Hi, hopefully you managed to secure a home by now. Auctions are a mental game and you have to be prepared to walk away at your cut off point. I would advise going to a few before hand as an observer just to get used to the process, the pace and the tactics utilised by both the auctioneers and the bidders.

In reference to the original question from Helen the answer is – ‘it depends’.

You are essentially paying for someone’s time, expertise and local area knowledge to get you the best deal. If you are a seasoned buyer / investor who has outstanding knowledge of the local area and lots of time to do research you may be able to get a similar result.

However, 95% of buyers do not fit into that category so using professional representation would assist a lot. Just make sure that the fees are proportional to the amount of work that the buyers agent has to carry out on your behalf. At the end of the day it has to be a fair exchange and a win win situation for everyone.

I can’t comment on other businesses but please be aware that there are different kinds of buyers agents. Kind of similar to financial advisors. The key question is who is paying them? If they are paid by any other party other than their client if could potentially indicate a conflict of interest. A lot of agents sell properties on behalf of developers and that clearly is something to be aware of. No issues with using an agent like that as long you know all the facts before hand and make an informed decision.

There are a couple of other buyers agents in Canberra, including Block Real Estate, which is relatively new multi-disciplinary agency but is gathering considerable momentum at the moment.