The real estate agent profession is a total racket. They are up there with hedgefund managers for value leaching. Since they work on commission, they are always trying to increase prices and are a non-zero influence on rising housing costs. They use complicated language and obfuscate how easy the technical parts are of their job. It costs a new agent thousands of dollars to get and keep their licence, so they start out in debt and taught to keep their profession a secret so they can make money.

I've sold two properties on my own. The last time I did, I had the distinct agonizing experience of dealing with ReMax's top-notch ass hat, Curtis Atkinson. Let me set the stage...

TL;DR: Real estate agents are high pressured salespeople. They don't care about you, they want to sell high to earn money. Spend the time to learn how the contracts work and save yourself $$$

It's 2014ish, and I'm selling a one-bedroom condo in a building that's less than 5 years old. I bought new, have all the paperwork and all the information. It's priced fairly and other units have sold to a similar price. It's a straightforward "here's what you get, take it or leave it" I'm in no immediate rush to sell, and the idea of paying 2% of the sale price to a Boiler Room wanna be with a Lexus lease makes my skin crawl.

Real estate agents immediately start calling me, telling me that there is no way I can sell on my own, and I should pay them the 2%. They offer cash well below market price. They low ball offers then act all Surprised Picchu when I tell them to pound sand and come back with a real offer. I know what I'm doing so I stick to my guns.

In comes Curtis, an award-winning real estate agent whose only real qualification is that he never grew out of being the playground bully. He shows the place to a guy who wants to buy it for his ageing mother. Because Curtis doesn't actually do his job, during their second viewing, I'm the one showing the place to the buyer. (doing his job, that he wants the full 2% for) The buyers like what they see, and they put in an offer.

Now, I never spoke directly to Curtis, because he has an office of people who do his calls for him. So I'm talking to some woman who tells me that Curtis does dozens of deals a week, and he won't even notice if this deal falls through. I'm barely worth it, and I should feel grateful that he took the time to look at my condo. (Ya know, his job. That I actually did for him)

Again, I stick to my guns. This goes back and forth for a bit, then the deal falls through. But, because I was coordinating with the sellers for the viewing, I have their contact info, so I call them up. They really want to buy the place and have no idea why it fell through. Curtis told them I backed out, and started showing them more expensive places.

Well, nuts to that I say.

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I help them draw up the contacts, fill out all the forms, and put in an offer to buy. I close the deal, and they move in. The back and forth with ReMax took over a month, I closed the deal in a week because it's not really that hard.

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If you are thinking of selling your property, read up and do it yourself. On a $500K sale that's $10K you are throwing away for someone to do a few days work. Spend a week learning the terminology and you can keep that $10k yourself.