You can legally represent yourself, but the savings are usually smaller and the risks bigger than buyers expect. The first hurdle is paperwork. Agents generally cannot hand you their standard purchase contracts without representing you, so a self-represented buyer needs their own contract, and a non-standard or improvised one often protects nobody well: not the seller, not the listing agent, not you. That alone can make sellers hesitant to work with you. The bigger risk is what you do not know you do not know. A purchase contract runs on deadlines: inspection and due-diligence periods, contingency removals, notices, each with consequences if missed. We have seen a self-represented buyer blow a due-diligence deadline simply because they did not know the timeline, and it cost them, with no one on their side watching for it. So yes, you can do it, and in experienced hands with real contract and negotiation skill it can work. For most buyers, though, the compensation you hope to save, which is negotiable anyway, is small next to what one uncovered mistake can cost. If the goal is a lower cost, a better path is negotiating your representation terms directly rather than going without a contract and without anyone protecting your interests.