Comment by iisan7

Silicon valley has if anything made real estate more of an investment, look at fractional ownership schemes. The costs of transacting business through an agent is a holdover from another time when those costs weren't that significant given how infrequently a home would transact (and lower real prices). I agree realtors generally don't provide value for the money anymore. However, all else being equal, removing realtors will itself make it more profitable to invest in real estate.