Here's my real problem with Real Estate agents. The incentive structure is completely broken and NOT in the best interest of buyers/sellers. Agents encourage buyers to pay up in a seller's market (competition, you know?) and encourage sellers to list lower in a buyer's market. This dynamic screws a lot of people (you're seeing it now in the real estate market). All that really matters is transaction volume for them. Example A: lets say a seller has $100k equity in a $600k home and the seller is paying 5% to cover both agents' commissions. If they sell for $600k, the commission is $30k, so they're making $70k (assuming no other costs to keep this simple). Outcome A: Agents are happy $15k each for maybe 10-20 hours of work total. Seller keeps $70k so they're feeling good. Example B: Tough market so they lower the price 10% to $540k. Commission paid out is $27k and the seller only makes $13k. Massive difference for the seller; basically no difference for the agents.