How to choose a trustworthy Buyer’s Agent
Back in 2008 when I became a buyer’s agent in Sydney, we were still a rare breed. These days buyer representation is well and truly a fixture in the Australian real estate landscape. It has also given rise to those opportunists wanting to make a quick buck out of your need to get on the property ladder. Now more than ever it is important to ensure you know how to discern a great buyer’s agent from one who shouldn’t be involved in your property purchase at all. Here are my top five tips to get you started on the right track:
1. They’re licensed and insured
Whilst Google may give you a whole list of names, ensure that the buyer’s agent has a Class 1 licence. In NSW this can be checked on the NSW Government’s Verify register here. Due to tightened requirements here in NSW it takes a minimum of three years to attain a Class 1 licence, however due to mutual recognition from other states, some buyer’s agents may be using a shortcut to get there quicker. If they are willing to cheat the system here, what might they be willing to do to you to get paid?
In my opinion far too many failed real estate agents have reinvented themselves as buyer’s agents in recent times, so make sure yours isn’t one of them. They need at least 5 years of continuous buyer’s agent experience. Selling agents are trained in objection handling. That’s a sales skill. It teaches you how to get a deal over the line, not how to tell an A-grade property from a C-grade one. I know quite a few real estate agents who love selling to those buyer’s agents, knowing they’ll buy the subpar properties and overpay by a heap!
The same goes for professional indemnity insurance. Did you know that this is a requirement for all licence holders in NSW?
2. They have a proven track record
I’d be wary of agents who claim to be the best. A lot of awards are handed out like candy, without any discernment or proof that the winner has actually deserved it. I can’t tell you how many unsolicited emails I have received to buy a table at an awards ceremony to ensure my team and I are finalists. A big industry name on the trophy doesn’t guarantee a stringent process either.
So when a buyer’s agent shows you an award, ours included, ask how it was decided. Who nominated them, and who judged it? We were named winner of Outstanding Real Estate Buyers Agent at the 2026 Inner West Local Business Awards. That one started with a public vote, then I had to answer a written set of questions about how we run the business, and a judging panel made the final call. I couldn’t tell you who was on that panel. And yes, I bought tickets to the awards night, like every other finalist. Nobody offered me a place in the finals in exchange for a table, and that’s the difference worth asking about. I’m proud of it, and I’d still tell you the same thing: an award is a nice signal, it isn’t proof. What they’ve actually bought tells you far more.
If you are doing your own research you could ask to speak with past and current clients of their experience but also check their Google reviews. Are they all genuine or are they mostly from sales agents?
A great way to check the quality of their work is to check their past purchases. Have they bought on ‘yellow roads’ (you know, the very busy roads on Google maps). If so, then they don’t care about quality locations, which will ultimately cost you in capital growth potential AND your enjoyment of living. Have they bought brand new or off the plan? In my opinion they are far too high risk due to the lack of build quality in recent years. How do you know how well the building is run or built without a strata report to review? A good buyer’s agent should educate you about these things and steer you away from bad property decisions.
3. Their service is transparent
There are still buyer’s agents who charge a percentage of the purchase price or budget, which is a complete conflict of interest, full stop. The ‘tiered’ system may seem fairer but it also implies that the higher your budget, the more work it is for the buyer’s agent, which is not always the case. We charge a flat fee based on the complexity of your search, never on the price of the property, so I have no incentive to spend more of your money. That’s how our Find & Buy service works.
We don’t have a time limit on our agency agreement, as we don’t want you to feel under pressure to buy quickly. How long are their agency agreements for and how many clients do they look after at any time? Do they take on competing briefs and are they all about churning out as many clients as possible?
Our answer on numbers: nobody on my team looks after more than four clients at a time. Any more than that and we can’t give each client the attention they deserve.
We never take competing briefs. There’s only a limited number of good properties for sale at any given time, and I don’t want to play favourites. So if your brief, budget and area mean you’d likely end up looking at the same property as one of our existing clients, we won’t take you on until they’ve bought. We keep a waitlist for exactly this reason, and the people on it are happy to wait, knowing we’ll do the right thing by them too when it’s their turn. Ask any buyer’s agent you’re considering what happens when two of their clients want the same property, and listen carefully to the answer.
Make sure you know what the buyer’s agent will actually be providing in terms of research per property. Some buyer’s agents are much cheaper than the rest, so there must be a catch! Things like infrastructure projects, flood mapping (main bodies of water but also overland), capital growth assessments, an in-depth strata review, pricing research, zoning and development applications are all an essential part of the due diligence that we offer so make sure you are comparing apples with apples.
They may be cheap but the service may not even be worth paying for at all if they can’t answer any of the above.
4. Buy local
Your buyer’s agent needs to have local knowledge, experience and contacts. The real estate market is actually made up of many micro markets and having on the ground experience is vital. Having a deep pocket of contacts of real estate agents but also owners to call upon is essential in being able to uncover properties that may not yet have hit the market.
They have many years of experience buying locally and aren’t afraid to say ‘no’ when your brief is out of the area or unachievable. A buyer’s agent who nods along to everything you say has their eye on one prize: their own pocket. It has taken my team and me many years to build the experience to say no with confidence, and we’re not afraid to have the hard conversations up front.
An experienced buyer’s agent should have a vast network of connections, from mortgage brokers and solicitors to cleaners and roofers - all who should be referred on merit, not referral fees, or because they are part of some pyramid networking scheme. If a buyer’s agent is highly recommended by a sales agent for example, it may be because they are receiving a kickback.
We don’t receive referral fees from anyone, and we don’t pay them to anyone either. That goes for brokers, solicitors, selling agents and anyone else for that matter. If I recommend someone, it’s because they’re good at what they do.
Lately I’ve also noticed more and more buyer’s agents appearing in promotional videos for selling agents’ listings, sometimes with the listing agent’s contact details attached. Think about that for a second. Your buyer’s agent’s job is to sit across the table from that selling agent and get you the best possible price. A video talking up a property does the opposite, and it’s worth asking whether they’re being paid to make it. If they’re promoting that agent’s listings on Instagram this week, whose side are they on when they negotiate against them next week? Before you sign with anyone, scroll through their social media. It will tell you who they really work for.
That brings me to my team.
5. They are not a one man band
Having my team around me has been an essential part of my growth as a buyer’s agent. No transaction, no agent and no vendor is the same, and being able to draw on my team members’ experience, local knowledge and connections along with my own has resulted in better outcomes for my clients.
We don’t compete with each other, we work together. In some agencies each buyer’s agent chases their own numbers and nobody else knows the file. Here, each client has one of us leading their search and the whole team behind it.
Our processes continue to be finetuned and critically assessed so that our clients always get the best out of us, and we ensure they are in pole position to snap up the right property when it comes. Working as a team means we are fast and efficient, without skipping essential due diligence steps, in a way a sole agent simply can’t match.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a buyer’s agent cost in Sydney?
It depends on how they charge. Most use a percentage of the purchase price, a tiered fee based on your budget, or a flat fee. We charge a flat fee quoted on the complexity of your search, never on the price of the property. We quote after a proper conversation about your brief, because a number without context tells you nothing about what you’re getting.
Is a flat fee better than a percentage?
In my view, yes. If your buyer’s agent earns more when you pay more, their interests and yours are pulling in opposite directions at the exact moment you need them most, in the negotiation. A flat fee takes that conflict off the table. Whatever you end up paying for the property, I earn the same.
What questions should I ask a buyer’s agent before I sign?
Ask what class of licence they hold and how many years they’ve worked as a buyer’s agent, not a selling agent. Ask how they charge, how long the agency agreement runs, how many clients they look after at once, and whether they take competing briefs. Ask what research they do on each property. And ask about referral fees in both directions: ask to see their Section 47 disclosure, and ask whether they paid anyone to recommend them to you. A good one will answer all of it without flinching.
How do I check a buyer’s agent is licensed in NSW?
Look them up on the NSW Government’s Verify register, which is free and takes about a minute. It shows the class of licence, when it was issued and any disciplinary action. You’re looking for a Class 1 licence, and then you’re looking at how long they’ve held it. In NSW it takes a minimum of three years of working your way up before you can qualify for Class 1. If someone suddenly has a Class 1 licence with no history behind it, they most likely got it through mutual recognition from another state, where the requirements are lighter. That’s legal. It also tells you two things: they were willing to take the shortcut, and they haven’t put in the years. You don’t want anyone practising their skills on your property purchase and your money. While you’re at it, ask for proof of professional indemnity insurance, which every licence holder in NSW is required to have.
Can a buyer’s agent work for two clients who want the same property?
Many do, and nothing stops them. That’s why you need to ask. We don’t. If your brief, budget and area overlap with an existing client’s, you go on our waitlist until they’ve bought. There’s only a limited number of good properties at any given time, and I don’t want to play favourites.
Do buyer’s agents get referral fees or kickbacks?
Some do, and it can run both ways. They can receive fees from the mortgage brokers, solicitors and building inspectors they send you to. They can also pay fees to whoever sent you to them, which means that glowing recommendation you were given may have been paid for.
In NSW there’s a name for the paperwork: a Section 47 disclosure. Whenever an agent refers you to someone for professional services, the law requires them to tell you in writing, on an approved form, what relationship they have with that person and whether they’re getting anything for the referral. You sign it to acknowledge it. So ask any buyer’s agent you’re considering: who’s on your Section 47? If they don’t know what that is, they’re very likely not disclosing anything at all.
Ours lists every conveyancer, solicitor and building inspector we refer clients to, and the amount next to each name is nil. Every client gets it, and signs it, when they sign up with us.
Timing matters here. Some buyer’s agents hand the form over way down the track, just before you sign the contract on your dream home, when the last thing on your mind is whether a referral fee changed hands. The form itself says it must be given to you at the time of the referral, and that if it turns up afterwards you shouldn’t sign it. So don’t just ask who’s on their Section 47. Ask when you’ll get it.
The Section 47 covers the people they send you to. Whether they paid someone to send you to them is a separate question, so ask it straight. And if it was a selling agent who recommended a buyer’s agent to you, ask the selling agent the same thing: are you getting anything for this recommendation? They have their own Section 47 obligations, to buyers as well as sellers.
We don’t receive or pay referral fees of any kind, so when we recommend someone, the only thing in it for us is that you’re well looked after.
What training should a buyer’s agent have?
A licence tells you they’re allowed to do the job. It doesn’t tell you they can assess a property. Many buyer’s agents come from selling, where the training is in objection handling: how to get a hesitant buyer over the line. That’s a sales skill. It doesn’t teach you to tell an A-grade property from a C-grade one.
So ask them: what’s your training in assessing a property, as distinct from closing a deal? Who taught you, and for how long? Then ask about a property they talked a client out of, and why.
For what it’s worth, I came into this work in 2008 with 12 years of renovating properties behind me. I trained for a year, and kept working under supervision after that. It wasn’t until 2017, nine years in, that I felt I had enough experience to head up an agency of my own. A good buyer’s agent will be able to tell you exactly how they learned to read a property, and they’ll have a few walk-away stories to go with it.
If you’re weighing up buyer’s agents and want to see how we think before you commit to anyone, start with a Focus session: two and a half hours on what your money buys, where to focus and what to compromise on. Or give us a call and ask us every question on this page. We’re happy to answer them about ourselves.