Disintermediation And Reintermediation Online
from the depends-on-the-business dept
When the internet was first catching on there was a lot of talk about how it would "disintermediate" middlemen and drive them out of business by providing information directly to users. What people who predicted that missed was that all that information would create new types of middlemen - often designed to help you deal with all that information. So, on the whole, the internet has probably been better for middlemen than worse - but that doesn't mean certain middlemen weren't impacted. The latest industry that's discovered this issue is real estate brokers. It turns out that people aren't so stupid, and most of them begin their search for home buying and selling info online - and then approach a broker later in the process. This has helped to drive down commissions - which suggests that real estate brokers need to adjust. They need to understand that their business is less about educating buyers and sellers on the basics - and more about higher level value added services. In the meantime, business for online real estate brokerage services is growing, adding a different type of middleman into the process. Traditional real estate brokers may see these online brokers as a threat - but as with many new technologies, it's important that they realize how they're more of an opportunity to expand their own business instead and adapt to what home buyers are looking for these days.
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