@Desertdi We certainly agree on that. Between my own real estate transactions and those I participated in as an agent, I always preferred to have good representation involved.
As for the people involved in this transaction, I had no idea who they were until I read a few of the replies. May have seen 10 minutes of the show years ago, so I can visualize the couple but I know nothing about their financial life. The answers are always in the details - not enough useful in the post for judgment about the decision.