sdrealtor's response to this thread says all we need to know:
"The answer is different for everyone and there is no right or wrong answer. Some go it alone and are fine. Some go it alone and get slaughtered. More often then not when I look at someone getting slaughtered … often, the highly suspect representation was an agent representing themselves. "
So, some go alone and are fine, like I was: a 27 year-old stay-at-home new mother, with no realestate license at all, sold FSBO, used a real estate lawyer for closings, and even started a FSBO newspaper which is still in operation today …. and some get slaughtered, which, in sdr's own words are very often agents representing themselves.
I think realtors are useful for busy people who cannot do the research or are not familiar with an area. They are also useful for busy sellers who cannot be there to open the house up for lookers. For both buyers and sellers, they are useful for paperwork filling out (time consuming). However, they are WAY overpaid for these services.
Like airline pilot pay, which we suffered through a severe cut-back in (and chose to leave that career), real estate agents are probably facing the same in the near future.
