I've never sold a home, I just rent them out when I move. I've done long distance rentals both myself and with an agent. Finding a good agent is easier than f

I've never sold a home, I just rent them out when I move. I've done long distance rentals both myself and with an agent. Finding a good agent is easier than finding a good tenant, and good tenants move out eventually and you have to find another. A good agent will have a handyman on staff so you can get simple stuff fixed for a reasonable price, a network of contractors that do good work at a good price, and know what channels to advertise in to get good tenants in the local market. They also know the local market better, which means they can better optimize price vs time empty, and depending on how bad you are at that, that optimization alone will pay their commission.