The entire scenario is pretty unbelievable, and played out like an awful Adam Sandler movie. If I hadn't witnessed it with my own eyes, I would have trouble believing someone with dueling top credentials such as his could possibly be such an idiot.
Not ragging on real estate agents, it's not an easy thing to pull off; convincing someone to hand you 3-6% of the biggest financial transaction they've ever made just for you to negotiate for what's probably a grand total of a few hours and do some online shopping. And they do provide value insofar as knowing the landscape can really help a client avoid getting bent over a barrel.
Source: did it myself (poorly, which is why I'm in tech).