I think cutting out the agents and lawyers would be pretty dangerous if you were not able to solve the huge problems for consumers that make them necessary. I am about to close on a house next week and would be completely lost without a quality realtor. There is a ton of regulation and risk that make buying a home extremely difficult, especially for first time home buyers. A good realtor does a lot more than just drive you around and collect a check. The same goes for attorneys. Neither provide a whole lot of direct value, but they both mitigate loads of risk.