**********So I actually have an update to this discussion I'd originally posted. I kind of feel like I'm at the end of my rope, feeling like giving up on even searching for a home or just wanting to make offers on my own, although I know that's not the smart thing to do. And I really don't feel like we're difficult people. For example, I've lived where I live now for almost a decade and have only put in a handful of maintenance requests. Some people I know do it MANY times a month. Don't think we've ever put in a complaint of any type. We're pretty low maintenance. But for whatever reason finding a reliable buyer's agent seems impossible right now. So here's the summary:

First agent we met couldn't answer any questions. The questions seemed basic:

Will place be cleaned out? We were told she didn't know but if it's not, then we just have to have a yard sale, no big deal, she said.

Is roof our responsibility or HOA (it was a townhouse so we didn't know, and neither did she).

Can we see HOA rules? We were told she didn't think we could until we made an offer. It was very clear she just wanted us to sign.

Next place we went on our own, no buyer's agent, but seller's agent called us wanting to know if we still needed a buyer's agent. We liked him, told him we did and we'd be happy to use him. Emailed him telling him how I found a townhouse in an open house we loved, really wanted to get on it before it sold, and then never heard from him again. Still to this day. Three, four weeks later, still never heard back. Why did he go out of his way to reach out to us, just to never hear from him again?

So we moved on. We were still interested in the townhouse we'd told the last agent about that we found in an open house. So we found another agent. We made offer. So.... the first contract written up had the incorrect offer amount that we had just discussed via email, 20 -- yes, 20 -- minutes earlier. It had a higher amount than we'd discussed. So she goes back, writes it up again.

So we wait. We're hopeful. And then we find out the home is going through probate and is not even eligible to be sold. So neither the selling nor the buying agent involved thought to see if the house was eligible to be sold before it was offered for sale.

Are we jinxed? What is happening here? Is this the norm? How does one go about finding a GOOD agent? I'm reading the reviews online. All of these people so far have had great reviews, and yet they've all been unreliable, so what's the next step in finding a good agent?