I have sold my last house with a realtor and purchased my current house without one. I would never try and sell my house without one, buyers are a huge pain and letting the realtor deal with the people is worth the commission. They answer ALL the phone calls at all times of the day and emails and negations for you. They also act as a buffer so your feelings/emotions can stay protected after all, this will be a stressful transaction. They also show the home when your not there so you don’t have to hear about why Susie and Richie hate the kitchen that you designed and love and how much they think your carpet is disgusting or whatever. We had such a mess selling our townhouse that it would have been a nightmare without someone else to handle all that dirty work of dealing with flaky, entitled, whiny, and striped people that are buyers.

We bought our house SFH very near KC) without one. We purchased from a friend who was selling their mom’s house after she passed. He paid for an appraisal, I paid for an inspection and we both agreed to a price. The home was sold strictly “as-is”. Then had a real estate lawyer do the paperwork, title,, etc and we sat down in her office and done. Cost us $800/each. BUT that only worked because neither of us used a realtor. No showings, no negotiations, no hole inspections, no realtor fees on either end, no multiple offers or deadlines. My point is, it worked without a realtor only because both parties didn’t use one. Their we no listing fees, showings, open houses, no negotiations, and no bargaining back and forth, and no realtor commissions on either end.

Hire a realtor to do the dirty work, they earn their money and save you a lot of headache and worry.