Welcome!
Come on people. Real Estate is not brain surgery. Yes people should understand the key issues when purchasing a home but I do not understand how a rebate will prevent an agent from doing his job. If your concern is that agents who are not as qualified will win business then make it tougher to get a license. Lawyers and doctors (and even plumbers) have much tougher barriers of entry to get licensed in their respective fields than real estate agents. We get payed - in some cases - thousands of dollars per hour for the work we do and in these tough times when people have less money and banks are tightening their lending procedures most buyers can use the help. Buyers are forced to pay for half the commission due to the fact that the sellers figure it into the price they are willing to accept. Since the buyer cannot negotiate the amount that is payed to the selling agent, allowing the buyer to negotiate a rebate makes total sense.