A licensed buyer's agent earns their keep in a handful of stretches of the buying process and does very little in the rest. If you know which is which, you can work out whether you need one.
I'll go in order. One caveat first: I've called this week by week, but the order is reliable and the length isn't. How long each stage runs depends on your brief, your budget and what's listed.
The market you're doing this in
The RBA lifted the cash rate to 4.60% on 29 September, the fourth rise this year. Cotality's national index has now fallen six months in a row. Capital-city homes took a median 39 days to sell in September, up from 23 a year earlier, and capital-city inventory was 23.1% higher than a year ago. The next RBA decision is on 3 November, so the rate may have moved by the time you read this.
For a buyer, that means more choice and more time. It doesn't make buying easy. It just moves the work from "get in fast" to "work out what something is really worth". I'm not predicting where prices go from here, and nobody else should either.
Before week one: what the agent is
In Victoria, Consumer Affairs Victoria describes a buyer's agent as a licensed estate agent who, for a fee, acts for the buyer instead of the seller. In Queensland you need a real estate agent licence from the Office of Fair Trading. There's no separate "buyer's agent licence" anywhere in Australia.
The agent also has to hold credentials for the state the property is in. Queensland doesn't automatically accept interstate licences, so a Sydney agent can't just buy for you in Ipswich. Check the register before you sign anything. The Queensland register shows licence status but not disciplinary history, so a clean result is a starting point, not a clearance. I've listed what to ask in 7 questions to ask a buyer's agent before you pay them anything.
Week one: the brief and the budget reality check
This is the first place a good agent earns their fee. They take your wish list and test it against your money, and a lot of briefs change at this point.
A worked example of the kind of check I mean, using sourced thresholds only. For first home buyers in Queensland buying an established home, there's no transfer duty up to $700,000, phasing out to nothing from $800,000. In Victoria it's no duty up to $600,000 and reduced duty from $600,001 to $750,000. A buyer at $690,000 in Logan and one at $790,000 are in very different positions on duty. So are buyers at $590,000 and $740,000 in Melbourne's west.
A good agent will raise that early. But they don't decide your eligibility. Queensland's concessions are limited to citizens, permanent residents and specified foreign retirees from 1 August 2026. Victoria has its own rules on who qualifies and how the home is used. Run your numbers through the stamp duty calculator and the first home buyer grant checker, and check the state revenue office. The $30,000 Queensland First Home Owner Grant applies to new homes only, up to $750,000.
The agent's job in week one is to pin down suburbs, property type, must-haves and a ceiling. They'll also agree a written scope with you. That can be a full search, negotiation only once you've found a property, or bidding at auction to a ceiling you set.
That ceiling comes from your borrowing power, which belongs to your broker. The agent works inside it. If it's out of date, start with the borrowing power calculator and read why your borrowing power dropped this year. General information only, not financial advice.
The search weeks: shortlisting, inspections, comparable sales
This is the stretch where most of the legwork happens. The agent screens listings against your brief, drops the ones that look fine online and aren't, inspects the rest and sends you a shortlist.
The less visible part is the comparable-sales work. Cotality's August data showed a median vendor discount of 3.9% across the capitals for the three months to July, up from 3.2% in the three months to April. Asking prices are softening, but that's a capital-city average. It tells you nothing about the particular street you've fallen for. Working out what that house is worth against recent sales nearby is the job.
A note on the figures you'll see in the news. Cotality's "median value" is a modelled estimate, not a median sale price, and the Brisbane and Melbourne figures cover the whole city. They won't tell you what an Ipswich or Moreton Bay house is worth.
Some agents also have access to off-market listings. Whether that's worth anything depends on the agent and your area, so ask them directly rather than taking it as a given.
The offer or the auction
This is the second place an agent earns their fee, because you're up against someone who does this every day. I wrote about that in negotiating against a selling agent.
Auction conditions are patchy. Cotality's final clearance rates for the week ending 11 October were 49.8% in Melbourne and 21.8% in Brisbane, which is close to an 18-year low. A lot of properties aren't selling under the hammer, so the negotiation after auction matters. If you'd rather not bid yourself, the agent bids to the ceiling you set, and you set it. That's covered in how to buy without bidding at auction.
Cooling-off is where the two states differ, and it affects how you prepare:
| Queensland | Victoria | |
|---|---|---|
| Cooling-off | 5 business days | 3 clear business days |
| Starts | Day you receive the contract signed by both parties | Day after you sign |
| Notice | Can be waived or shortened by written notice | Must be in writing |
| Auctions | Doesn't apply | Doesn't apply, nor within three clear business days before or after an auction |
Both windows are short, and ending the contract usually costs you something. So get the building inspection and the legal review lined up before you make an offer, not after.
Contract stage: where the agent coordinates and others decide
The agent is not your contract lawyer or your building inspector. Your solicitor or conveyancer reviews the contract, and inspections should be arranged before you're unconditionally bound. The agent's role here is to coordinate. That means making sure the right people have the contract in time, chasing the selling agent and keeping the dates in view.
| Who | What they own |
|---|---|
| Buyer's agent | Brief, search, appraisal, negotiation or bidding, coordination |
| Conveyancer or solicitor | Contract review, searches, settlement |
| Broker | Pre-approval, loan structure, finance approval |
| Building and pest inspector | Condition of the property |
Hiring an agent doesn't replace anyone in that table.
From unconditional to settlement
There isn't much left for the agent here. The broker is finishing the loan, the conveyancer is running settlement, and you're organising insurance and removalists. A good agent stays reachable and deals with any issue that comes up with the selling agent. If yours disappears at this point, that's worth knowing about before you hire them.
How the fees work
I won't put figures on it. Fees generally come as a fixed fee, a percentage of the purchase price, an engagement fee up front, or a mix. The structure often follows the scope. A bid-only or negotiation-only engagement is a different product from a full search. Get it in writing, including what happens if the search doesn't find anything or you change your budget halfway. How much does a buyer's agent cost goes through how to compare structures.
When you probably don't need one
On a $600k to $900k budget in Ipswich, Logan, Moreton Bay or Melbourne's growth corridors, I think you can probably go without if:
- Your brief is tight. You know the suburbs, the property type and your ceiling.
- You have time to attend inspections and can move on a good listing.
- You already have a conveyancer lined up and a broker who has confirmed your borrowing power.
- You're comfortable negotiating against a selling agent, or buying at a price you've already decided you'll pay.
The case for an agent gets stronger if you're buying interstate (see buying property interstate), can't get to inspections, dislike auctions or want someone to check your brief against the numbers. Is a buyer's agent worth it? covers the wider question.
A softer market also gives you more time to get this right yourself, and it doesn't mean you have to hurry.
If you'd like to speak to a licensed buyer's agent who works your area, Converta can match you with one through our buyer's agent page. Your details are only shared with the agents matched to your enquiry. Talk to more than one if you can, and ask each of them the questions above.