Some agents provide a hugely invaluable service.

If I am going to move to a new region, first I pick the area I prefer by renting a few months and learning the reality on the ground, then I grab the best agent based on specialization for that area, not a "generic" one for the whole city.

In my experience, the value of the agent is great there. But it lowers drastically if they are just "whole city agents."

Experience: moved to 3 metro areas in past 10 years.