I consider all human professions worthy and normally stay away from comparison type "this is good" and "this is not".  But if there is one profession that does not fall under that umbrella it is real estate.  Guild that entrenched itself behind exclusive websites and charge many 1000's of commission in return for - basically nothing.   As if money does not need to be earned with hard work but grows on trees instead.

Toying with idea of putting my condo on the market, I finally hired realtor I was in touch with for several years.  She seemed like a nice person so I thought "go with a flow, at least you won't throw your money away to some jerk".   Listing was supposed to happen while I was away; that way I hoped to avoid all the stress and come back to "fait acompli".  We met in person, green light was given in regard to saleability and overall appearance of the property.  But as soon as I was out, emails started coming about need for various fixes for which some of realtor friends would be hired,  draining additional 1000's out of my pocket.   Recognizing what was going on I immediately pulled the plug, but whole experience further enhanced my overall opinion about this parasitic profession that lacks even basic ethics.

I generally try to focus these blogs to photography and hiking.  But in this case I made an exception and hope someone will find it useful.   Stay away from realtors if you can.   DIY.  Not so much because of financial aspect, but because of knowledge you won't help feeding human parasites. The sooner everyone realizes that, the better.