There are many professional estate agents in operation and the service they offer can be very worth while especially if you have time constraints and/or little experience in the property market.
Please remember though that estate agents' fees are normally 2% of your property's sale price so if you feel that you already know your market and have experience in selling properties you may wish to sell privately.

What does an estate agent do?

Setting a selling price for your property

An estate agent will visit your property and may suggest three prices for you to consider:

1. An asking price
2. A fair price - if you cannot achieve the asking price
3. A lower price - likely to sell the property within six weeks

Please remember that these price guides are the agent's opinion of how much he or she thinks they can sell your house for, so it's worth getting the opinion of a few different estate agents who have a good understanding of the property market in your area, the true price of your house is likely to be an average of these prices not necessarily the highest.

Arrange a contract
An estate agent will draw up and send you a contract based on 'sole agency', 'sole selling rights', 'multiple agency', 'joint sole agency' or 'ready, willing and able' terms. Make sure you read the agreement terms and the small print in detail and question anything you're unsure about.