One of the common questions facing home buyers and sellers is whether an agent is required to complete the transaction. The question is asked more often than ever before because sellers are getting less for their homes and are trying to squeeze every possible dollar out of the transaction.

Earlier this month, the National Assn. of Realtors reported that, nationally, 57% of home buyers had agents in 2010, a number that has been decreasing steadily for several years. In 2006, 64% of buyers had representation. Three years later in 2009, 62% had agents.

A buyer’s agent is someone who shops for you, who sifts through listings from multiple sources and brings you those that he or she believes are a good fit, based on the criteria you have established. The commission for the buyer’s agent is usually 50% of the commission paid to the seller’s agent.

The short answer to the question is “no,” an agent is not required to buy or sell a home.

But “required” can also be a relative term. No, you are not required to have an agent to sell your home, but to do so without one can cause so much trouble that you’ll spend one of your three wishes pleading for help.

But a buyer’s agent? With so much information available on the Internet, does a home buyer really need that type of help? Besides, if there is no buyer’s agent, can’t a buyer just get that 50% commission back in the form of a lower price on the property?

All good questions. My wife and I had agents for both of our home purchases, first in 1987 and then in 2002. In 1987, we were looking for a starter home. We’d been married only six months and did not plan on having any kids anytime soon. We figured that we’d live in the starter home, which turned out to be a condominium, for a couple of years, then move up.

But our agent knew better. He knew that our plan was the same as other young couples and that despite our best intentions, we’d probably be in the home a lot longer than we thought. It was for that reason, he said, that it is better to take some extra time and find a property that you like instead of one that is cheap or expedient.

We stayed in that condominium for 15 years and moved up after having two kids. When we sold the condo, we realized a tremendous profit in part through my wife’s aggressive mortgage payment strategy and in part because our adjustable loan rate kept going down.

There is, however, a third and most important part. Not only was our agent right about staying put for far longer than we planned, he was also right about being more discriminating about our purchase. We bought our starter home in a nice part of Costa Mesa and realized a healthy appreciation many years later. Had we spent less and bought something in a less desirable area, we would not be living in the four-bedroom home in an even more desirable part of Costa Mesa.

Which brings me to the crucial role played by our agent for our current home. Mindy Sessions was looking out for us in 2002, when prices were skyrocketing and homes stayed on the market for about an hour.

Thanks to Sessions, the home we bought never even made it to the market.

We told Sessions that we had to live in either Newport Beach or Costa Mesa, not only because we liked both cities very much, but also because my part-time work as a columnist for the Daily Pilot newspaper required that I live in either town.

While driving through one of the two neighborhoods in which we wanted to live, Sessions spotted a house that was literally minutes away from having a “for sale” sign stuck in its lawn. She called us and almost miraculously, my wife closed the deal on the house later that day. We are in love with this home.

Buy without an agent? No thanks.

STEVE SMITH is a Costa Mesa resident and a freelance writer. Send story ideas to smi161@aol.com.