[Porsche-O-Phile]

I'd agree with that. An hourly rate is fair and would make people realize that it's real money they're paying for a service (which in turn would call into question the value of that service) rather than just doing the same thing government does with withholding and burying it into sales/transaction cost so it's not "real money" to most suckers.

A lot of what agents do now is automated (just like a lot of professions) and any monkey with a laptop can do it. I see their services as a lot like that of travel agents - they've invented a database which initially was very hush-hush and secretive and unless you knew the secret handshake, you couldn't get access to. However, over the years it has become more and more public to the point it's virtually 100% accessible online and all they do is navigate it on your behalf to save you the time/trouble. Maybe a little bit of footwork but not much (and I'm now on my seventh agent - although this one is decent and genuine and doesn't play B.S. salesman games, I still think she's way overpaid for what she's doing).

Eventually they will go the way of travel agents. There will always be a few, but they'll be rarer than in the past and only really used by a specialty niche sort of client. People are wising up to the fact that they really don't need agents to go online and spit out a few boiler plate forms, then charge thousands of dollars for it. The perception of value is diminishing and once the self-serving "clique" mentality begins to break down, the writing will be on the wall. You're already starting to see it - agents (in my experience) are starting to do more and more by email and by sending web site links. Makes you ask the question, "well, then what exactly do I need you for? Besides the annoying salesperson tactics that is?"

It'll take time, but it's not exactly a career path that I think has a particularly bright future...