[Por_sha911]

I have friends that are realators. The buying and selling agents split the 6%. Then, the agent splits their portion with the agency (sometimes 60/40 instead of 50/50). That means that they get 1.5% for:
-driving around jerks who waste their time and gas and never buy
-take call all hours of the day and night
-work weekends & holidays
-sellers that are out of their mind as far as what the house is worth
-everyone knows 5 real estate agents that all have the same houses to choose from
-deal with mountains of govt red-tape, bank red-tape, and constantly changing rules and regulations.
and worst of all: deal with heartbreak when the whole deal falls through over two people that won't budge over $1k, bad credit to income ratio, a home inspection turning up nightmare problems, or buyers just getting cold feet and bail on the deal (the agent gets none of the security deposit).
Selling is not an easy job. Listing is an easy sale if you can get one that is sell-able.