Story time!
When I was looking at buying my (now current) house, I had a realtor on my side, and my wife actually found the listing (no knock on the realtor there - my wife was just that on top of things) and the house was actually for sale from a realtor at the same company as my realtor.
As we were doing the inspection, I had questions about the pipes (lots of trees, and I knew of some horror stories). I was told the required inspection only covered the house itself, and the pipes would be someone else. My realtor was careful (IMHO) to not dissuade me in any way, but neither did she encourage me. I could tell she wasn't excited about me getting the pipes inspected - in part, I would later find out, because anything bad I discovered would then legally have to be disclosed to future prospects, whereas ignorance was a shield. So she was not a very useful source of guidance for getting this thing done.
But I did get it done, and when the result was a clean bill of health (the inspector showed me the video and was remarking that the pipes were basically pristine, which was amazing for 30+ year old concrete pipes) she was suddenly much more enthusiastic about the inspection. All smiles and congrats and saying what a good decision it had been.
It was a revelation into the incentives involved. To think what might happen to someone else with an agent who would cross the ethical line instead of just being unenthused.
That's also not just hypothetical either, we've been sued a couple times as a brokerage because one of our agents recommended a particular inspector who missed major termite damage.
No more.
I think you've really hit the nail on the head here. There's a built-in conflict of interest for the agent in every transaction.
They are rewarded by moving inventory, not serving their client.
And of course, while they might be able to tell you if they find termites, or foundation problems, they aren't actually doing a deep analysis, so they will themselves tell you to get an engineer or termite inspector if your concerned about those things. AC/mechanical problems are in the same boat. The inspector will tell you something like "the AC is 15 years old, but has a 15 degree drop" (something you can discover yourself in 30 seconds with a picture of the nameplate) and a thermometer. Actually measuring the subcool/superheat, no way. The latter will actually give you a good idea about the state of the machine.
Making the seller pay for a home guarantee for the first year is probably a far more effective way to spend money. Although again, don't use them until you know whats going on. Your AC gets warm, they are just as likely to send a guy that looks the other way, pumps a 1/2 lb in the system and kicks the problem down the road a few months.
And gets more business the more time he stamps yes for the realtor.
(also true of the broker and appraiser)
"Good" real estate agents from the buyers perspective would be slowing down sales, reducing the overall price they make a percentage on anyway (which is why fixed rate for a "class" of real estate would work better) as a disincentive.
Why would a real estate agent dissuade someone from buying something? They can compartmentalize/offload the moral responsibility to the inspector (which are pretty hit or miss too).