I would suggest working in the area/job that has the best pay, job culture and won't kill you with crazy hours.

My opinion is that most agents are completely clueless to the property they are showing, they know the basic facts but aren't very familiar with the area, specific questions or the culture/environment of the area.

I don't think it's far from reality, I just think they lived in a very different time and era with a completely different culture.

I have always loved the romantic appeal of chinese culture, but am concerned that property ownership over there may be made more complicated by their political system.

This also speaks to my other post on Regional Tenant Culture. 

The tenant culture may be different than what you are accustomed to.  

I was raised in very blue collar, Irish Catholic family, and those days are over for me!  

I just bought a lot last year for 60k for instance that I am going to do a spec on .. there is a lot of factors but Schools are huge one.. and the lack of public transport as well.. if the bay area had a train system like Chicago for example things would be a little different as well. you could go to the open areas to build and still be within a 45 to 60 minutes train ride to work.. which is not out of the question in the US> Growing up in Cupertino we even back in the day had some of the best schools in CA.. for  those families that really valued education ( mainly Asian cultures) flocked to Cupertino..

From a cultural standpoint, having a 24-ish year old child still living at home with the parents isn't unheard of (I'm Asian).  

Unless there is a huge cultural shift, agents will still be here in 10 years, and like any industry will simply adapt to market place changes.