> how inefficient the real estate industry is. There's so much regulations
My biggest time consumer are boilerplate disclosures and astonishing conditions, which have become nightmarish since the housing crisis. That 10 day delay in closing? Someone mis-dated and now we have to wait out Dodd-Frank before proceeding. That 41 page package of forms you need to sign and return before we can even begin underwriting? Sorry, required. The $150 you received from your grandmother for your birthday? Yeah, we're going to need a gift letter. I wish I was being facetious.
> people taking a huge slice out of the consumers pocket
Unfortunately, RE and mortgages are just high-touch industries. People need to be re-assured that someone is working on their behalf. Look what happens when PayPal shuts down an account and gives a generic response? Or Google does the same when blocking a Gmail or AdSense account? People have a complete meltdown. Imagine if that is someone's home purchase (doubly worse for first time homebuyers), and they receive an email stating "Sorry, your loan was denied" with a link to "File an appeal". The ones I work for receive calls all day every day from buyers and agents wanting updates and peppering with questions and concerns.
I automate as much as I can in my workflow (thank you Python and C#) and have considered outsourcing it, but it's a job that is 95% edge cases and one-off situations. The best targets for efficiency improvement are lenders' and RE agents' internal procedures, but that's another discussion.