These days a home is like a stock. It’s something you can research in quite a bit of depth online (and with the new DOJ vs. NAR settlement, this will become even easier). Some people are even buying homes sight unseen thanks to online virtual tours, and the ability to research almost relevant aspects of the home remotely. The quantity of information now available means that the same way you don’t visit a company’s factories before you invest in its stock, you no longer have to do a lot of ‘real world’ investigating before buying a house. As this world migrates online, so will the rest of the real estate universe. Mortgages, real estate agents, etc. better get used to it.