Sorry about that csr_sd.
The vast majority of the houses & condos for sale are on the MLS. If an agent tells you he or she is special because he has deals off the MLS and you are not a big time player buying ten or more at a time. Well anyway so far I haven’t seen that, and I would say they are just using a fib to compete with other agents. It does happen but more randomly, for instance, I once had a listing on a craftsman where a buyer came and looked at it but said he was really looking for a Spanish style home. So I knocked on doors and found one and we closed escrow quickly. He still used his agent and we split the commission. Things like that do happen but they are exceptional. Funny thing, in that case a man came unrepresented, because I ran an add for the craftsman in the tribune. We had lunch after he saw it and wrote up the full price offer cash.
There is nothing wrong with going to a seller’s agent with with intentions of fair play. If your search for a house is more complicated that might not work out, so a knowlegeable advocate,such as a realtor could be beneficial in locating a desirable property and as Xbox boy has pointed out handling negotiations and the transaction. We have had long threads on the value of a buyer’s Realtor for the sake of one person before. Many things pro and con came up. Doesn’t seem like we should hi-jack your thread for that.
Edit: This is a decent thread on the topic of using a Realtor or not. http://piggington.com/do_we_need_realtors