Paid by the developer? Buyer's agents and new homes in Queensland

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Kooky

Builder of Shaka, the payment router that pays every agent their commission on closing date.

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New homes are sold differently from established ones. An apartment in a tower that has not been built, a lot in a new estate or a house and land package usually comes from a developer or a builder with a marketing budget, and part of that budget can go to the people who bring buyers through the door. Some of those people describe themselves as buyer's agents. Some are exactly that: licensed agents appointed by the buyer, paid by the buyer, and working for the buyer. Others are paid, in whole or in part, by the developer whose stock they recommend.

Queensland law deals with both arrangements through paperwork: what the agent must write into the buyer's appointment, and what a developer or agent selling the property must tell a buyer about benefits paid to third parties. This guide follows that paper trail for a new or off-the-plan purchase. It explains where a developer's payment to a so-called buyer's agent should appear, how an independent buyer's agent differs from a project marketer in practice, what a buyer can check without help, and the questions worth asking before anything is signed.

It does not repeat the basics of appointing a buyer's agent or of how fees are usually set; those have their own guides. The focus here is the new-build sale, where the seller is often a company with a project to fill and the person advising the buyer may have more than one paymaster.

Office of Fair Trading guidance on agent appointments, property developers and property industry penalties; the fine is the individual maximum.

Why new homes raise the question

In an established-home sale, the seller is usually a household selling one home through one agent. New homes change the picture. A developer selling dozens or hundreds of lots or apartments budgets for sales and marketing across the whole project, and that budget can include fees for agents, marketing firms and other referrers who introduce buyers.

The Office of Fair Trading's guidance for property developers names the kinds of third parties a developer may pay for bringing in or serving a buyer: mortgage brokers, building or pest inspectors, marketing agencies and real estate agents. The guidance treats such payments as something to disclose to the buyer, not something banned.

The risk for a buyer is not the payment. It is not knowing about it. A person paid by the developer has an interest in the sale going ahead at the developer's price, and in this particular project rather than another. A buyer who believes the adviser is independent may give that advice more weight than it deserves. A buyer who knows about the payment can weigh the advice accordingly, or look for a second opinion.

Moneysmart, the government's consumer money guide, makes a related point about property promoted at investment seminars. Its page on investment seminars, updated on 28 August 2026, says some seminars promote off-the-plan discounts or rent guarantees, that such offers often carry hidden fees and commissions, and that buyers may be asked to pay too much for the property.

The first document: the buyer's own appointment

A buyer's agent in Queensland is appointed in writing before doing any work. The Queensland Government's page on appointing a buyer's agent, updated on 19 July 2024, says the appointment is made on the residential form (Form 6) or the commercial form (Form 6A), and that it sets out the agent's services, all commissions, fees and expenses, and when each is due.

The same form carries the answer to the question this guide is about. The Office of Fair Trading's page on appointments, updated on 8 February 2024, tells agents they must declare in the appointment any financial benefit they expect to gain from a third party. Its examples are rebates for referring clients to other businesses, such as a mortgage broker. A fee or commission an agent expects from a developer or builder, for a buyer the agent introduces, is a financial benefit from a third party.

In practice this means a buyer's agent who expects to be paid by a developer should say so in the very document the buyer signs to appoint them. If the appointment form shows no third-party benefit, the agent has, in effect, declared none in writing. If a developer payment later comes to light that was not declared, the buyer has a document to point to.

A buyer reading a Form 6 for a new-home search can look for three things: the fee the buyer pays, any benefit the agent expects from anyone else, and whether the services described cover the whole market or a narrower list of projects. An appointment whose services are limited to new projects from a few named developers tells the buyer something about the search before it starts.

The second document: the seller's disclosure to the buyer

The second document comes from the other side of the sale. The Office of Fair Trading's guidance on disclosing interests says agents and salespeople must tell a buyer if they pay any benefit to a third party, whether money or something else, and must use the approved form for it. The form names the third party in full, describes their relationship with the person making the disclosure, and states the benefit the third party receives.

The duty reaches developers too. The guidance for property developers, last updated on 15 December 2023, says a developer selling a property in which it holds at least a 15 per cent interest must disclose to the buyer any benefits it will pay to a third party, again naming the third party, the relationship and the benefit. The Office of Fair Trading's page on subdividing and selling land, updated on 1 July 2026, applies the same disclosure to a seller holding at least a 15 per cent interest or paying any benefit, such as a fee or commission, to a third party, and notes that it applies to small-scale developers as well.

The approved form is listed on the Queensland Government's property industry forms page as Form 8, "Disclosure to potential buyer". A buyer purchasing a new home from a developer that pays an agent, a marketer or a broker for the introduction should therefore expect to receive it.

House and land: two contracts, two disclosures

A house and land package is usually two contracts: one to buy the land and one with a builder to build the home. Each contract has its own seller or builder, and each may have its own marketing arrangements.

The Office of Fair Trading's guidance says that for house and land packages, the disclosure of third-party benefits applies to both the building contract and the land sale contract. A buyer may therefore expect a disclosure for each side of the package, and the two can name different people. A builder may pay a fee to the person who brought the buyer to the land; a land developer may pay a different fee to the same person, or to a marketing firm.

Reading the two together matters because a package is often presented as a single price. The disclosures show who is being paid on each part of it. If the person presenting the package to the buyer is the buyer's own appointed agent, and that agent appears as a third party on either disclosure, the buyer has a direct answer to the question of who else is paying them.

The table shows why the two documents are worth reading side by side. The appointment form records what the buyer's agent says about outside payments; the seller's disclosure records what the developer or its agent says about who it pays. When both are honest, they tell the same story from opposite ends.

Independent buyer's agent or project marketer

The words "buyer's agent" carry no promise of independence on their own. What decides the matter is who appointed the person, who pays them, and what range of property they search.

An independent buyer's agent is appointed by the buyer, paid by the buyer, and free to recommend any property on the market, including an established home if that suits the buyer better than anything new. The national industry body, the Real Estate Buyers Agents Association of Australia (REBAA), says on its questions page that its members act only for the buyer and that its membership criteria exclude agents who have properties listed for sale or are involved in direct selling.

A project marketer works for the developer. Marketing agencies and selling agents appointed by a developer are paid to sell that developer's stock, and that is a legitimate job. The difficulty arises only when someone in that role presents as the buyer's adviser. REBAA's questions page addresses selling agencies that offer "buyer's agents" of their own, and says the reason is usually to sell developer stock or to take a fee from the vendor.

Between the two sits a mixed model: a person appointed by the buyer on a Form 6, who charges the buyer little or nothing, and earns most of their income from developers whose projects they recommend. That arrangement is the one the appointment form's third-party benefit declaration is designed to bring into the open.

A few signs suggest which model a buyer is dealing with:

• The search covers new projects only, or a short list of developers, rather than the whole market.
• The fee charged to the buyer is unusually low, or nothing at all, for the time the work takes.
• The same person introduces finance, a valuer, a solicitor and a property manager, all from one network.
• A deposit or reservation fee is urged before the buyer has had the contract reviewed.

None of these proves a conflict. Each is a reason to read the appointment form and the seller's disclosure closely.

Groups of advisers and referral networks

New-home sales sometimes come as a package of services: a property, a broker to arrange the loan, a conveyancer, a depreciation report, a property manager. Moneysmart's page on buying an investment property, updated on 29 September 2026, tells buyers to be wary of property investment advice from groups of service providers, noting that developers, accountants, lawyers and mortgage brokers may refer clients to one another.

The seller's disclosure form is one way to see that network. The Office of Fair Trading's examples of third parties include mortgage brokers, building or pest inspectors and marketing agencies, not only real estate agents. Where the disclosure duty applies and a developer pays the broker who arranges a buyer's loan, the form should name the broker and the benefit.

A buyer can keep some services outside the network without slowing the purchase. The Queensland Government's page on property valuations for buyers advises using a valuer registered with the Valuers Registration Board, and choosing an independent valuer rather than a valuer referred by the seller or the seller's agent. For an off-the-plan home, where the finished property cannot yet be inspected, an independent view of value is one of the few checks against paying more than comparable homes are worth.

The Queensland Government's page on buying off the plan, updated on 13 April 2026, says buyers should always get legal advice before signing or paying a deposit. A solicitor chosen by the buyer, with no link to the developer, can read the contract, the disclosure statement and the seller's disclosure of third-party benefits as a set.

On a new home, independence is not a label on a business card. It is a line on a form, and the buyer can read it before signing.

Checking the paper trail before signing

The documents arrive at different moments: the buyer's appointment at the start of the search, the seller's disclosures and the contract when a property is chosen. A buyer can work through them in order.

The Office of Fair Trading says its public register lists all licensed property agents, salespeople and corporations and can be searched free of charge. The free search is for information only; an official extract, which shows the licence status and class, can be requested for a fee. The guidance for property developers adds that a developer can be registered as a real estate salesperson to sell its own property, so a registration on the register does not, by itself, show that a person acts for buyers.

Cooling-off, deposits and buying several lots

Timing matters on a new home because the pressure to commit can be strong. Under the Office of Fair Trading's guidance on cooling-off, a contract for the sale of residential property carries a cooling-off period of five business days, starting on the day the buyer receives a copy of the contract signed by both parties. A buyer who ends the contract in that period may lose up to 0.25 per cent of the purchase price from the deposit, with the rest refunded within 14 days.

There are exceptions that matter for new-home investors. The cooling-off period does not apply to a buyer purchasing at least three lots at the same time, whether or not in the same contract. A buyer can also waive or shorten the period in writing. A request to waive it, made by the person advising the buyer, deserves a close look at whose interest it serves.

Deposits on off-the-plan homes have their own protection. The Queensland Government's page on buying off the plan says reforms in 2023 stopped sellers from getting early access to a buyer's deposit: it can be released from a trust account only at settlement, or if the contract otherwise ends and the seller is entitled to it. The guidance for property developers adds that any payment from a buyer, including part-payments, must go directly into a trust account managed by the Public Trustee, a law practice or a property agent.

For land in a new subdivision, the Office of Fair Trading's page on subdividing and selling land sets further rules: the seller gives a signed disclosure statement and disclosure plan before the contract is signed, settlement must be within 18 months of the contract date, and a buyer may terminate within set limits if a change to the disclosed details causes material prejudice.

Questions a buyer can ask

Asking directly costs nothing, and the answers can be compared with the documents. REBAA suggests buyers ask a buyer's agent whether they sell real estate or receive any commissions or kick-backs, and notes that a buyer's agent's agreement must declare any commission or kick-back from a third party. For a new-home purchase, the questions can be more specific:

1. Do you, or your business, receive any payment, fee, rebate or gift from a developer, builder or project marketer for introducing buyers?
2. Is any such payment written into my appointment as a third-party benefit, and how much is it?
3. Which projects or developers do you work with regularly, and will you also show me established homes?
4. If I buy a property you have not been paid to introduce, does your fee to me change?
5. Do you refer clients to a broker, solicitor, valuer or property manager, and do any of them pay you?
6. Will the developer give me its disclosure of third-party benefits, and will your name be on it?

A buyer's agent who works only for buyers can answer every one of these quickly. A person paid by developers can answer them too, and the answers allow the buyer to decide how much weight to give the advice.

When the disclosure was not made

If a payment was not disclosed, there are offences and avenues for complaint. The Office of Fair Trading's page on property industry breaches and penalties, updated on 1 July 2026, lists not disclosing a benefit to a buyer as an offence with a maximum penalty of $34,540 for an individual, and says corporations can face up to five times the maximum. Misleading claims about a property are separately an offence under the Australian Consumer Law, according to the Office of Fair Trading's guidance on property advertising.

The Queensland Government's page on appointing a buyer's agent sets out the path for a problem with a buyer's agent: put the complaint in writing to the agent first, then seek advice from the Real Estate Institute of Queensland if the agent is a member, and then make a formal complaint to the Office of Fair Trading. The page adds that a buyer may be able to claim compensation for financial loss.

The Queensland Government's page on claims for financial loss, updated on 5 February 2026, says people who have lost money because of the conduct of a property agent, motor dealer, debt collector or auctioneer can check whether they are eligible, with claims decided by the Office of Fair Trading or the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal. The page refers to property agents, not to developers, so whether a loss is covered depends on who acted and in what capacity. A buyer weighing a claim, or any step against a developer, is best served by legal advice on the facts.

What the documents can and cannot show

The appointment form and the seller's disclosure tell a buyer who is being paid, by whom and how much. They do not say whether the property is good value, whether the project will be finished on time, or whether a new home suits the buyer better than an established one. A fully disclosed payment can sit alongside sound advice; an adviser paid only by the buyer can still be wrong.

What the documents do is put the buyer on equal terms with the people around the sale. On a new or off-the-plan home, where the product cannot yet be seen and the seller has a project to fill, that information is often the most useful thing a buyer receives before signing.

Kooky, from Shaka

Kooky edits Queensland Estate and builds Shaka, the payment router he made for Queensland property professionals. One payment comes in, and every agent, agency and party in the deal receives their signed share on closing date.

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