Time is also money. A year before we put our house on the market we chose a realtor to sell it for us. Our house was professionally maintained by me and meticulously cared for by my wife so we knew it would sell with ease. That didn't affect our choice. We choose a realtor with a stellar reputation who gives back to the community. She sold the house in two showings to someone on her buyer contact list. Her commission was 7% and she worked for it. Not just on our house, but by developing a reputation in the community as one of the most preferred realtors. I'd hire her again.

Well, I had a contract and during inspection (and subsequent research under FOIA) found serious issues with the property. Issues that the seller (and most likely the realtor) was aware of. I walked, but sure enough, the property sold soon thereafter. The property next door (same seller/same problems) sold a year later for a higher price without the problems being addressed. I know, I looked at it again. I was ticked off, but other than a complaint about the realtor, there wasn't much I could do.

"Even though they will agree to act as dual agent, they wouldn’t have your best interest at heart" well, alas, your own (buyers) agent isn't truly always acting in your best interest either...but yeah, as the English would say, it's a jolly sight better than using a dual agent! THAT is a bad idea as I found out with a house I tried to buy before my current one. Found out the sellers and the 'dual agent' were withholding disclosure of various issues with the property. I dodged a HUGE bullet and swore to always advise people to not use a dual agent - so that's what I'm doing right now! lol I would say first time, almost everyone should have a realtor unless they have some compelling reason they would not need one: they are a real estate attorney by trade, they have family members who are experienced real estate agents to help show them the ropes. I LOVED my first buyer's agent, and in fact a couple years ago sent her a nice email to thank her for how comfortable she made the process for me. Buying and selling my first house was the most financially empowering single thing that happened in my life. (Of course it helped that it doubled in value in the 3 years I owned it LOL.) OTOH...2nd purchase - if you really are gung ho about it and want to go through the motions yourself and are confident you can dot the eyes and cross the Ts, I say go for it. But like someone pointed out...the commission is going to come out of the sale regardless, if it isn't FSBO. So for my 2nd purchase I knew the house I wanted (after the aforementioned one fell through) it actually made more sense to find a person I already knew who was just starting out as an agent and arrange an off-the-record kick back of 33% of her take home even though of course their brokerage technically forbade that. She had next to nothing to actually do...even by 2006, a lot of the process for being a buyer's agent was automated. At least at a big place like REMAX or L&F. She was very happy to be able to claim a first sale within a month of starting her new job. She wasn't really cut out for RE and I'm almost sure that was the only sale she ever completed. 🙄

Agents are licensed by each state, so it is very possible that you could be in one state and need a license in another. If you have a local agent in your area, they will refer you to an agent in another area and deserve some sort of compensation for their referral. It comes out of the agents' commission, so it really should not be a problem for you. For example, your agent in Florida where you live now could refer you to an agent in Wisconsin to sell great aunt Gertrude's house after she passes away. The Florida agent can't do it because she isn't licensed in Florida. Or the agent that sells your house when you move out of California could refer you to an agent in Texas where you are moving...