@Valorie LewisI'm not a realtor, but I believe that if you don't plan to provide any compensation to them from either using them to buy or to sell, then you should not be asking them to do that.

Or, should they only comment after a substantial portion of the population dies from cancer, and only if they list at least some of the victims by name?

@Allen Hayes - With total respect, you're falling victim to the Dunning-Kruger effect. 

Examples of income of this type include income from hourly workers with fluctuating hours, or income that includes commissions, bonuses, or overtime.History of Receipt: Two or more years of receipt of a particular type of variable income is recommended; however, variable income that has been received for 12 to 24 months may be considered as acceptable income, as long as the borrower’s loan application demonstrates that there are positive factors that reasonably offset the shorter income history.Examples of positive compensating factors that we like to see (1-3 will generally do it)...Employed in same line of work.Makes sense from a common sense perspective, like someone is returning to the workforce after being a stay at home parent for a while.Recently finished some training or education program that lines up with the new line of work.Low DTI.Great credit.Income trending upwards. 

If they are doing hourly or salaried work that is not "the practice of real estate", then you're fine.For anything that falls within "the practice of real estate" in your state, you most likely would have to pay their broker/brokerage - so they would need to have a sit down with their broker about how the fees would be allocated between the broker and the agent on the receiving end.In California, the practice of real estate is defined as:"a person who, for a compensation or in expectation of a compensation, regardless of the form or time of payment, does or negotiates to do one or more of the following acts for another or others:  (a) Sells or offers to sell, buys or offers to buy, solicits prospective sellers or puchasers of, solicits or obtains listings of, or negotiates the purchase, sale or exchange of real property or a business opportunity.

It's simply not fair to the seller for you to tie up the property for a month with no compensation if you back out last minute.The amount of money considered "fair" for earnest money depends on the area, the market, and the seller. 

The units in my community are not selling for nearly those in the surrounding communities because our maintenance fees are so high in order to compensate for the past and get us back to where we need to be. 

My motivation to buy my primary residence would include these reasons:1) stop renting / making my landlord rich2) find a bigger place, that I could see my family in for 10 years3) benefit from rising home prices rather than missing out, or worse being a victim of it (in the form of increased rents)4) build equity, get tax write off That's not to say renting is without its benefits.

I am simply looking to add value to the process in any way possible and expect zero compensation--only experience. 

I'm one of his victims unfortunately.Just kidding J.