Frequently Asked Questions

What Is A Buyer's Agent?

A buyer’s agent is enlisted by a property buyer to assist them with their purchase. When selling a property, a real estate agent markets a property and aims to get top dollar from prospective buyers. In contrast, a buyer’s agent works for the buyer and aims to get the best value for money based upon the buyer’s criteria. A buyer’s agent can work for both home buyers and investors.

Benefits Of A Buyer's Agent?

There are numerous benefits to using a buyer’s agent, each of which can assist a prospective buyer. These can be seen as the following:

Access to off-market properties.
Expertise within an area or region.
Have contacts within the industry.
Identifying the best property for the buyers’ criteria.
Saving the buyer time.
Completing the negotiations of the sale.
Organising all the associated paperwork.
Ensuring a smooth purchase from A-Z.
Helping to avoid mistakes for the investor.

So, by now understanding what a buyer’s agent can do for the buyer the question may arise which buyer's would choose to use their services? A typical investor who engages a buyers agent will typically fall into the following categories:

Time-poor.
Lack of experience and knowledge.
Don’t have the industry contacts.
Can’t find the right deal in a competitive market.
Don’t have the expertise for a particular area or region.
Looking for guidance throughout the buying process.

An investor may need assistance with any one of these issues, where a buyer’s agent may assist in filling this void.

Buyer’s agents generally have two forms of payment models. The first model is a fixed rate fee while the second model is a percentage of the sale price. The percentage of the sale price model is usually around (2%) of the final sale. The buyer will pay the buyer’s agent the agreed percentage of the final sales price upon settlement of the property. This model can be a conflict of interest for the buyer as it gives the agent an incentive to pay more for a property. This is the opposite of what the buyer is trying to achieve when engaging a buyer’s agent. Even with a higher budget, it would be concerning knowing the agent has an incentivise to purchase more expensive properties.

That is why we charge a fixed-rate fee regardless of your intention of purchase or budget so you know exactly where you stand from start to finish.

It is clear to see the value a buyer’s agent can provide to a buyer. Although there is a range of buyer’s agents, not all buyer’s agents are the same. Just like any service the quality of their service may widely differ. It is important to identify how to differentiate between buyer’s agents and their services. There can be a range of variables to consider when looking to engage a buyer agent. Just because an agent charges a higher fixed fee does not mean they provide a better service.

Things to consider could include:

Does the agent practice what they preach? Are they a successful investor and have a portfolio themselves that can prove to you to show they are a successful and knowledgeable investor?
Do the agent’s services fill the “void” in what the buyer is looking for? For example, if the investor is looking for a specific type of property is the agent able to obtain this property with their contacts and expertise?
Does the agent provide the investor with more value than what their fees are? Utilising a Buyer’s agent is not free so the buyer will want to get the most value out of the agent.
Does the agent understand the market they are investing in? The agent does not necessarily have to live in the market to understand it, but the buyer will want to decipher if the agent is actually knowledgeable about the area and knows the driving factors behind growth with that area or region.
Does the agency have a proven track record? By looking at the agency’s website the investor should be able to see reviews or evidence of past purchases from the agent. Do they have similar property purchases which align with the investor’s goals? Is the review from previous clients positive?
Lastly, does the agent have a hidden agenda? If the agent is only purchasing in one area or recommending properties that aren’t investment-grade then it may be that the agent is simply showing poor quality properties or is only searching within a small cluster of suburbs. The buyer’s agent shouldn’t be limited within their search and should ensure they do their very best to find properties that will help drive the investor towards their financial goals.

At Property Comet we pride ourselves on providing exceptional service to all our clients. Many buyer's agencies choose to focus on quantity over quality. This may serve their business well but not their clients! We are a boutique buyer's agency that will only work with a handful of clients at the same time. We also don't take clients on with the same brief, which ensures there is no conflict of interest.

In addition, our services aren't limited to one area or pocket of suburbs. At Property Comet we determine the client needs first then choose where to purchase, not the other way around. This allows us to take a holistic approach to purchase by establishing your needs and then finding the right property that aligns with your goals.

Moreover, a data-driven approach is applied to remove bias and focus on what really matters, the numbers. Rather than just giving our opinion we use numerous analytical services in conjunction with our expertise to buy the best property for your brief.

Finally, it is important to know who you are working with when you engage a buyer's agent. We come from a background of property investing, where we live, breathe, and are immersed within this asset class. So the same approach we would take to find our own investments is applied for you. This way we can ensure we offer the best service to you and assist you in achieving your goals.

There are numerous benefits to working with a multistate buyers agency, these include but are not limited to:

- Providing far greater buying opportunities for clients.

- Allowing us to identify the clients goals and then find a market that meets their criteria.

- Empowers us to purchase within the optimal buying window of a particular market.

- permits us to work with a wider range of purchasing budgets.

- Ensures we are working in the best interest of our clients by not limiting them to one location.

By taking this approach it has enabled us to purchase high demand properties across the country which time and time again deliver high growth results for our clients.