Very little of the real work happens at a showing, which is why the job is easy to underestimate until something goes wrong.
Narrowing the search to communities that actually suit your commute, budget and life, which usually means ruling things out rather than adding them. Setting up alerts so you hear about a home the day it lists rather than the weekend after. And being honest about what your budget buys, before you spend three months finding out.
You are looking at the kitchen. They should be looking at the things that cost money and the things that cannot be changed:
Not to replace an inspection — to tell you whether this one is worth paying an inspector for.
Yes. Frequently, if they are doing the job properly.
An agent is paid when you buy, which makes "do not buy this one" the most expensive sentence they can say — and therefore the most reliable evidence that they are working for you rather than the transaction. If you have never heard your agent argue against a house, that is worth noticing.
The purchases we are most proud of include several that never happened. Talking a client out of the wrong house is worth more to them than finding a right one quickly, and they generally remember it.
Most of the actual work: negotiating, structuring conditions so they protect you, coordinating inspection and lender and lawyer, tracking deadlines that carry legal consequences, and dealing with whatever surfaces during conditions. This is the part nobody sees and the part that determines whether the deal closes.