in our area many of the people who sell houses for a living are better off than most. my dad showed me years ago that that 6% commission was negotiable and often we settled for 3% when selling a farm or buying a farm, because the realator often made huge $$$$$$ for little expense.
naturally small/cheap homes ya made less, but otherwise the realtor business or should i say system, is nothing more than vulchers.......your only complaint as far as i am reading here is that you didn't make more $$$$$$$$$$$$ of that 6%. we often delt with one person that had the education/licenses to do it all and they got the full 6% and were than willing to settle for 3%.
realtors that slpit their commissions with many other people just didn't go to school enough and allowed others to make their $$$ for doing nothing..