Agents act for the seller, not the buyer. It's the agent's job to manage a pool of prospective buyers and to negotiate the price up. The ideal is a bidding war

Agents act for the seller, not the buyer. It's the agent's job to manage a pool of prospective buyers and to negotiate the price up. The ideal is a bidding war between two keen buyers. The last property I sold went for around 15% more than I would have asked for. The agent more than earned their fee there. (He then tried to pad the agreed fee, but that's another story.) Agents do not act for buyers and they are not interested in selling to you at the lowest possible price. They are interested in selling to you, but obviously they qualify buyers based on market segment and keenness. If you're sort-of-thinking-about-moving you'll get less attention than someone who slaps a huge pile of cash on their desk and says they need something by the end of the day.