We just sold our house FSBO 2 months ago and had the same discussion. We're not super experienced (purchased 4 houses and sold 1), but encountered enough bad agents that we thought we'd take a chance doing it ourselves. The rational was that if we didn't have reasonable offers within the first two weeks, we'd go with an agent. It was an unusual home (renovated small 2 bedroom house with fancy huge garage) in a rural LCOL area, so comps were difficult. We hired an appraiser for $450, set the asking price at that value, and mentioned in the ad that the house appraised for that much. We're not in a hot market area, so we were pleasantly surprised to get two offers over asking within several days--- historically, I'm told houses nearby can sit for 6-12 months before selling. Both people had their own real estate agents.
My opinion on the questions you're asking----
1) I don't think a listing agent added value. Plenty of people were looking on Zillow, Facebook, and Craigslist--- about 30 inquiries in a week's time. A friend of ours has a wide angle lens camera and took photos for us. A professional appraisal carries more weight than real estate agent comps if the bank's appraisal comes up short and could matter if contested. In our case, the bank appraisal was 5k less. Just because a listing agent says you can get $xxx amount, and a buyer agrees to pay that amount, doesn't mean the bank will be willing to finance it. If the buyer has significant cash to make up the difference, then it doesn't matter, but since you're in a LCOL area, people might be relying heavily on financing.
2) I posted directly in the advertisement that buyer's agent would receive 3%. I heard that is usually a sticking point with FSBO and steers agents away otherwise, and it was recommended to put that out there. In your case, you'd potentially save 6k not having the listing agent.
3) Its usually the buyer that chooses the title company, at least where I am. Buyer would send the check directly to them and you can just give a call to confirm its been submitted within 3-5 days or whatever the contract says. Since our buyer had an agent, the contract and disclosures were provided by them and went through very smoothly. Also, where I'm located, there are only two variations of sale contracts used, so there is nothing unexpected to see in the wording. I understand agents generally use about the same generic paperwork--- just need to make sure you read through so you understand it all and be aware of anything that is written in by hand, what the check marks/boxes actually signify, and that nothing is omitted that should have been written in.
If your buyer has no agent, perhaps the two of you can discuss the general sales terms and then go to an agreed upon title company to have them write the contract and deal with the closing.
4) I already mentioned the appraisal and thought it was well worth the money. An agent has incentive to skew pricing to get your business and in my case, would have likely received varying numbers.
Regarding
@srad comments, thats a totally valid viewpoint and make lots of sense to me for some things. Getting the house listed on the MLS would increase exposure and could make up for that 6-12k difference, especially for a house that's on the lower end of price scale like yours. The approach I used when discussing sales price and agent fees, was to say "I'm willing to pay 3% to the buyer's agent, but was hoping to find someone without an agent and save that money. Your offer would be more competitive if you could make up that difference". As I mentioned before, I think the key is how much cash your buyer has, since its the bank that decides the amount they will finance. If people in your area are relying on government loans without much down payment, you might be hard pressed to get much over appraisal value. I hope I'm wrong and in my case, perhaps we could have gotten more money if we listed with an agent and gotten a cash buyer offering 25% more than asking price, but its a bird in hand vs two in the bush scenario.
@Omy is a retired real estate agent and maybe add some thoughts.
