Realtors thrive on nepotism though and double ending jobs with their friends or even themselves. There's plenty of homes that are bought and sold without hitting any public listing site. Agents just might call up another agent the know and go "Hey I got a buyer for a 3br in these neighborhoods, you guys got anything coming up?" and vice versa. Without an agent you are locked out of that side of the market and probably at a serious disadvantage, overpaying for property that didn't manage to sell through this "premarket" for whatever reason which could in fact be for red flag issues.
