For the greatest majority of sellers, you will net more cash, even after paying a commission, if you work with a Realtor.  This is because selling a home is far from easy. The emotional, legal, and financial issues are challenging.  A good agent truly earns his or her commission by getting the right buyer to pay more for your house.  You should walk away with more money in your pocket, even after paying a commission. Most agents charge from 6% to 7% of the sale price.  This seems like a lot until you consider the expenses.  Out of this revenue, the agent pays all advertising costs, clerical salaries, paperwork, file management costs, office supplies, printing expenses, and more.  The listing agent also pays the buyer agent (usually about 50% of the commission).  What a Realtor does is bring you better pricing research, experience with home sales, advertising exposure that is not available to lay persons, and branding.  Branding makes people trust something more. Real Estate Companies spend a LOT of money on branding that sign that they put in the front yard. You may not agree that this is valuable, but think about it for a minute. I'll bet your family uses several name brand products. Most people drink either Coke or Pepsi! Why not K-Cola, or RC Cola? Coke and Pepsi spend more money on ads and marketing. You may not care what Brittney Spears drinks, or what a basketball player drinks, but most people are deeply impressed by the energy and power of these branding commercials. As a result, they gladly pay more for these name brand products than for competing products. Imagine how this works in Real Estate. Do you want a buyer to gladly pay more for your house? The right sign in your front yard can make that happen. Advertising Exposure Attracts More Buyers: The right agent will give your house thousands of dollars of exposure in the publications and web sites most used by buyers.  You pay nothing until the house sells, with no up front costs for all that exposure.  Many popular ad venues, like Harmon Homes or Realtor.com are simply not available to any except Realtors.  Realtors Attract Better Buyers and Work Hard to help them.  Buyers who work with Realtors are more likely to be "Regular Folks" than Tire Kickers and Bargain Hunters.  Realtors don't waste a lot of time with people who won't or cannot pay a fair price.  Real Estate Agents spend countless hours of professional time screening buyers and showing houses.  One of the first thing they do is get their buyers Pre-Approved with a lender so they don't waste time looking at houses they cannot afford.  The next thing they do is show people a lot of photos, using the MLS system, to rule out houses they won't like.  Once the field is narrowed down, they bring buyers who can not only afford your house, but have already seen inside it (photos).  This cuts down on interruptions in your home from people who won't be able or intersted.  You get top dollar from good buyers instead of wasting time with "tire kickers".  Realtors spend many hours helping buyers move through the stages of buying.  One common stage is "buyer's remorse", or "cold feet" which may stall a deal or cause a deal to "blow up" if professional help is not available.  So now you may be getting an idea why 85% of all home sales are done with the help of a Realtor!  Click Here to Find a Realtor