Buyers Agent Fees
How much does it cost to hire Unicorn Buyers Agents to find and buy you the perfect home?
Property Buying
Fees Guide
As a general guide fees range from .5% to 2.5% of the estimated purchase price, except for our vendor advocacy service, which is free.
We’re happy to work on a percentage basis or agree on a fixed fee if that’s your preference.
Our practice is to quote a fee once we understand the specific requirements of the client.
We can provide you with a firm quote over the phone in as little as five minutes.
We’ll ask you about your ideal property, suburbs and areas within suburbs you’re focused on, budget, and how involved you’d like to be in the search process. We’ll then propose a level of service for your needs, a fee and a timeline to commence work, ensuring we have no conflict of interest with similar briefs.
Click the button below to book a call with our principal buyers agent Dan Sofo.
Case Studies
SERVICE OPTION ONE
Full Service Search + Appraise + Negotiate
case studies
1. Jack & Debbie
Jack & Debbie were first home buyers. They had a budget of up to $1M. They wanted something sunny and renovated with two bedrooms and were quite open to locations – specifying “anywhere Eastern Beaches” from Bondi to South Coogee, as far West as Randwick and Bellevue Hill. Size wise they wanted 60sqm + internally and whilst parking wasn’t essential, a balcony or small courtyard was a must-have.
This was a great brief, specific without being too restrictive in terms of location, and allowing us to source and offer quite a few options, both on and off-market. We agreed on a fixed fee of $15,000+ GST comprised of an upfront engagement fee $4,000 and a success fee of $11,000 only paid when we purchased.
We ended up buying them a cute apartment off market in South Coogee in under four weeks for just over $1M – renovated, and brimming with sunshine!
2. Ingrid & Paul
Ingrid & Paul had a baby on the way and needed a bigger home- pronto. They wanted to spend $1.8M on a three-bedroom character apartment or single level terrace/semi with a floor plan suitable for a young family.
They were quite specific about locations wanting only Newtown, Enmore or Marrickville, and to add to the challenge parking was essential for them as was renovation potential so they could create their own look and also add value.
We agreed on a fixed fee of $27,000 + GST comprised of $5,000 upfront and $19,000 success fee. This fee was based on our usual fee of 1.5% + GST on a $1.8M purchase.
After an intense five-week search we found them the perfect Marrickville semi and successfully negotiated the purchase. Whilst the final purchase was for $1.88M because we had agreed on a fixed fee Ingrid and Paul’s fee did not increase.
3. Michael & Justine
Michael and Justine had two young kids and wanted to move from their Surry Hills apartment into a terrace or semi, with outdoor space, two bathrooms, parking, lots of storage and great access to a beach and Centennial Park.
The budget was $3.5M although there was more budget available via a family gift if the property was ‘extra special’. We finessed the brief and agreed the three suburbs to focus on would be Queens Park, Waverley and Bondi Junction, then agreed on a fixed fee of $40,000 + GST.
After signing the agency agreement and payment of the $5,000 engagement fee we got to work immediately and managed to walk Michael and Justine through a beautiful home that ticked all of their boxes in the first week of working together.
The day after our inspection the property sold for an unrealistic price and we continued our search, only to find and purchase an even better home and $160k under their budget just seven weeks later.
Service Option Two
Residential Appraise and Negotiate Only
case studY
Darcy & Rowena
Darcy and Rowena were downsizing from their Roseville family home and looking to purchase in Paddington.
Being unfamiliar with the area they had a budget of $5M-$6M and had shortlisted and inspected two renovated terraces and were torn between which to purchase.
They approached us for assistance to appraise both and assist with the purchase of their final choice. We agreed on a fee of .7% of the final purchase price then got to work with our research to provide a detailed property report for each terrace including the history of tenure, background checks on renovation quality including conversations with the building inspector, in depth checks on damp and water issues a check on comparable sales and some snooping on the vendors to ascertain sales motivation.
Our reports provided clear guidance for Rowena and Darcy to lean favourably toward one of their choices which we then negotiated to a price well within market range and comfortably within our clients budget.
Service Option Three
Attend Auction - including Property Report
case studY
Joel & Heather
Joel & Heather came to Dan with their sights set on a charming home. They had been to an auction for a similar property several weeks earlier but had been heavily outbid. They knew they could really benefit from having a property professional in their corner but weren’t entirely sure how Dan could help.
Joel and Heather had an introductory free consultation with Dan, where they discussed their property must haves and their budget- including funds to allocate for repairs and light renovation. Dan then conducted some top level research including a conversation with the selling agent, a check on recent nearby sales, and a scan through the contract and building and pest report.
Once armed with sufficient intel Dan was in a position to confirm that the property stacked up as a sound purchase and was likely within budget range, including the necessary renovations.
Joel and Heather then engaged Dan for ‘attend auction’ service option for which he quoted the standard fixed fee- $1,700 + GST. Dan then completed his proprietary property report including building and pest summary, planning certificate and nearby DA checks, land value assessment and a list of comps to validate likely sale price action, as well as intel on number of registered bidders. Armed with this information the clients confidently handed down their budget and proxy bidding authority.
Dan arrived to bid for Joel and Heather on auction day well informed and prepared. There were four registered bidders, with one party bidding quite aggressively.
However, Dan had good inside information about the reserve price and did not show his hand. The bidding in fact did not meet the reserve and was passed in. Dan then invited himself out to the back room to negotiate alongside the highest (aggressive) bidder who was disgruntled with this less than transparent turn of events and declined to counteroffer. The vendor in the absence of other bids then accepted Dan’s offer- still below reserve and guided price. A solid win for Heather and Joel and a fee very well invested.
