[Morrigoon]

Moonie: if the agent you're talking about is the buyer's agent, absolutely not.

If the agent is double-siding the deal, then they might not tell the seller "hey, they said they'd be willing to pay more", but they might advise their seller to counter-offer. That's why it's a good idea to bring your own agent to the deal.

Oh jeez, this reminds me of another bit of advice:

DO NOT TALK TO THE LISTING AGENT! I mean, make nicey-nice if you run into them, as you might at an open house if the agent is sitting their own open house (sometimes agents looking to pick up clients will sit open houses for other agents, that's different), or if you and your agent visit a property where the listing agent has to let you in. But don't tell them anything about your moving circumstances, finances, etc. Remember to keep your cards close. Every bit of information will be considered during negotiations.

For example, if you were relocating to an area, and you had a job starting in 3 weeks, and you made the mistake of revealing to the listing agent that you were in a real hurry to close for that reason... don't think for a moment that that wouldn't come into play during the offer/counteroffer stage. They know you need to find a place, and soon, and that they can negotiate harder because you don't have much time to look at other properties. All that agent needs to know is that you'd like a 2-week escrow please, and the why of it is your business.

If you've picked a buyer's agent that you're going to work with, and you still visit open houses, as your agent for a stack of their cards. When you go into open houses, the agent sitting there most likely wants to pick you up as a buyer client. Maybe they're the listing agent, maybe not, and certainly while you're in the market for an agent, it's worth talking to them, you might like them. But it gets annoying after a while when agents are trying to poach you from whoever you've chosen, so once you have someone, you can just say, you have an agent, here's their card if they want to follow up.

One other thing: As a courtesy, if you work closely with one agent for a while, and they've been taking you out to look at houses, etc., then you decide you'd like to check out new construction... please please tell your agent and let them take you there the first time you visit. If your agent is not with you the first time you visit new construction, then the builder cuts them out of the deal if you end up buying that, and you basically rob your agent of the time they've spent with you. They only get a pittance from the builder even if they bring you to them, but at least it compensates them for their time and gas if you've been working closely with them. It really really sucks when you put weeks of work in for someone and they go to new homes behind your back and you get cut out of the deal.