HB, you may be one in ten million RE agents who is ethical. My experience is different. As a lender, I worked with some really knowledgeable, experienced, wonderful, caring realtors/agents. They all professed to take great care of their clients, and to look out for their best interest. Yet, they all wanted the borrower's pre-qual and pre-approvals to be at the absolute maximum possible, which frequently was above the purchase price/loan amount the customer wanted. The psychological pressure I frequently observed realtors/agents use to influence their clients into buying a property was staggering. That clients fell for the misinformation and hype is completely on the client, though, but I was disgusted by the dirty tricks played on them. As DTM said, even the people who most needed accurate advice refused to take it and got themselves into a heap of trouble. There were so many people getting their RE licenses in CA, and many of the real estate people I knew were arrogant know-it-alls. You can counter this with a million anecdotes about how wonderful RE agents are, but I have seen the other side and it has left me with a very negative opinion. The same can be said for lenders.

Sa : I hear you. The business apparently changed (a lot) from 2004 when I retired, to 2010 when I unretired - actually, some of the vitriol that has been heaped upon Realtors is probably well deserved. I started in RE before the fax machine existed, and ethics, integrity, and personal relationships were perhaps a little more valued?

As far as agents wanting the max price on a prequal, here's why I always wanted the max prequal amount:

All clients are unrealistic to begin with, that's human nature, both buyers and sellers. There is a "gap" between expectations and reality, and your job as a pro is to move clients gently,lovingly, and professionally from unrealistic expectations into reality. If you start with a lower amount, it increases the gap between expectations and reality, and makes the job harder.

If someone wanted to spend less, I'd always show them the lower price range they asked for. After they turned their noses up at what was available, I'd suggest, "do you want to bump your price range up, or do you want to purchase one of the homes you just dissed?" - they would always bump their price range, but I had no problem with letting it be the clients decision to "bump up" ,not my decision. They always do, it's just a little more work.