As you figured out you don’t need the pause. The slicer inserts the gcode at the beginning of the layer and once complete it will continue on with the start of the layer.
Homing X and Y “shouldn’t be needed” and might add a zit to the outside of the part as the nozzle returns to the part because of oozing. That was the only issue I found when I did some testing of homing XY during a print.
It will be interesting to see which works best for you situation, homing vs not homing.