Every market is going to be different in terms of skill and standard of practice... in urban markets, people only selling residential, they may not need to know much about land use, but you are paying them for their market analytics and negotiating skills. In my market, to actually serve clients well, I need to know an absurd number of things as my people are dealing in land use, water rights, fencing, development, etc...

Regarding being on sell vs buy side - the buy-side should be helping you make sure you don't use a foot gun. They should be helping identify any material issues with the property and/or sourcing experts who can help with risk mitigation. And, they should have savvy to help negotiate the strongest possible offer to your favor. Because of several national lawsuits, it is very likely that consumers will be negotiating a price for a buyer's agent's services and paying for it directly in the near future. That's a whole other topic and probably requires frosty beverages.