Buyers Agent Fees and What You Actually Get
FIXED FEE. NO COMMISSION. NO PERCENTAGE OF WHAT YOU SPEND
FEES, IN PLAIN NUMBERS
A fixed fee, agreed in writing before we start. It does not move because the price does.
- A fixed fee, not a percentage: The fee is agreed in writing before we begin and does not change if you spend more. A percentage fee rises the more you pay, which is the wrong incentive for the person negotiating on your behalf.
- Our fee has two parts and you will have both in writing before you sign anything: The first is a retainer of $5,500 including GST, which covers our time from the day we start: the discovery work, the search and the inspections. The second is a success fee, agreed with you before the search begins and payable only on unconditional exchange, once we have actually bought you the home.
- What the fee covers: Everything, end to end: developing your brief and purchase strategy, all off-market and on-market searches, property shortlisting, due diligence, negotiation or auction bidding, and all the pre-settlement activities.
- We are not paid by anyone else: No commissions from selling agents, developers or mortgage brokers. If we help you appoint a sales agent for your existing home, we take nothing for it.
- What the fee does not cover: Third-party costs (eg. conveyancing, building & pest, stamp duty) are paid paid direct to the provider. We will tell you what they typically come to before you commit.
Our Acquisition Footprint & Market Intelligence
NORTHERN BEACHES. NORTH SHORE. EXPANDING TERRITORY.
As leading Northern Beaches Buyers Agents and Upper and Lower North Shore Buyers Agents, we know first hand that true market command requires more than just local familiarity; it requires forensic on-the-ground intelligence. We actively monitor and acquire assets across over 40 distinct precincts, spanning the coastal prestige of the Northern Beaches to the blue-chip avenues of the Upper and Lower North Shore. This list is not static; it continues to expand as we identify value for our clients. Below, you will find detailed, data-driven profiles for the markets we cover, along with our up-to-date market intelligence—essential reading for any purchaser seeking to validate their decision with hard data rather than emotion.
- Northern Beaches
- Allambie Heights
- Avalon Beach
- Balgowlah
- Balgowlah Heights
- Bayview
- Beacon Hill
- Belrose
- Bilgola Plateau
- Brookvale
- Clontarf
- Collaroy
- Collaroy Plateau
- Cromer
- Curl Curl
- Davidson
- Dee Why
- Duffys Forest
- Elanora Heights
- Fairlight
- Forestville
- Frenchs Forest
- Freshwater
- Ingleside
- Killarney Heights
- Manly
- Manly Vale
- Mona Vale
- Narrabeen
- Narraweena
- Newport
- North Balgowlah
- North Curl Curl
- North Manly
- North Narrabeen
- Palm Beach
- Queenscliff
- Scotland Island
- Seaforth
- Terrey Hills
- Warriewood
- Whale Beach
- Wheeler Heights
- Lower North Shore
- Cammeray
- Cremorne
- Crows Nest
- Kirribilli
- Lane Cove
- Milsons Point
- Neutral Bay
- Northbridge
- St Leonards
- Upper North Shore
- Gordon
- Hornsby
- Killara
- Lindfield
- North Turramurra
- Pymble
- Roseville
- South Turramurra
- St Ives
- Turramurra
- Wahroonga
- Warrawee
- West Pymble
- Strategic Advisory (Sydney-Wide)
- Sydney Property Market Outlook 2025: Truth Over Hype
- Beyond Time, Money & Stress: Why Smart Buyers Get Help
- The AI Illusion: The Dangerous Truth About AI Agents
- Buyers Agent & Mortgage Broker: A Powerful Partnership
- Why Real Estate Agents Are Least Trusted
- Can You Trust a Buyer’s Agent?
- What’s Next for Sydney? Opportunities & Risks to Watch
- What Does a Buyer's Agent Actually Do?
- Northern Beaches Market Pulse
- November’s Most Interesting Sales
- Off-Market Listings: What’s Really Going On?
- Why It Is a Sellers Market Now
- Spring 2025 Market Outlook
- Market Trends 2025–2026
- Pre-Spring Market Update
- Off-Market Property: The Raw Truth Unfiltered
- The Real Story Behind the Rollercoaster
- The Ultimate Northern Beaches Market Overview
- More Than Just Lifestyle: Strategic Investment
- Tactical Guides & How-To
- The $110k Fine vs. Reality: Underquoting Explained
- Buying in NSW: Insider Tips
- How to Buy a House on the North Shore
- How to Buy a House on the Northern Beaches
- Buying Without an Agent: The DIY Guide
- First Home Buyer Schemes: Do They Work?
- The Luxury Downsizer Market (Silver Tsunami)
- Manly Property Analysis
- House vs. Unit: What Wins in 2025?
- Auction Tips: A Tactical Playbook
- New 5% Deposit Rules: Impact on Demand
- Spring 2025: The Reset We've Been Waiting For
- Should I Buy Now or Wait?
- Manly or Freshwater? An Agent’s Verdict
- Palm Beach: Prestige Retreat or Mirage?
- Manly House Prices: Overhyped or Justified?
- The Secret to Successful Buying
- NAPLAN 2024 & Academic Excellence
Client Experiences
A testament to our commitment to excellence.
Trusted and Respected
endorsed by selling agents
We’ve had the pleasure of working with Sarah Kaye & Co, and we can confidently say they are at the top of their field. As local real estate agents, we encounter buyer agents of all calibres, and Sarah Kaye & Co stands out for their exceptional professionalism, market knowledge, and dedication to their clients.
Their ability to understand their clients’ needs and negotiate on their behalf is truly impressive.
Who We Buy Property For?
Up & Down-Sizers | Sea & Tree-Changers | Investors | Expats
Private Buying Services
UNLOCKING SILENT LISTINGS ACROSS THE NORTHERN BEACHES & UPPER NORTH SHORE
At Sarah Kaye & Co., as a trusted Lower North Shore, Upper North Shore and Northern Beaches Buyers Agent, we don’t just help you buy—we back you from start to finish. Whether you need full-service support, a one-off appraisal, or a seasoned pro to bid on your behalf, we tailor our approach to what you actually need—not what the industry thinks you should want.
Need to sell first? No problem. As part of our Full Service buying support, we’ll help you find and appoint the right sales agent for your existing home—at no extra cost. No kickbacks. No agendas. Just solid, experience-led guidance that saves you time, stress, and costly mistakes.
The Standard Behind the Service
EXECUTIVE GOVERNANCE & ETHICAL DISCIPLINE.
Service quality is defined by provider calibre. Our leadership is recognised by Australia’s most respected institutions for high-level governance and professional excellence. We bring the discipline of a corporate advisor to every step of your property acquisition
The Capability to Execute
STRATEGY BACKED BY MULTIDISCIPLINED RIGOUR.
Strategy requires substance. With Directors holding Master’s degrees in Engineering and Economics, plus decades of advisory experience, we analyse property with technical precision. This is the intellectual advantage that powers our service.
Unrivalled Capability.
Executive Leadership
- 30+ Years Experience in the Property & Real Estate Sectors.
- 20+ Years Leading Top-Tier Advisory Businesses.
- Past Chair: Australian Intergovernmental Advisory Committee.
- International Experience in high-value property purchasing.
- Former Selling Agent: Years of prior real estate sales experience.
Academic & Technical
- Master of Economics: Market forecasting & asset valuation.
- Master of Engineering: Structural & technical due diligence.
- Honours Degree: Property, Town Planning, Valuation & Surveying.
- Project Management Professional (PMP): Complex project delivery.
- Land Law & Planning: Deep regulatory expertise.
The Northern Beaches & North Shore
Private Briefing
INTELLIGENCE. OFF-MARKET DATA. STRATEGIC FORESIGHT
The public market tells only half the story. Once a month, we release a high-level analysis of the silent market, upcoming opportunities, and micro-market shifts—written directly by our Directors, not a marketing team.
Trusted Buying
more about our private buying services
Swipe the Videos: Real Talk on Our North Shore and Northern Beaches Property Buying Services
Buyers Agent Fees: Your Questions Answered
THE QUESTIONS BUYERS ASK US BEFORE THEY SIGN
Choosing a buyers agent takes some trust, so we would rather answer the hard questions before you have to ask them. What our fee is and how it works, what happens at auction, and when we will tell you to walk away. If something below is not answered plainly enough, ask us and we will tell you straight.
How is your fee structured, and does it change if I spend more?
It is a fixed fee, agreed in writing before we start, and it does not move because the price does.
Most of the industry charges a percentage of what you pay. Think about what that means. The person negotiating on your behalf earns more the more you spend. We have never been able to explain that arrangement to a client with a straight face, so we do not use it.
Our fee has two parts. A retainer of $5,500 including GST when we start, and a success fee agreed with you in writing before the search begins and payable only on unconditional exchange. We quote the success fee once we understand your brief. You'll know both numbers before you engage us, and neither will change afterwards.
If you need something narrower than a full search, we offer smaller engagements, priced separately. Just ask us what yours would cost.
When do I pay, and what happens if I don't end up buying?
There are two payments. A retainer of $5,500 including GST at the start, which is not refundable, and a success fee that is only ever paid on unconditional exchange.
If you do not buy, the success fee is not payable. Not on a property found, not on an offer accepted, not on a contract signed. Only on unconditional exchange. That is the same for every client and it does not move.
The retainer is different, and we would rather be straight about it here than leave you to find it in the fine print. It is not refunded. It pays for the work that happens whether or not a purchase follows: the pricing research, the inspections, the calls to agents, and the contracts we read and then tell you to walk away from.
What protects you is what happens before you pay anything. We do not take on a brief we are not confident we can deliver. If the budget does not reach the suburbs, or the house you have described is not one this market is producing, we will say so in the first conversation rather than take a fee and hope. That conversation costs you nothing.
And once we start, we do not stop at a date. Many agreements run to a fixed term. Ours runs until your brief is delivered. If your circumstances change and you decide not to continue, the retainer is not refunded, but there is nothing further to pay.
Do you take any commission or referral fee from selling agents?
No. Our fee comes from you and from nobody else.
We take no commission, no referral fee and no spotter's fee from selling agents, developers, mortgage brokers, conveyancers or building inspectors. If we recommend someone, it is because we would use them ourselves.
This matters more than it sounds. An agent quietly receiving a fee from the other side has a reason to want the deal done, and you have no way of knowing it. You are entitled to ask any buyers agent this question directly, and to be suspicious of a vague answer.
What other costs should I budget for beyond your fee?
Several, and none of them are paid to us.
Expect to pay for conveyancing, a building and pest inspection on anything you are serious about, a strata report if it is a unit, and stamp duty. Stamp duty is the large one, and it is set by Revenue NSW, not by anybody in this transaction.
We will give you the whole picture in writing before you engage us. Nobody should find out about a cost when they have to pay it.
With Domain and realestate.com.au, do I actually need a buyers agent?
Not always, and we will tell you if you don't.
If you know the street you want, you can inspect every Saturday, and you are comfortable negotiating, you may do perfectly well on your own. Plenty of people do, and we would rather say so than take a fee for work you did not need.
Where we earn it is the part the portals do not show you. A large share of the better homes on the Northern Beaches and the North Shore are sold quietly, agent to agent, before they are ever advertised. And the ones that are advertised carry a price guide written by the seller's agent, not by anyone acting for you.
We work out what a property is actually worth from recorded sales and tell you when the guide is wrong.
Why not just bid at the auction myself?
You can, and some people should.
The difficulty is that an auction is built to move fast and to make stopping feel like losing. Most buyers set a limit over breakfast and are past it by a hundred thousand before they have really thought about it. That is not a failure of nerve. It is what the format is designed to produce.
We bid to a number agreed with you beforehand and we stop at it. We are not the ones who fell in love with the kitchen. If the bidding goes past what the sales evidence supports, we will say so, and we will not keep going because the room has gone quiet and everyone is looking at you.
If you would rather bid yourself, we will do the pricing work, set the strategy with you and stand next to you on the day.
Am I really just paying you for off-market access?
No, and you should be sceptical of anyone who tells you that you are.
Off-market matters, and it is real. About 75% of what we buy was never advertised. But access on its own is worth very little. A quiet listing can be just as overpriced as a public one, and frequently is, precisely because there is no competition to correct the price.
What you are actually paying for is judgement. Knowing which of those quiet listings is worth your Saturday morning, what it is genuinely worth once you have read the recorded sales, and when to walk away from it.
If you want the unvarnished version, we wrote it up in our off-market analysis, including the parts of it that are overstated by the industry.
Do you ever tell a client not to buy?
Often. It is a large part of what you are paying for.
A house can photograph beautifully and still be a poor buy. On the Northern Beaches we see water ingress and work done without approval. On the Upper North Shore, heritage and tree controls that quietly remove the extension you were counting on. On the Lower North Shore, a strata fund with a repair bill coming that nobody has budgeted for.
We would far rather tell you to walk away in week three than watch you find out in year two. Saying no is not us being difficult about it. It is the job.
Can you help me sell my current place before I buy?
Yes, and it is included. We do not charge extra for it.
Timing is usually the hardest part of moving. Sell first and you may be renting for six months. Buy first and you may be carrying two loans. We help you decide the order and then manage both ends so they meet.
We do not sell your home ourselves. What we do is shortlist agents with a genuine record in your street, read their proposals properly rather than taking the headline, and negotiate their commission and marketing spend on your behalf. That is the part most people settle on a handshake and a neighbour's recommendation.
What is actually included in your Full Service?
Most of the value is in what happens after you find the house.
Anyone can send you listings. The work that decides whether you buy well is the rest of it: pricing the property against recorded sales rather than the guide, reading the contract and the strata report properly, understanding what a building report actually means rather than what its summary says, and then negotiating on evidence.
You get both directors on your purchase, start to finish, rather than a junior working from a checklist. Our backgrounds are set out on the About Us page so you can check them rather than take our word for it, and you can read what clients said afterwards on our client results page.
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Explore our 75% off-market dominance in your region