The other thing is that I have no problem w using a buyer's agent but I have my own whom I've known for decades and trust completely, plus I'd want to give them the business.
The dumbest thing you can do in RE is to try to go it alone w/o using agents. They are a major resource and if chosen carefully and taken care of properly, they can make you a lot of $$. It's a 2-way street, of course. I have friends who have been buying lots of stuff in CA. for a while, they are pros to the core and they always utilize RE agents or brokers, or at least they'd never try to go around one or cheat them. Besides being ethically inexcusable, it would be very dumb business wise.
