Real estate agents rank near the bottom in trust polls — so why do most home buyers still use them in Florida?

I was reading the latest Gallup Honesty and Ethics of Professions Poll and something interesting stood out.
The most recent survey (Dec 2025 poll released Jan 2026):
• surveyed 21 professions
• real estate agents ranked in the lower third
• only about 17% of Americans rate their honesty/ethics as high or very high
Yet when you look at actual transactions, most homes are still bought and sold through agents.
I started digging into why that might be the case, especially here in Florida.
A few structural reasons stood out.