DR Boom
I agree with alot of your points and mine were not directed to a long time resident purchasing in the area they grew up. It was directed at folks who are newer to the area than the agents who think they can get everything they need to know online. Of course I do have a few differences.

Even if you grew up locally you wouldnt know the intracicies of construction and development issues that we run into. We learn about these through sharing of experiences with colleagues, through researching them during individual transactions we have participated in and through direct expereince. Experience matters and no one can convince me otherwise. Thats not to say that experience always helps as there are plenty of old timers that are as clueless to day as they were 30+ years ago.

Second, there are always transaction costs for everything in this world. I’m not going to get into what they should be as I dont have control over that. But the system in place is there because it works. As for going direct why dont you call up the contract manufacturer in China to get your next iPod. Let me know that goes.