Moreover, there is a moral hazard in negotiating. The higher the sale price and the quicker the negotiation is over, the more and more quickly the agent gets paid. The agents I worked with generally did not give off the vibe that they were phased by this. I think at the scale of what a normal person can afford real-estate-wise, the difference is not huge. My latest agent in fact insisted that I go see more properties before making offers when I said I was ready to go. During this time I found the property I finally purchased, and it was about $50k cheaper than the original property I was interested in.