Buyer's agent vs real estate agent: who works for whom?

The single most important distinction between these two roles is the legal duty each one owes. It is not a matter of personality or professionalism. It is built into the way the relationship is formed.

A real estate agent, when they list a property, signs an agency agreement with the seller. From that moment they owe the seller a fiduciary duty. They are legally obliged to act in the seller's best interests, follow the seller's lawful instructions, and work towards the seller's goal, which is the highest possible price on the best possible terms.

A buyer's agent signs an engagement agreement with the buyer. They owe the buyer that same standard of duty in the opposite direction. They must act in the buyer's best interests, which means securing the right property at the lowest possible price on terms that protect the buyer.

This is why a friendly selling agent is still not on your side. They can be courteous, helpful, and honest, and they are still contractually bound to the seller. Any information you volunteer, your true budget, your moving deadline, how much you love the property, can and should be used to the seller's advantage. That is the agent doing their job correctly.

State regulators such as NSW Fair Trading and Consumer Affairs Victoria license both roles and set conduct rules, but licensing does not change who the agent represents. A licence makes someone qualified to act; the agency or engagement agreement decides who they act for. When you understand that, the rest of the comparison falls into place.

Selling agents are skilled, and most are ethical. The issue is not honesty. It is structure. A selling agent sits in a genuine conflict whenever a buyer treats them as an adviser.

Consider the moments where a buyer naturally looks to the agent at an open home for guidance:

• "What do you think it will sell for?" The agent benefits from anchoring you high.
• "Is there much interest?" The agent benefits from you believing competition is fierce.
• "Would the vendor take less?" The agent will not undercut their own client by signalling weakness.
• "What is wrong with the property?" The agent has no duty to volunteer flaws beyond legal disclosure requirements.

None of this makes the agent dishonest. It makes them loyal to the person paying them. The conflict is that the buyer often does not realise the adviser in the room is the opposition.

Common selling-agent techniques exist to serve the vendor: setting a price guide below likely value to draw a crowd, scheduling tightly grouped inspections so buyers see competition, and encouraging emotional attachment. These are legitimate tactics for the seller's side. The problem is only that an unrepresented buyer faces them alone, with no equivalent professional working the other way.

A buyer's agent removes the imbalance. They read the price guide critically, assess true value from comparable sales, and negotiate without revealing your position. For a deeper look at the tactics and how to counter them, see our guide to negotiating a property purchase.

Follow the money and the loyalties become obvious.

A selling agent is paid a commission by the seller, typically 1.8 to 3 percent of the sale price depending on the state and the property. Because the fee is a percentage of the sale price, a higher price means a higher commission. The selling agent's incentive points the same direction as the seller's goal.

A buyer's agent is paid by the buyer. Depending on the agent this is a fixed fee, a percentage of the purchase price, or a hybrid. A percentage-based buyer's agent has a mild incentive consideration of their own, which is one reason many buyers prefer a fixed fee. We cover the trade-offs fully in buyer's agent fees explained.

Question	Real estate agent	Buyer's agent
Who do they represent?	The seller	The buyer
Who pays them?	The seller	The buyer
What is their goal?	Highest sale price	Right property, lowest price
Legal duty owed to?	The seller	The buyer
Typical fee	1.8 to 3 percent commission	Fixed, percentage, or hybrid
Whose information do they protect?	The seller's	The buyer's

One warning. A small number of operators describe themselves as buyer's agents while accepting referral fees or commissions from sellers, developers, or builders. That arrangement reintroduces the exact conflict a buyer's agent is meant to remove. Every agent on Solva is verified as working only for buyers, with no seller-side payments on properties they source for you.

You will deal with selling agents no matter what, because every listed property has one. The real question is whether you also engage a buyer's agent on your side.

A buyer's agent is the right call when:

• You are buying interstate and cannot attend inspections. Our interstate property buying guide explains why local representation matters here.
• You are time-poor and the search is dragging on.
• The market is competitive and good stock sells before you can act, as in Surry Hills or New Farm.
• You keep losing at auction or talking yourself into the wrong property.
• The purchase is high value and a negotiation error would be expensive.

You may not need a buyer's agent when:

• You know the suburb intimately, have time to search every weekend, and are comfortable negotiating.
• The price and property are effectively already settled, for example a purchase from family.
• Your budget is so tight the fee changes what you can afford, though a skilled negotiator may still save more than they cost.

You always work with a selling agent because they control access to the listing. The point is to understand the relationship: be polite, be professional, and remember they are not your adviser. Share only what helps your position. If you have a buyer's agent, let them do the talking, since reading and managing selling agents is precisely their craft.

In a typical purchase, both roles are in play. Your buyer's agent represents you. The selling agent represents the vendor. They negotiate against each other on your behalf and the seller's. This is the normal, healthy structure of a property transaction, and it usually produces a cleaner result than an unrepresented buyer dealing directly with a professional negotiator.

Here is how the relationship works in practice:

1. Your buyer's agent makes contact with selling agents across your target area, including for off-market and pre-market stock the public never sees.
2. They inspect and shortlist properties against your brief, filtering out the ones that do not fit before you spend a weekend on them.
3. They run comparable sales analysis to establish what a property is genuinely worth, independent of the selling agent's price guide.
4. They negotiate or bid while keeping your budget, your deadline, and your emotional state out of the selling agent's reach.
5. They coordinate the settlement process with your conveyancer, broker, and inspectors through to exchange.

A good buyer's agent also maintains professional relationships with selling agents over many transactions. That standing can mean earlier access to listings and smoother negotiation, because the selling agent knows your agent is credible and your offer is real.

The takeaway is simple. A selling agent will always be in the room, and they will always work for the seller. Your choice is whether to face them alone or with a professional on your side. If you decide you want representation, find a buyer's agent through Solva. We match you with vetted, buyer-only specialists in your area, from Geelong to Chermside, at no cost to you.