San Diego Housing Bubble News and Analysis

Quick question for the pros in here and those who may have done this on their own before.

I'm wondering the value in using a RE agent for a purchase of a home. We already know where we want to by (area) and feel that there's nothing an agent could provide us that a good RE attorney couldn't handle at a significant discount.

My question to you is: Am I right? Could I use this approach as a negotiating tool to get the owner to drop their price accordingly if they aren't going to be paying a full commission that's going to be split?

Scenario B is find the home I want and wait until the owner's contract with his/her listing agent expires, then buy after that using attorneys for the transaction.

I'd like to hear your thoughts.

T4L