Question for those of you 60 and older... who have been around the block and seen the ups and downs in the economy:

what do you think the economy will be like over the next 5 years?

Getting to the big 60 in about 7 months, I believe there will be major changes in the next 5 years.
For one, I've noticed many more mom and pop or single broker stores opening the last few years. Probably because of the single license requirement in our state.
Good RE teams will be much more effective and productive than a company with individual agents. As an example. Our daughter got her brokers license last summer, she joined a high powered 9 agent/staff team which closes about 40 transactions a month. (talking about rebates to buyers/sellers, the top client got a brand new BMW for x-mas as a present)
Commissions will swing with the economic and supply and demand home market, the individual success of some discounters will determine
what everyone else can charge successfully in their market.
As to myself, I do work other RE on the side, buying right of ways (ROW) for city, county and state for a major Engineering Co. I guess I never lost my engineering roots. (and my clients/customers don't have a choice but to sell)

As for real estate: the internet will change the way we realtors do biz. There are new players such as http://www.realestatepowertools.com/
all online, user frendly, make that realtor friendly. Also several title co's. have all documents, disclosures, contracts online keeps everyone on the same page. Homeowners will do their own sellers net sheet and est. of closing costs. Buyers will also do buyers closing cost and est. of monthly paymants including tax and ins. Both are jobs that realtors once did, there are several sites that do it now. The zillow thing (if and when it works) will do the cma's and csa's, won't need a realtor for that part either. As for commission Inmaan new has something on that
Part 1;
http://www.inman.com/inmanstories.aspx?ID=50701

Part 2;
http://www.inman.com/inmanstories.aspx?ID=50718

It all depends on the agent, those who accept changes and those who won't.

I was asking more to get your thoughts on the overall economy...

Here's a headline from today:

"Oil Prices Rise Toward $66 a Barrel Amid Strong Demand, Concerns About Iran, Nigeria"

It seems like all of a sudden prices just shot up and they're not going down. The effect is on everything. I'm worried... but that's just me.