Dear Monty: We recently closed on our new home. We were pre-approved, and we shopped online for many hours using real estate websites and other websites to learn more about neighborhoods around homes that interested us. We used municipal websites, crime maps, and Google Earth as helpful resources. After two months of searching, we zeroed in on a home with a nice video presentation and decided to look in person. We contacted the listing agent for an appointment. While we toured the house, she met us at the house and talked with the owner, who apparently was a friend. The rest is history. It struck us that we did all the work, so this is a serious question. All she did was open the door, visit with her friend for 45 minutes and go to her home office to complete the form. We signed online a short time later. Why did we need a real estate agent?
Monty’s Answer: First, some background to put the conversation into perspective. Throughout history, humans have been innovating.
