When we bought and sold back east in DC, we did more work than our realtor on both the purchase and the sale. When we purchased, I scanned listings and asked the agent to meet me at the homes with the keys. The agent didnt do anything more than discuss an offer price with me and unlock the door. When we sold, the family that bought our home drove up to pull a flyer from the box while i was out walking my dog so I walked over to them and offered to show them the home. They got their agent on the phone with me and we chatted for a bit. I lured the buyer in, showed them the home and they purchased it. Our agent in DC was pretty useless and many lessons were learned.

When we purchased here in SD county, we puchased in North County but our agent serviced and is familiar with the areas near downtown. Thanks to sites like SDlookup and others, most of the work was done upfront by my wife and I. Our agent mostly had to show up and unlock the house. I give them their credit since its a long drive and we tossed offers at a lot of properties so we put them to work. Our realtor and her fiance both helped show us many properties and were knowledgeable on the current marketplace. They werent knowledgeable with our zipcode but we did a few years of research to know what we were looking for.

Im saying all of this to make a point that with the tools available to us as consumers, we are empowered to be proactive by doing a lot of the legwork that traditionally the realtor did. If I recall correctly, there are agents out there that are open to reduced commission. Redfin is 2.5% seller commission I think.

I think all agents should work in different ways depending upon the client. For full service, hand holding approach, charge the full 3%. For clients that know how to stage the home, prep it for showings etc., consider offering a reduction.