People pay hundreds of thousands of dollars on their homes. It's the single largest transaction of most people's lives. I certainly hope the individuals hired to negotiate and manage these transactions are trained and insured...
The big problem is agents are incentivized to have sales in the market. If you sell your house for $100,000 vs $110,000 is could make a difference of months and they're paid nearly the same even though it's a pretty large difference to the seller. To many of the people "helping" you sell, it's better for you to take less money now than 10% more in 3 months. Nevermind the roles they helped play in the big 2008 crisis... And this is a profession that has a claimed "code of ethics"
$500/hour for one hour? Doable for most people.
$5000+? That changes the economics of buying, especially if we're talking a $100k house, since that $100k is spread out over 30 years but the lawyer's bill is due in 30 days.