> sale by owner without a realtor is a thing (at least many places?) Realtors are not allowed to help you buy FSBO properties. If you have a contract with a

> sale by owner without a realtor is a thing (at least many places?) Realtors are not allowed to help you buy FSBO properties. If you have a contract with a buying agent (which most will require) then you can't buy an FSBO. So basically you have to choose -- get access to the 97% of listings that are done by Realtors, or the 3% that are FSBO (and get no help with it). You also can't buy a house listed by a Realtor without your own Realtor. That is why it is a cartel. Because the monopolize the listings and then refuse to work with anyone not in their system. And it's not that easy to get a Real Estate license. To your restaurant analogy, imagine if you could only eat in a restaurant if also owned one and had a restaurant license. It would be similar to that.