For most of the last 30 years, there s been a feeling of insecurity among real estate professionals. Will buyers and sellers forgo the use of our services and buy and sell without us? Will the Internet enable them to do so? Will some outside force intrude in our business, steal our relationships and cut into our incomes? Behind the scenes and in some cases, out in the open these discussions have been going on for the last 30 years. There s always another threat looming over the horizon: Some monstrous outside force, perhaps new forms of government regulation, a change in the mortgage interest deduction or some other change in the legal environment that will erode the business of brokerage. Big banks could wreak havoc or a technology behemoth might rip our customers away. While the types of threats and the level of them have changed over the years, the feeling that disaster is just around the corner has been a part of the DNA of the residential brokerage industry throughout the modern age. Perhaps it s the perception that the money is too good, the level of effort too low or the requirements too easy for real estate professionals to make a living. While paranoia is too strong a word, an underlying sense of unease permeates the profession.