Does your real estate agent really matter
People pick their real estate agents in any number of different ways. Take friends, neighbors and relatives and more than likely, you'll know several agents. So how do you choose and does it really matter.
It might.
Of course, there are probably some people who feel that a real estate agent is nothing more than an expensive intermediary that they can do without. Others might think that they are no better than a used car salesman (with no insult intended to used car salesmen).
Real estate buyers are confused by how real estate agents are paid and who they are really working for. Since agents are paid by the seller and the service that a real estate agent provides to a buyer is FREE, a buyer may wonder how an agent can represent their interests in a real estate transaction rather than the seller who is paying the commission.
Don't be confused. It actually works that way. 
But your choice of a real estate agent does really matter. They can add value to a transaction in any number of ways plus negotiate on your behalf and smooth the closing process.
And here is one anecdotal episode to illustrate my point. One of my clients recently closed on a home in a new home development. We asked for both a reduction in the price and for the seller to contribute toward the buyers closing costs and the seller agreed.
But I just noticed that several other homes also closed in that same neighborhood at the same time and every other buyer paid more than listing price which leads me to believe that their agent added the closing costs the buyer wanted the seller to pay to the list price (which is actually a very common practice).
Were we just lucky or does your agent really matter. Choose wisely.