Before you list a renovated house, do you pay for your own appraisal or trust the agent's number?

Finishing a full gut on a three bed in an older neighborhood and I'm arguing with myself about spending $500 before it goes on the market.

The case for ordering one: my comps are messy. The street has original 1950s houses selling in the $260s and two renovated ones that went in the $340s, and I've put more into this than either of them. An independent opinion tells me what a lender's appraiser will likely say when my buyer's loan gets underwritten, which is the number that actually has to clear. I've watched a deal on a previous house die three weeks in because the appraisal came under contract and I had no idea it was coming. If I know the range up front I can price to clear it, or I can decide in advance which items I'll document for the appraiser, permits, invoices, the stuff that isn't visible once the drywall is up.

The case against: it's $500 and a week I'd rather spend listing. Two agents I trust say they price these all day and their number is free. An appraisal I commission isn't binding on anyone, the buyer's lender orders their own regardless, and if mine comes back lower than the agent's opinion I've now bought myself a number I have to either believe or ignore. There's also an argument that on a renovation the value is set by what a buyer will pay for the finishes, and an appraiser working off a grid is going to be conservative on exactly the improvements I spent money on.

I genuinely don't know which side is right on a $300k house. Curious where the room lands and why.