...the 6% bogey was set, home prices were a lot lower than they are today, so maybe it made sense back then. Further, buying/selling a home was more difficult then, too, because of a lack of information, so, arguably, the agent added more value back then than they do today, similar maybe to travel agents or stockbrokers in yesteryear relative to today. Today, though, 6% seems high for many markets.

A home-seller on the westside of LA, where $2M-homes are basically starter prices, is paying $120,000 in commissions to sell their home. That's nuts. Agents here have been already discouning down to 5% in many cases, so it's not quite that bad, but still...