A buyer's agent doesn't necessarily work for the seller. Hypothetically they could, but the good ones wouldn't solely point you to properties they are selling. Also, in Wisconsin, the buyer pays no commission to the buyers agent on a sale if used. One advantage to using a buyer's agent is their access to the MLS database and access to the properties at non-open house times, which may be more convenient to the buyer. When we bought our house, we came from across the state and had about a 4 month window until our lease ended while pregnant with our first child. Doing all the searching on our own would have been a huge pain, considering we only had weekends to work with. But if you're determined to do it on your own, there's no harm in that either. It just takes a little bit more effort.