[Scoundreller]

But the real estate agent serves little legal function. I'm not sure if their name will appear on any government document for a real estate transaction.

I see little difference between: A) Hiring a real estate agent to sell my home; and B) Selling it myself while hiring:

1) a photographer to take/post my pictures 2) an answering service to answer a throwaway phone number I create; and 3) a tour guide that does not even know their way around

[cplease]

How are you going to find buyers and get the best price in most markets without listing and offering commission split to the buyer's broker?

The second someone unlicensed starts to regularly interface with other agents, they will get ratted out and stomped on. If you don't interface with other agents, then you are excluding most of the market.

[Scoundreller]

Mostly I was trying to highlight how Uber and Airbnb take a monetary-intermediary approach, while the entire RE industry sits out of the actual transaction itself.

This is probably why I trust the average Airbnb host/Uber driver more than the average RE.

As a buyer, I was never "found". Without representation, I would seek the listing agents directly and have them give the tour. I figure the listing agent would be very eager to earn a bonus/double commission from their selling client, perhaps to my benefit even though I have no exclusive with them.