When I was looking to buy my first house a year ago, I was pretty interested in the deal Redfin is offering, which is basically that they take a smaller percentage in exchange for more of the burden being on you during the buying process.

It took quite a while for me to find what I was looking for, so I ended up using both Redfin agents as well as talking frequently with a normal agent. I have to say even though it cost me slightly more, in the end the house I bought I found on the Redfin site but bought through the normal agent. As others have pointed out, good properties can go fast and having someone who you can call and have on the case immediately is a real asset. In my case my agent did the legwork to find out who else had seen the home and pushed the sellers to negotiate in time to edge out a competing bid - well worth a few thousand extra on the sale price.

I get the point about misaligned incentives, but I view that more as a reason to ask around and get recommendations on good realtors, rather than a reason to avoid them.