In this article
Kooky
Builder of Shaka, the payment router that pays every agent their commission on closing date.
About Kooky and Shaka →A selling agent's commission comes out of the sale price at settlement, and many sellers never write a cheque for it. A buyer's agent's fee is different in almost every respect. It is paid by the purchaser, on top of the price, the transfer duty and the legal costs. It is usually paid in at least two parts. And it comes in several shapes, which makes one agency's quote hard to compare with another's.
Queensland law does not say what a buyer's agent may charge or how the charge is built. It says a good deal about how the charge must be recorded and what else the agent must disclose. This guide explains the common fee models, how each behaves as the purchase price changes, where GST and expenses fit, what happens to the fee if no property is bought, and what the Queensland rules require to be in writing before any work starts. The figures in the worked examples are illustrative. It describes how fees work; it does not suggest what any reader should agree to.
Office of Fair Trading guidance on commission; Real Estate Buyers Agents Association of Australia consumer information and statement of 29 June 2026.
The fee is negotiated, not set
The starting point is the Office of Fair Trading's guidance on charging commission. It states that the regulator does not set a limit on how much commission a property agent may charge, and that an agent is free to negotiate any commission with the client. The guidance is written for selling and letting, but the principle is general: the regulator publishes no scale of fees for any kind of agency work, buying included.
Related readWhat a buyer's agent does in Queensland, and the licence it takesTwo consequences follow. There is no "standard" fee in the legal sense, only what is common in the market. And the figure on an agency's website or in a first conversation is an opening position. The guidance treats the fee as a matter for agreement between two parties, which means either of them may propose something different.
What the law does fix is the moment at which the agreement is made. The same guidance says the commission must be agreed in writing at the time of appointment and cannot be altered afterwards. A fee cannot be raised halfway through a search because the brief turned out to be harder than expected. If the brief changes substantially, for example from one property to two, the proper course is a new or amended written appointment that both sides sign.
The two parts of most fees
Most buyer's agents charge in two stages, and the Real Estate Buyers Agents Association of Australia (REBAA) describes both in its information for consumers.
The first is the engagement fee, also called a retainer or commitment fee. It is paid when the appointment is signed. In a statement on 29 June 2026 the association's vice-president, Zoran Solano, said a typical engagement fee in the industry is usually between $1,000 and $5,000.
The second is the balance, often called the success fee. On REBAA's description it falls due when the contract becomes unconditional, meaning the finance and inspection conditions have been satisfied and the buyer is bound to complete, or at settlement. The association's position is that the majority of the fee belongs in this second stage.
Related readAppointing a buyer's agent in Queensland: what Form 6 must containThe split is what separates this profession's charging from a selling agent's. A selling agent typically receives nothing until settlement. A buyer's agent typically receives something at the start. The reason usually given is that a buyer, unlike a seller, can walk away at no cost: a client may stop looking, buy something independently or change plans, and the agent's weeks of searching would otherwise be unpaid. The engagement fee is the price of the agent's commitment and evidence of the client's.
How the two parts relate is a term of each appointment. In some, the engagement fee is deducted from the final fee. In others it is charged in addition. Some agencies refund part of it if nothing is bought; many do not. None of these is required or prohibited by Queensland law.
Fixed fee, percentage or tiers
The balance of the fee is calculated in one of three main ways.
A percentage fee is a share of the purchase price. REBAA's guide for a full service of search, inspection, due diligence and negotiation is between 2 and 3 per cent of the price, plus GST and an engagement fee.
A fixed fee is a dollar amount agreed at the start, whatever the property eventually costs.
A tiered fee sits between the two. The agency publishes a schedule of fixed amounts by price band, so that a purchase in a higher band attracts a higher flat fee. REBAA notes that flat fees based on the purchase price are available alongside percentage fees.
The models behave differently as the price moves. The example below compares a 2.5 per cent fee with a fixed fee of $18,000 at four purchase prices. Both are shown before GST, and the figures are illustrative.
Related readBidding at a Queensland auction through a buyer's agent: the rules| Purchase price | 2.5% fee | Fixed fee | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| $600,000 | $15,000 | $18,000 | Fixed is $3,000 more |
| $720,000 | $18,000 | $18,000 | Equal |
| $900,000 | $22,500 | $18,000 | Fixed is $4,500 less |
| $1,500,000 | $37,500 | $18,000 | Fixed is $19,500 less |
Illustrative figures, not market data. The crossover point is $18,000 divided by 2.5%, or $720,000.
Narrower services are priced on their own terms. REBAA's consumer information notes that an engagement limited to negotiating on a home the client has already found, or to bidding at a single auction, carries tailored pricing. Such engagements lend themselves to a flat amount, because the work is defined in advance: one property, one negotiation or one auction day, with no search of uncertain length behind it. A client who has done their own searching and wants help only at the last step is buying a different service from the full brief, and the fee reflects that.
Below the crossover price in the table the percentage is cheaper; above it the fixed fee is. A buyer with a firm budget can do this arithmetic for any pair of quotes by dividing the fixed fee by the percentage.
What each model rewards
The more interesting difference is not the amount but the direction of the incentive.
Under a percentage fee, the agent's income rises with the price paid. On the example above, every $10,000 the client pays for the home adds $250 to the fee. The sum is small beside the weeks of work a purchase involves, and an agent whose business depends on referrals has a far stronger interest in a satisfied client than in $250. Even so, the direction is the opposite of the client's interest, and it is the standard criticism of the model.
Under a fixed fee, the agent earns the same whether the negotiation ends high or low. The incentive is neutral on price. The criticism here is different: the fee is the same for a quick purchase as for a long one, so the pressure, such as it is, runs toward concluding.
Related readBuyer's agency collapse leaves 695 clients owed $10.6 millionA tiered fee is neutral within a band and steps up between bands, which matters only when the likely price sits near a boundary.
No model removes the need for trust, and none is evidence of good or bad practice by itself. What the conduct rules add is a duty that applies under all of them. Section 22 of the Property Occupations Regulation 2014 requires an agent to act in accordance with the client's instructions, and for a buyer's agent the central instruction is the client's price limit.
GST and expenses
Two further items change the amount actually paid.
The first is GST. An agent's fee is a supply of a service, and a registered agency adds 10 per cent. The Office of Fair Trading's commission guidance says commission is to include GST and that the appointment should clearly state this. A quote of "2.5 per cent plus GST" on an $800,000 purchase is $20,000 plus $2,000, or $22,000. A buyer comparing two agencies needs to know that both figures are on the same basis.
The second is expenses. A selling agent's appointment commonly lists marketing costs. A buyer's agent's expenses are usually smaller, but they exist: paid property data reports, travel to inspect in another region, or the cost of a second inspection by a specialist. The Queensland Government's guidance on appointing a buyer's agent says the form must state all commissions, fees and expenses for the agent's services. An expense that is not on the form has not been agreed.
Costs of other professionals are separate again. The building and pest inspector, the solicitor or conveyancer and the lender each bill the buyer directly. They are not part of the agent's fee unless the appointment says the agent will arrange and pay for them.
Related readBuyer's agent or selling agent: who works for whom in QueenslandWhat must be on the appointment form
In Queensland a property agent cannot act for a client until appointed in writing. For a buyer's agent the Government's guidance names the residential appointment form, Form 6, with Form 6A for commercial property.
On fees, the guidance and the Office of Fair Trading's commission page between them require the form to show the items in the table.
| Entry | What it records |
|---|---|
| Fees and commission | Each fee, charge or commission for each service, GST included. |
| Expenses | Any cost the client is to reimburse in addition to the fee. |
| Due dates | When each amount becomes payable. |
| If no sale proceeds | Whether anything stays payable, and in what circumstances. |
| Third-party benefits | Any financial benefit the agent expects from someone else. |
The fourth row deserves attention. The commission guidance notes that commission may still apply if a sale is not completed, depending on what the appointment provides. For a buyer's agent the situations to think about are a contract that ends under a finance or inspection condition, a contract the buyer ends during the cooling-off period, and a search that finds nothing. Each agency deals with these differently, and the form is where the answer is recorded.
The guidance also says an appointment must not contain unfair contract terms.
Payments from anyone other than the client
The last row of the table is the one that protects the relationship itself.
A buyer's agent is paid by the buyer to act for the buyer. A payment to the same agent from the seller, a developer or a project marketer for steering a client toward a particular property would give the agent a reason to recommend it that the client knows nothing about. Queensland's rules approach this from two directions.
The appointment rules require the agent to disclose in the form any financial benefit the agent expects to gain from a third party. And the Office of Fair Trading's guidance on disclosing interests requires a property agent to tell a prospective buyer about any third party the buyer is referred to, the relationship between them, and any fees, commissions or other benefits involved. The examples it gives of such third parties include mortgage brokers, inspectors and other agents. A buyer's agent who recommends a particular broker or inspector and receives a referral payment from them is squarely within that rule.
Related readBuyer's agent, property adviser or promoter: telling the roles apartSection 18 of the Property Occupations Regulation goes to the root: an agent must not accept an appointment if doing so will place the agent's duty or interests in conflict with the client's.
REBAA's own rules for members are stricter than the law. The association describes its members as exclusive buyer's agents who cannot take commissions from vendors or developers, cannot list property for sale and cannot accept kickbacks from third parties. That is a condition of membership of a voluntary body, and it applies only to its members.
A property recommended by someone the seller pays is being sold, not bought
An adviser who receives a commission from a developer or seller is acting in a sale, whatever the title on the business card. Queensland's disclosure rules require the benefit to be declared to the buyer in writing.
If the engagement ends without a purchase
Not every search ends in a contract. The buyer's circumstances change, finance falls through, or the right home does not appear.
The Queensland Government's guidance says either party may cancel the appointment with a minimum of 30 days' notice, or less if both agree. It adds that ending an appointment before its end date may leave the client liable for commission or for damages, depending on the terms. A related risk arises when a client leaves one agent and appoints another: if the first appointment is still running, a purchase made through the second could leave two fees claimed.
The engagement fee is normally the amount at stake when nothing is bought. Whether any of it is returned depends on the appointment. A separate question is what happens when a client buys, after the appointment has ended, a property the agent introduced during it. Appointments often deal with this expressly, and it is a point to read before signing, not after.
Related readBuyer's agents' national association elects a Brisbane-based presidentThe liquidation of a large buyer's agency in May 2026 showed a further risk that has nothing to do with the search. Clients who had paid their whole fee in advance became creditors of a company with almost no assets, according to liquidators' figures reported by Real Estate Business in June. A fee that is mostly payable on success cannot be lost in that way, which is the reasoning behind REBAA's statement.
Comparing two quotes on the same footing
Because the models differ, a fair comparison needs each quote reduced to the same questions. The steps below are a way of reading any fee proposal; they are not a recommendation of one model.
- Find the totalWork out the whole fee at the price you expect to pay, with GST included.
- Split it by dateNote how much is due at signing and how much only on a successful purchase.
- Check the engagement feeSee whether it is deducted from the total, added to it, or refundable.
- List the extrasIdentify every expense the form says you will reimburse.
- Read the exitsSee what is payable if no home is found, or a contract ends under a condition.
A proposal that answers all five in writing is complete, whatever its numbers. One that leaves any of them to conversation has left something out that Queensland's rules expect to see on the form.
What the law leaves to the two parties
The picture that emerges is a division of labour. The state does not judge whether a fee is high or low, whether a percentage or a fixed sum is better, or how much should be paid at the start. It treats those as commercial terms between an agent and a client.
What the state insists on is that the terms exist in writing before the work begins, that they cannot be changed afterwards, that the due date of every amount is shown, and that any benefit flowing to the agent from somebody else is declared. Since 1 July 2026 the Office of Fair Trading lists the maximum penalty for acting without a written appointment at $34,540.
The law does not set the price of a buyer's agent. It makes sure the price, and everyone who is paying it, is in writing first.
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.
