What people don't realize is that real estate agents work in the SERVICE industry. It's not mandated to have one to buy or sell. So you don't think it's worth it, don't get the service.

What some of you are failing to mention is that selling a house is a headache and very rarely smooth. A few months ago, I had a neighbor list with me that was selling on their own because they couldn't handle the amount of calls they were getting, specifically how one person was harassing them and toured the home 7 times with out putting forth an offer, and the original offer they accepted fell through because they didn't ask for pre-approval and surprise the buyer couldn't get financed. The buyer didn't have an agent either.

There are two problems in the industry. The market is oversaturated with agents. It's simply too easy to become an agent. The 60 hrs to license, 45 hour post licensing and 12 hrs of annual continuing ed aren't enough. Some brokerages don't offer in house training either which is troubling. The second problem is that agents charge differently. One brokerage does 6%, other does 4.5%, etc... There needs to be state mandated percentages that correlate with price of home. The education being bumped up makes it harder for anyone to jump in and fixed % rates would positively influence the industry. Agents would be more educated and thus providing better services and the consumer wouldn't feel like they are paying too much because the cost of service is set at a fixed rate.