WATCH: Are brokerages becoming obsolete?

Now that listings are housed online and startups are helping people buy and sell real estate on the Internet, do real estate firms have a leg to stand on? That question was basis of The Real Deal’s May cover story, “The Death of the Brokerage,” which highlighted the barrage of threats facing residential firms. From fierce competition for agents to lead generation platforms, traditional brokers are being hit from multiple directions. Although Town Residential’s collapse was an extreme example, some said it’s a cautionary tale for an industry where already-thin margins are shrinking. Senior reporter E.B. Solomont sat down with TRD’s Hiten Samtani to discuss how brokers got into this mess and whether there’s a way out.

Video produced by Jhila Farzaneh