[jasode]

>That's the point.

Well, the percentage is only part of the point. Some commenters in this thread are truly perplexed why the agents even _exist_.

They exist because sellers want them to exist. I'm saying it's naive to think that a new revolutionary website with a slick UI/UX would make agents obsolete. Agents may make less money (e.g. forces of free market lowers their median income from $45k to $20k) but the agents won't go away. If you have a population of people that don't want to do something (hassle work of selling) and a segment of population willing to specialize in relieving that hassle, then boom, you inevitably end up with agents. A new website or smartphone app doesn't remove the desires for that business relationship.

>Someone mentioned a real estate agent making 1250 dollars/hour.

Most agents don't make much money[1]. (Median is ~$45k.) There are a handful of superstar agents selling multi-million dollar mansions but most agents are selling more modest properties.

[1] https://www.google.com/search?q=average+real+estate+agent+in...