You used to be able to buy a house out of the Sears catalog. Of course, some assembly was required.

Redfin would do this first.

Since they have a fair number of listings, I'm waiting for them to offer something where the buyer gets a substantial discount for buying it directly from the Redfin agent, without using a buyer's agent. Next step would be to sell listings exclusively through Redfin and not through the MLS, though this would be riskier.

I think this was the original business plan of Zillow & Trulia - they wanted people to list without the help of agents. It never really became successful enough so they sold out.

I don't understand how agents can charge 6% in America when they charge 1 or 1.5% in the UK.

It is rare to see a buyers agent earning their 3% in the US. The amount of information and tools available to consumers is nearly in parity with agents. The more hands-on you are with the process, the less value the agents bring. They can still provide value in competitive markets or through complex deals, but your inspector and lawyer are the ones doing the real work.

There are a few places that charge 1% up here in Canada, but they are more the exception than the rule. It's still insane, and given how little effort some realtors put in, it's quite shameful. Even giving someone $3,000 (1% of a $300,000 house) seems like a huge amount of money for the little amount of work they do.

You can negotiate the commission if you will do more of the legwork. Also you can do it without an agent.

Real estate is a highly regulated industry. Americans prefer assurance and insurance and the high costs associated with them in exchange for 100% peace of mind (or someone to sue if things take an unexpected turn).

As such, real estate agents need to be highly informed and often rigorously certified. This has the dual effects of raising costs to offset their own, and it also shrinks the potential labor pool, which has the expected outcome of higher wages.

RedFin already has lower rates then most real estate agents. We bought and sold a house with them last year and we got a check back from them for part of their fee a week after closing on the buy side.

Amazon Hookers & Weed. (In the appropriate states of course!)

Don't laugh! We actually pitched weed delivery as an Amazon service while working there, but we were quickly advised that bezos didn't want to get into marijuana, so we dropped it before going into OP1...

buying a house without looking at it in person first? might not be the best idea..