Real-estate agents are going extinct just like travel agents did

[MineralMan]

32. I have bought and sold two houses without any real estate people

being involved. But, and this is a big but, those houses were owned outright and had no mortgages on them.

On the other hand, my wife and I bought a new house to us in 2021, and sold the house we were living in. We engaged a realtor we know personally to handle both things. She showed us only places that met our requirements and counseled us on how much to offer in that insane market to ensure getting the one we liked the best. We moved to that place before putting our old house on the market.

At zero extra cost to us, that realtor handled dealing with everyone who worked on fixing up our old house, which was now a 30 minute drive from our new one. Instead of dealing with all that nonsense, we just moved in and started enjoying our new place. Then, she found a buyer for the old place for the price we wanted to get for it.

That was worth the 6% commission, and then some. Of course we had to pay those contractors, etc., but I didn't have to deal with them. Everything got done and the house got sold with no muss or fuss.

On the other hand the two houses involved in those non realtor sales also went just fine. It all depends on the situation. If you have time and knowledge enough to handle a sale or purchase with just the title company involved, then you can save a bunch of money. If you don't want the hassle, or don't have the knowledge, a good real estate person will make your life much easier.