Not unheard of but different from the way others work with their agent.

You may hire your Realtor by the hour?

Why?
 
You are convinced FSBO (for sale by owner) is the way to start, but still need a little guidance.

You are not ready to sign a commitment with an agent.

You want to look at a home or two, without the necessity to sign an agreement with a buyers agent.

You want to work with an experienced or local agent before calling your brother in law from across town.

You are resourceful and already doing some of your own work by exploring homes or land online by yourself.

You are just curious and want to look at that newly listed home in your neighborhood with no pretense of being a buyer.  (With respect to the sellers here, we will offer them honest feedback about their home).  $25 per home showing.

You have it narrowed down to a few homes and will not need a lot of an agents time.  

Hire an agent for your specific need without having to sign a contract.  (State requires that we give you a disclosure though.  You have to sign that we gave it to you.)

How do you save?
Instead of paying a predefined commission, you pay only for your agents time.  You can always switch later and apply any fees toward your full service commission.  

With some exceptions for peak hours or rural homes, you may visit listed homes at $25 per home.  Discounts may apply for efficient situations.

Sellers.  You do your own homework to research and prepare your home for sale.  You are confident it will sell.  Need a little coaching, a little time or maybe more?  You will pay only for the amount of agents time that you need and avoid percentage rate commissions .   Save money if you are efficient with your agents' time. If you are concerned about that section in the Freakonomics book, rest assured that your agents interest in a lower price is not in conflict with your interest in receiving top dollar.  

Buyers.  You can go online yourself    Search for homes   or, for a small fee,  have us set up and monitor an automatic search for you.  You will read the descriptions and look at the pictures.  You will sort them out and prioritize the houses to look at.   Save even more by taking an initial  drive by to eliminate some from your list.  When it is time to make an offer, your agent will pull up the paperwork and guide you through offers, negotiations, inspections, contingencies and closing.   When the deal closes, Afton Realty will forward any buyers agent incentive payments to you.  To keep to the rules, and get those incentives, your agent will need to have a signed (exclusive or non-exclusive) contract in place.

Investors.   All the same reasons as above.  As you make multiple transactions, savings can multiply, or make it a viable investment.