Eighteen years ago, four researchers from Montreat College published a master's thesis detailing the results of a three-month study of "the effects of the internet on real estate" in their county in the spring of 1999. Using direct mail and self-addressed, stamped envelopes, the team surveyed residents of their North Carolina area to determine how internet usage affected their residential real estate transactions. Prior to reporting their results, they set the stage by mentioning a 1995 study, the most recent at that date, by the National Association of Realtors, which cited "consumer demand for more knowledgeable and professional agents" as the biggest need in the real estate industry. The team predicted, "Real estate professionals will no longer be the gatekeepers of real estate information in the future."
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