Yeah, I looked into the deed record to confirm what we'd been told at one house (one owner since the early 70s) and to check on the other. (I have to look up deeds for clients sometimes.) We also have been looking on this other website (the site escapes me right now) that shows the appraisals/sales of the other houses in the area which is pretty helpful.

Are there a lot of realtors who work for a fixed fee? I don't know that I've ever come across one. But yeah, I can see a realtor trying to max a person out to maximize what's going into their pockets.