Agents Finally Feeling Squeezed By Web

Real estate agents, who needs 'em?

The answer, it seems, is fewer and fewer home buyers and sellers. Some studies suggest that as many as 80 percent of potential buyers who reach out to agents these days already have pursued the available listings online and targeted the properties they want to tour. Others simply bypass agents altogether.

Now some intrepid real estate pros are responding to the needs of such over-educated consumers by lowering their commissions and catering to buyers and sellers who already have done most of their research online.