look for homes that would appear suitable to them, and then they would email me the MLS #'s to get them more information. Again, this may be a Canadian perspective, but I don't see the paradigm shift coming with buyers for quite some time. I'm far ahead of the consumer in my area, and will be ready when it comes to the shift. It's the listing that I see as being most susceptible to disintermediation, and it takes a paradigm shift in the minds of brokers if they want to put a stop to the loss of listing inventory. Most brokers care about the double-end, not about the best way to help the consumer. This must be so, or we would have a majority of offices already set up as single agency only. The brokers cannot see the way to best serve consumers is also ultimately the best business operating model, as it will remove so much of the consumer mis-trust of real estate agents. Banish all kinds of representation other than where XYZ Realty only works with buyers & ABC Realty only works with sellers. If you want to buy a home, ABC Realty MUST tell you to walk down the street to XYZ Realty, and ABC WILL NOT receive a referral fee for doing so. In my not-so-humble opinion, it is the fault of the real estate industry itself that is the cause of the bad consumer reputation, and if this industry wants to do something to keep the Realtor at the center of the transaction, then the industry as a whole needs to try thinking about what is best for the consumer, rather than thinking about the best way to keep the most money in it's pockets at the cost of the consumer! Then, disintermediation will become a funny word that will no longer cause any concern to the real estate industry at large.