what exactly do real estate agents do?

[Diamond Campbell]

What does a real estate agent do that would be hard for me to do on my own? How can we both benefit?

[Chris Mason]

Originally posted by @Joshua Howaniec:

So I'm not getting yet why you need the realtor for the MLS. Not that I'm opposed tob using them, but isnt the mls what is used for sites like realtor.com and zillow? If the info is available elsewhere why do you require them for that service?

 The websites get their info a day or two later, in spite of their claims of "instant." 

But, ya, the MLS monopoly isn't nearly as huge as it used to be.

It's the stuff like making a credible & strong offer (if you've never been the listing agent evaluating multiple offers, how do you know what credible and strong looks like?), negotiating, knowing who is a good inspector, knowing what to say (or avoid saying) with the appraiser there walking around, knowing that Lender A is good for X, but lender B is better for Y, knowing who to call when you have some BS roof issue that you need solved cheaply and within 3 days that the appraiser called out, actually being fluent in the mystical language of realtors when speaking to the listing agent, being able to justify price to an appraiser, bla bla bla.

I've got a couple hundred real estate transactions under my belt. I use a realtor when purchasing real estate. I'm not going to save any money by not using one, and I (a lender 9-5 m-f) don't want to deal with realtor BS (or I'd *be* a realtor).