My wife and I thought about using Redfin but ended up using the listing agent from a failed short sale. We didn’t have a buyer’s agent on that deal, so he acted in a limited dual agency role. After that deal fell through due to BofA’s idiocy, he offered to split his commission with us as a buyer’s agent. Why? He saw how we operated: we wanted to do our own research, didn’t make a hobby of tramping through houses we didn’t really want to buy, etc.

As it turned out, he showed us exactly one house (another short sale, natch). We put in an offer, then a counter-offer which was accepted by the seller in late April and approved by their bank last Thursday. We didn’t waste his time or ours pursuing houses we weren’t really interested in. Easier money for him, a nice chunk of money back for us–everybody wins.

Some of you sound like chronic lookie loos. Are you really trying to find a house to buy, or is it just a fun pastime?