But it just feels so unlikely offhand, with an entire ecosystem built around the broker/agent model.Any ideas?

It really is its' own eco system.

There are some CRMs that are built on top of that G SuiteAnnouncement posthttps://www.blog.google/products/g-suite/customize...Ecosystem posthttps://cloud.googleblog.com/2015/11/strengthening...Prosperworks CRMhttps://gsuite.google.com/marketplace/app/prosperw...

I was fortunate enough to spend a couple of years trying to understand a single species of flies in one ecosystem in one place.

Lol ….. lot of tech folks that created all of these doesn’t even have a iPhone if not just because we could access office email from there.It is however an ecosystem , I created many technologies where I hate it at the end LoLthe era of 1970 1980 is obviously better than todays era of tech LOL

Lubbock is like its own little ecosystem where a lot of money flows in from college kids, and only a little goes out due to the seclusion of the area (DFW, Austin, San Antonio, etc. are at least 4.5 hour drive away or farther).

Every neighborhood is seeming to develop its own eco system, so if you have mass transit and a row of under utilized commercial property's eventually the neighborhood will build up around that.

I will develop relationships with commercial lenders, and private money sources that invest in my target markets to create an ecosystem for information flow.Finance – Deals will be financed on a case by case basis using a blend of private capital as well as JV and equity partners to raise capital for the down payment on the property.

I deal with on a daily basis, individuals who are entirely incompetent, representing reasonably competent people, and I have to believe that the nearly non-existent barriers to entry and the recent romanticism of the career are the major contributing factors to the aforementioned ecosystem. 

I'm hearing that there is a mini tech driven boom in that area due to tech companies moving in and the thriving startup ecosystem.