Also, we did the process of doing our own research on Redfin and asking our agent to show us the homes that we were interested in. She helped us when the old home we ended up buying turned out to need a new roof and a lot of the electric and possibly plumbing, since she could advise on what was typical/reasonable to ask them to pay for, and what to compromise on by requesting a split or to pay ourselves.
It can be really tough to tell what a house *really* looks like from the photos if you're looking at older homes. There were so many that looked great, but when we came to look, there were sloped floors and obvious issues. There's simply no substitute for seeing a lot of houses, and if the process takes long enough, to see what those "known" houses sell for. Once you get comfortable, you can move fast when the right home comes along-- and you could lose that opportunity if you don't have an agent and are dallying with discussions about the commission.
Oh, just thought of something. Look into using a Redfin buyer's agent, who will refund part of the commission. I think they used to refund more, but at least it's something!