The problem with do it yourself real estate
... is that some people don't know what they're doing.
Take this scenario. A website contact wants to see a house. If it isn't my personal listing, my standard reply is that I'd be happy to show it to you, two quick questions, are you working with any other real estate agents and do you have a preapproval letter from your lender.
Well, I just woke up to this nasty email.
Due to your tacky response, I'm now working with other agents who are a little more professional, and I don't need a d*mn pre-approval letter from ANY of my lenders.
I'm sorry. You do need a preapproval letter from at least one lender if you want to buy a home because otherwise, the seller won't consider an offer from you to be serious. And some sellers won't accept a contract unless it is accompanied by a preapproval letter.
Of course, I'm glad that you have so many lenders anxious to provide you with a mortgage. 
And speaking of plural, I'm also delighted that you are working with other agents. You see, you don't need more than one agent to show you every home available for sale in the Charleston real estate market. That's how real estate works. If you're buying, you hire an agent to represent your interests in the transaction, provide you with information, negotiate on your behalf and guide the process to a successful closing.
Even better, the commission is paid by the seller (the usual disclaimer, the seller pays the commission to both the listing agent and the buyer agent from the proceeds of the sale provided by the buyer down payment and the mortgage).
And if you're working with more than one agent, then some of them are going to become the unpaid agent, a position that I'd rather not find myself in. Furthermore, any professional real estate agent must ask a potential client if they are working with any other agent because if they have a signed buyer agency agreement, then not only can't you help them but if you don't ask and they are, you're also likely to wind up as the unpaid agent.
Folks, when you go to work in the morning, you're most likely going to get paid for the day. A real estate agent is different, they only get paid when a sale actually closes. If you're listing a home for sale and it doesn't sell, you earn exactly nothing. The same is true when helping a buyer, if that buyer doesn't buy a home for whatever reason, you earn nothing. Now some of you may not really care whether an agent gets paid or not and that's OK. It was my decision to become a real estate agent understanding all that. But I just thought you might like to know.