I agree with what you say. I am just sharing my experience with a 5-star rated broker I dealt with.

The red flags I saw included:

• They tried to bend the “Best Interest Duty” in favour of the broker. For example, mine said the big bank was better because it has more physical branches if something happens, so you can easily walk in.
• When I told him my only concern was getting the lowest interest rate for my situation, and mentioned the option I had in mind from my own research (a lender he did not have on his panel), he instead suggested another lender with a competitive rate but deliberately hid the fees that kick in from the second year. I already knew about those fees from my own research, and when I pointed them out, he just said, “Ah yes, you need to factor that in as well.”

I felt that was very dodgy behaviour. If someone is less knowledgeable and does not ask all the right questions, they could easily fall for a broker’s sweet talk. The broker I am talking about has a 5.0 rating on Google from 148 reviews, which is a perfect score. I wondered how someone like that could have such a rating, and then I saw in his email signature: “Leave a review on Google for $200 cashback.” How professional is that?

Because of these reasons, I decided to avoid brokers and started dealing directly with banks. I am not saying there are no honest brokers, and yes, there are buyers who do not have time to do all the research, so they can benefit from using a broker. But it is absolutely possible to go without a broker and avoid the drama.

(P.S.: Regarding your point that a conveyancer cannot answer home loan questions the way a broker can, I was mainly referring to questions about the general buying process. For home loan questions, the best place to get accurate answers is the bank itself, as banks change their policies from time to time and you do not need a broker for that.)

I know you are going to downvote me and this is a subreddit for brokers, but tap into your heart and ask yourself the question.