My wife's an agent and I get it, we COULD do without buyer's agents but then who represents them? We could do without listing agents as well, but then who's on either side of the purchase to ensure all the proper paperwork has been done. Sellers will do some REALLY SHADY stuff to unload a property, especially where flips are involved.
On the listing side there are seller's disclosures, staging, coordinating access to the property, negotiating the best price, appraisals, photos, marketing etc. Agents just shouldn't do that for free. In the few years she's been doing this she's rarely charged above 5% because it is a free market and she's competing with other brokerages to bring in sellers and when she does give deep discounts it's often at her expense as she was required to give a minimum percentage to the buyer's agency.
On the flip side there are inspections, surveys, titling, the search itself, etc. Experienced agents know when to tell that a seller might be trying to pull something on them or otherwise trying to sell at an unfair price. It can be pretty overwhelming to buyers as well. During the hot market last year it wasn't unusual for bidding wars to take place. Great for the seller but bad for the buyers. Good agents can work with the buyers to market that buyer in those competitive situations e.g. we may not be offering top dollar, but we're bringing cash and can close fast. Sure, the listing agent could convey that to their sellers as well. but they're not representing the best interest of the buyer. On top of it all you'd be amazed how many buyers are purchasing near their DTI limits and can't afford to open a new credit line. Their loan officer should be telling them that, but often they only talk to the buyer at the initial consult, and near closing. There have been several times when my wife, as a buyer's agent, found out through the process that the buy was about to do something detrimental to their purchase. That's been catastrophic to both parties when it happens. Now they have to re-list and the buyer has to start searching again at a more modest budget.
To give it the automotive spin - Dealers are just the listing brokerages here in this market "the rest of the world" doesn't follow. There, you're only paying the salesman through their commission and financing through their gimmicks. Having someone to represent you, find the exact car you want, and negotiating the best price ahead of time could land you the vehicle you want at or below invoice rather than paying what that salesman was trying to sell you off the lot as MSRP, or lately with the chip shortage above MSRP due to demand.
Maybe the foreign models better, or maybe it's just another way for brokerages to monopolize the process at steep discounts over our model because they have the volume.
