Can realtors be replaced ?

[Harvey Gill]

I have been wondering a lot about this question. Do we as buyers and sellers need real estate agents especially now the in the age of AI.
The buyer's agent mainly finds properties, books appointments, view homes with the clients, negotiates, and may recommend people for closing, inspection etc. As homebuyers I do think AI can help us find properties that we are interested in much faster and the buyer can book the appointments. Most realtors find properties by scouring the MLS and if we citizens get access to MLS I believe lot of people won't be hirng realtors.

Viewing home should be basic and inspector should be able to asses the property in a deeper level. Negotiating may be the hardest part, but giving someone 1 % of the value of the property is too much for just that task. One may argue that buyer's agent is their emotional guide and gives them direction. That is true but is it worth the cost. 

The seller's agent  seems bit harder to me ,but most realtors i have spoken to say the opposite. 
The task of marketing the property and creating demand seems hard, but most properties sell based on their location anyways. I slightly understand why most realtors say buyer's job is harder.  

Please let me know what you think 

[JD Martin]

Can they be replaced? Sure, that's already happened 50 years ago with FSBO. Will they be replaced? I think it's unlikely overall. You can't ask that question reasonably on a RE investor's board, because most people here either do so much of this that it's rote or think (or actually do) they know enough to not need any help. The vast majority of Americans, buying a home is the single biggest transaction they will ever conduct in their lives and it will consume the vast majority of their resources. Those kinds of stakes lend themselves well to a support system stocked by actual humans. It's no different than saying why pay a personal trainer when I can get a YouTube video or learn it from a book. The cost of doing business is actually small potatoes to most single home buyers compared to the terror of finding out they've made a massive mistake. Does having a realtor prevent you from making a mistake? Of course not, but it's one more part of an arsenal that improves your odds.