A guide to checking a selling agent
Estate agents: the papers behind the name on the door
An agent who sells a home must be licensed, or work under a licensed agent as the state’s law allows, and must be appointed in writing before they can be paid. NSW, Victoria and Queensland each set this out in their own words.
This guide, published by Dotto, reads those papers one at a time: the licence, the agreement, the commission and costs, the other payments, the deposit and the complaint. Each rule comes from the state body that sets it. The guide names and ranks no agent or agency; the “top” in its name is the plate on the door, never a place in a list.
General information, not legal or financial advice. The rules differ by state and change over time. The official places to check are NSW Fair Trading, Consumer Affairs Victoria and Queensland’s Office of Fair Trading.
What is written down, state by state
Each row below is a paper a seller meets before or during a sale, with the rule each state’s own page gives for it. The plates in the directory take each row further.
| The paper | NSW | Victoria | Queensland |
|---|---|---|---|
| The licence | NSW Fair Trading’s first step in choosing an agent is to check they have a current licence, using its online licence check. | Selling property for other people as a business takes an estate agent’s licence. The other way in is as an agent’s representative, employed by a licensed estate agent and given that agent’s authority to act. | Real estate agents must have a licence to work in Queensland, and the register can be searched. |
| The appointment | An agency agreement, signed before the agent can advertise or promote the property. | A sales authority, which Consumer Affairs Victoria calls a legally binding contract. | Form 6, for residential property, or form 6A, for commercial. |
| Changing your mind after signing | A cooling-off period for residential property or rural land, ending at 5pm on the next business day or Saturday. | No cooling-off period after signing a sales authority. | The Queensland pages this guide read set out how an appointment ends, not a cooling-off period. An open listing can be ended in writing at any time. |
| The commission | The agreement states the fees or commission, when the agent is entitled to be paid and how payment is made. | Negotiable, and the agent must say so before the authority is signed. A percentage must also be shown in dollars. | Set in writing on the appointment form, as a percentage or a dollar amount. |
| Rebates the agent receives | When a home or rural land is sold, any rebate, discount or commission the agent earns on the seller’s expenses goes into the agreement, naming who pays it and estimating how much. | The agent must pass on any rebate or discount; keeping one is illegal, even with the seller’s agreement. | Written on the appointment form itself: Form 6 has a table where the agent sets out any rebate or other benefit linked to the service, where it comes from and a rough amount. |
| Where the deposit waits | Licensees must hold clients’ funds in a trust account, and sales money is kept apart from rental money. | In the agent’s trust account until settlement, or moved to a conveyancer’s or legal practitioner’s trust account. | In the agent’s trust account, on the date the contract sets. |
Other states and territories
This guide reads NSW, Victoria and Queensland in detail. Elsewhere, each government publishes its own pages for sellers, and they are the place to start.
- South Australia. The Government of South Australia’s page on hiring a professional for house and land sales links to the public licence register, and says the agreement with a selling agent is called a sales agency agreement.
- Western Australia. Consumer Protection’s page on selling property says a selling agent must be a licensed real estate agent, or employed and authorised by one as a registered sales representative.
- Tasmania. The Property Agents Board publishes a Register of Property Agents and takes complaints about agents.
- Australian Capital Territory. Access Canberra’s guide for buyers and sellers, Reality Check, advises dealing only with licensed agents, or with registered salespeople working for one, and asking the agent to show proof.
- Northern Territory. The Northern Territory Government’s page on dealing with a real estate agent says Territory law requires every real estate agent and agency business to hold a licence, and that a local Licensing NT office can confirm whether one does.