Is it better to use an agent or list rental on your own in NYC

[Bin Chen]

I have been struggling with this question for a while now and am not sure what the best course of action is. There are pros and cons of both.

Pro of using a realtor:

In NYC the landlords generally doesn't pay the realtor 

Saves time answering calls/emails and showing the apartments

There is a $125-$199 fee per 2 weeks to list on streeteasy/zillow/trulia/hotpads.

Cons: 

They charge a fee to the tenants. From what I've seen its 1 month to 15%. For a $2,500 a month apartment that can be $2,500-$4,500. Potential tenants will most likely not want to pay this and opt to look at no fee listing only. 

At the end of the day the potential tenants are looking at total costs. If they can save a couple thousand upfront they might even opt to rent a place that's slightly more expensive just because its no fee.

Am I missing anything? Do the pros outweigh the cons? I would definitely go with a realtor if everyone else were also using realtors but there are a couple rental buildings in my area that lease internally so there are several no fee apartments in the area.