It takes a team of professionals to buy a home -- a lender, an appraiser, an inspector, the property insurance agent, the title officer, and others, but the real estate professional is the most critical member of your home buying team.
It's kind of like baking bread. Baking bread seems so simple. There are only four ingredients: flour, salt, yeast, and water; yet, there are steps that should be followed as well as a specific sequence to get the proper results. Some people mix all of the dry ingredients before adding the hot water to activate the yeast. Other people will activate the yeast in the warm water first to allow it to "bloom." Both methods can achieve satisfactory results, but one knowledgeable person who understands the process from start to finish needs to be in charge.
Similarly, in a home purchase, the buyer's agent is who puts things in the proper order and sees that no steps are missed. The buyer's agent coordinates the other professionals with the common goal of getting the home closed on time according to the terms agreed in the sales contract.
Even if a buyer has been through the process before, the buyer's agent will have far more experience because it is their job. They perform their job on a daily basis and are not personally or emotionally involved like a buyer is. This allows them to offer objective advice to the buyer they represent.
Your agent understands what and when the various steps should be done and by whom. They have worked with enough of the other professionals to know who is good at their job and can offer recommendations. They have seen the things that make a transaction go smoothly and what can derail one.
Experience is a great teacher, but the lesson does not have to be learned by going through it by yourself. Take the luxury of using your real estate professional's experience acquired through years of study and practice. Allow your agent to advise you and coordinate the efforts to achieve the results you are expecting and deserve.