[jodi]

And here's a reason (not that we need any more, as so many good ones have already been given) that some buyers do prefer agents.
I am currently working with a couple from England. They just moved to the US and are not particular about what neighborhood they settle in, so long as it is within an hour from a nearby city. This gives us a range of 4+ counties and several hundred miles. For the past six months, I have been sending them periodic updates on the market to help them be familiar with prices, features, etc. when they get here. I am able to search the MLS easier for features that are important to them, such as a master bath, which do not necessarily show up on the Internet. Plus, my access is up-to-date, whereas many Internet sites have a lag of several days to a week or more. I have been talking over the US procedure here so they know what to expect. As a result, when they landed last week, they already had a list of houses they had screened over the Internet, a list of back-up houses, an appt. with their banker, and a familiarity with the market. We hit the ground running Friday and Saturday and looked at 13 houses, covering over 150 miles each day. I picked them up at their hotel and drove from house to house, with a schedule and map already printed out. I spent my gas money (over $70 so far) to do all the driving. I called every agent to set up the showings, and have called many of them back with feedback on why my folks did not like the house (which they can take back to their sellers to adjust the price, fix a problem, etc. Try getting directly from a buyer who does not have an agent). In the one instance where the seller was home during the showing, my buyers were very uncomfortable and couldn't wait to leave. The seller followed us through the house and talked our ear off about her personal life. They were infinitely more comfortable at the other showings where we could look over the house at our pace, make comments, and poke around a bit. On one house they were interested in, they made a list of questions that personally, they would have felt nosy asking, but were comfortable having me talk to the listing agent about. As a consequence, I found out why the sellers were leaving and what their time frame was.
Yes, of course a buyer or seller can do all of this themselves. But the bottom line is that most do not choose to, and you will lose some buyers if you insist on them doing it themselves.