Most people spend more time comparing dishwashers than comparing buyers agents, then hand one of them a mandate over the largest purchase of their life. The good news is that a competent, genuinely independent agent is easy to identify once you know what to ask - and just as importantly, what a weak answer sounds like. Here are the ten questions worth putting to anyone before you sign, along with the replies that should have you politely ending the meeting.
1. Are you licensed, and can I see the licence number?
In NSW a buyers agent must hold a real estate licence or certificate of registration, and you can verify it yourself on the NSW Fair Trading register in under a minute. A good agent gives you the number without hesitating. If someone deflects, says the licence is held by a related entity you can't quite identify, or treats the question as rude, that is the answer. Verify it rather than take it on trust - this is the one check that costs you nothing.
2. Do you ever accept payment from sellers, developers or agents?
This is the single most important question on the list. A true buyers agent is paid by you and only you. Anyone taking a commission, referral fee or rebate from a developer, a selling agent or a project marketer has a financial reason to steer you towards particular stock, and no amount of reassurance changes that arithmetic. The answer you want is an unambiguous no, ideally backed by a line in their agreement. "Sometimes, but it doesn't affect my advice" is not an acceptable answer.
3. What have you actually bought in my target suburbs in the last twelve months?
Local knowledge is perishable and specific. An agent who bought four properties in your postcode this year knows current buyer depth, which selling agents underquote and what a given street trades for. An agent whose recent purchases are all forty minutes away is learning your market on your money. Ask for actual addresses or at least streets and rough prices - vague claims about "strong Eastern Suburbs experience" without recent purchases behind them are worth very little.
4. Exactly what does your fee cover, and what triggers it?
Get the fee structure in specifics, not ranges
- Is there an upfront engagement or retainer fee, and is it credited against the final fee?
- Is the success fee a fixed amount or a percentage of the purchase price?
- If it's a percentage, does it rise with the price - and do you see the conflict that creates?
- What happens if you don't buy anything during the engagement period?
- Are inspections, reports, travel or auction attendance charged separately?
A percentage-based fee means the agent earns more the more you spend. That is not automatically disqualifying - plenty of excellent agents work this way - but you should hear them acknowledge the tension and explain how they manage it. An agent who insists there's no conflict at all is either not thinking clearly or hoping you aren't.
5. How many clients are you working with right now?
Capacity is the quiet determinant of service quality. A solo agent juggling fifteen active searches cannot give any of them real attention, and you will find out at the worst moment - when two of their clients want the same property, or when yours needs a Wednesday inspection and they're triple-booked. Ask for the number, ask how many they consider a full book, and ask who handles your search when they're on leave or bidding elsewhere.
6. Will you ever have two clients chasing the same property?
It happens more than the industry admits, and the way a firm handles it tells you a great deal. You want a clear policy - typically that they will not take on a second client with an overlapping brief in the same pocket and price band, or that if an overlap emerges they disclose it immediately and one client is released. An agent who has never thought about this, or who says it wouldn't be a problem, has just told you something important about how carefully they run their business.
Want to skip the vetting and start with agents who already answer these questions well?
Find a Sydney buyers agent7. How do you decide what a property is worth?
You're paying for a valuation opinion you can rely on under pressure, so ask how it's formed. Strong answers involve recent comparable sales they've inspected personally, an understanding of what the differences between those properties are worth, and a willingness to name a number and a walk-away point. Weak answers lean on portal estimates, suburb medians or a general sense that something "feels about right". You want an agent who can tell you why the house that sold last month for a similar price is not, in fact, comparable.
8. What proportion of your purchases are off-market?
Off-market access is one of the most oversold claims in the industry. Almost every agent says they have it; far fewer can quantify it. Ask what share of last year's purchases never hit the portals, and how those opportunities actually reach them - long-standing relationships with selling agents, direct approaches to owners, or a network in a particular pocket. A specific, modest number with a credible explanation beats a sweeping claim about exclusive access every time.
9. What does the agreement commit me to?
Read these clauses before you sign anything
- The exclusivity period - how long you're locked in, and whether it auto-renews
- The geographic and price scope of the brief, and what happens if you change either
- Whether the fee is payable if you find and buy a property yourself during the term
- The termination clause - how you exit, with how much notice, and at what cost
- Whether any fee remains payable after termination on properties they introduced
10. Can I speak to two recent clients?
Not testimonials on a website - actual people who bought in the last six months, ideally in a market like yours. A confident agent will arrange this. What you're listening for is not whether the client was happy, but what the process felt like: how often they heard from the agent, whether they were talked out of a property they'd fallen for, how the negotiation was handled, and whether anything about the fee came as a surprise at the end. Ask the referees what they'd do differently next time - that question surfaces more than any other.
Tip: pay attention to how the agent handles the questions themselves, not just the content of the answers. Someone who welcomes scrutiny, volunteers the awkward parts and puts things in writing is showing you exactly how they'll behave when there's real money on the line.