No longer gatekeepers, real estate agents target the Web-savvy buyer

Real estate agents are rebranding themselves as neighborhood specialists, and firms are overhauling their websites to overcome the loosening grip they have on information, The New York Times reports.

Agents, once the gatekeepers of listings, are adapting to a world in which people easily can browse all the properties they want at home. And websites are becoming one-stop destinations, cleanly designed with tools that make it less likely clients will shop the competition.