Hiring an agent is akin to insurance on the sale... it has a real cost but keeps bad things from happening.
If you know real estate laws for your state you can save the commission... just like if you know construction you can save the homeowner’s premiums.
Sold my house a few years ago..
at closing, the realtor ripped me off for almost 800 bucks in extra “fees”...
“If you know real estate laws for your state you can save the commission”
We sold two houses in California without realtors. I put each house on the market myself to see what would happen. After a month or so I’d get a realtor but in both cases a buyer came along. We both (seller and buyer) hired a lawyer to assist with the transaction.
We sold a house where we are now and used a realtor. That worked out fine too. She was listing the house we bought.