The bet nobody else is making
Most of real estate technology is betting against the agent. Go direct to the consumer. Cut out the middle. Build the thing that makes them unnecessary.
I'm betting the other way.
I told Jeff Fargo on Fargo Talks that I don't root for the underdog. I root for the person I know can do it who nobody has given a chance. That's a different thing, and the difference matters here.
Are agents actually behind?
No. Nobody invested in them.
Ask why an agent is slow to pick up new software and the industry answer is that agents won't learn it. I don't buy that. Look at what they get handed. Documents that won't work on a phone. Tools built for the top producer and sold to everyone else. Systems that assume somebody else handles the admin.
Give anyone that and they'll look reluctant. It isn't reluctance. It's what happens when nobody builds for you.
What is an agent, actually?
A small business, run by one person, sitting in the middle of the largest financial decision most people ever make.
They market. They prospect. They advise. They negotiate. Then they do their own coordination and paperwork at nine at night. There are more than 200,000 of them in California and about 1.4 million REALTORS® nationwide, doing exactly that.
That isn't a niche. It's one of the largest small-business populations in the country, and almost nobody has built for it seriously.
So what's the bet?
Take the work that pulls an agent out of the room, and leave them the part only they can do.
Not the conversation. Not the read on a house, or on the two people standing in it. The paperwork.
They're not underdogs. They're the biggest association in the country, and they've just been underserved.
We're betting on the agent.
Quick takes
Are real estate agents resistant to new technology?
The pattern usually reflects underinvestment rather than reluctance. Agents are handed documents that will not work on a phone and tools designed for top producers, so slow adoption is what happens when nobody builds for that user.
How large is the real estate agent market?
The California Association of REALTORS® reports more than 200,000 members, and the National Association of REALTORS® reported about 1.44 million members in mid-2026. Each is effectively running a one-person small business around the largest financial decision most people make.
What should AI take off an agent's plate?
The administrative work that pulls an agent away from clients, such as transaction paperwork and coordination, rather than the advisory and relationship work that only the agent can do.
Sources
- Fargo Talks with Jeff Fargo: The full Fargo Talks episode with Jeff Fargo that this clip is drawn from.
- Fargo Factor: Jeff Fargo's company, and the team behind Fargo Talks.
- C.A.R. membership, via the Center for California Real Estate: States that the California Association of REALTORS® includes more than 100 local member associations and more than 200,000 REALTORS®, REALTOR® Associates and affiliate members.
- NAR: Membership Remains Above Forecast: National Association of REALTORS® membership reported at 1,438,569 as of late June 2026.
- The PDF Is Undefeated: On why the static PDF has outlasted every attempt to replace it, and what that costs the agents working around it.
- Where The Money Actually Leaks In Real Estate: On the administrative work surrounding the transaction that pulls agents away from clients.
Transcript
148 words
I don't root for the underdog. I root for the person I know that can do it and no one's given them a chance. I think there's a difference there. I think there's a difference. Like going back to what we first talked about, I saw something in you, not because you're the underdog, it's because you're really good at what you did. And so I'm going to invest in that. Going back to a real estate agent, I don't think they're the underdog. I just don't think anyone's invested the way they should in that industry. I'm seeing why it's very difficult for them to pick up something new, and I will not give up on that. I see something. They're not underdogs. The biggest association in the country. They've just been underserved. They've been underserved, and I know people, and I'm giving that to the agent.
