As a life long do-it-yourselfer, I had problems with Realtor fees long before I knew anything about the business.
In learning the business, there was several things that became apparent: 
When Premier Realty Exclusive started selling lofts in 2004, the downtown landscape was a different world than it is today. Developers hired salespeople exclusive to their building, sales were mostly direct between consumers and developers, there were no local expert REALTORS that emphasized helping the buyer and most folks in our profession were reluctant to bring clients to the area due to their own ignorance of the area. Lofts in the Lou was started in May 2005 to help people understand the renaissance taking place in Downtown St Louis and to promote the transformation.
St Louis home buyer guide was started in January 2010 to help give home buyers general information about home buying. There has always been a great deal of confusion and misinformation about the home buying process and the role of buyer's agents. StLBuyerGuide.com was started to help provide Saint Louis Home buyers with reliable information from someone actively working in the real estate field.
St. Louis City LivingUrban areas have challenges, and mass media focuses on what's wrong more often than what's right, or desireable about the city. This blog discusses the reasons that so many people are chosing the city as their home as well as some of its problems, such as media bias.