Are the buying agents scouting out your dream home really ‘worth their weight in gold’?

While the majority of British homeowners will pay an estate agent to help them sell their property, a very small minority of buyers will pay one to help them find their dream home.

Buying agents are a well-kept secret in the property industry, and typically only used by the time-starved elite.

They negotiate on a buyer’s behalf, with a view to securing a deal for a better property at a lower price than you could otherwise achieve on your own.

Emma Fildes, founder at buying agency Brick Weaver, says: “The main reason people use a buying agent is to save time, money, and [boost rental] yields.

“A lot of buying agents were previously estate agents, so that helps. We can call out the sharks. The bigger the price tag, the bigger the lie can be – it’s shameless.”

Buying agent fees can vary anywhere from 1pc to 3pc of a home’s purchase price if you buy it, along with a retainer fee ranging from the low hundreds to thousands of pounds.

Alternatively, some charge a fixed fee anywhere between £10,000 and £15,000, while others offer a “pay-as-you-go” service.

Alex Mosley, a London buying agent for Perrygate, says: “Good buying agents will act in their clients’ best interests at all times and not be commission driven.

“Often our most important advice is telling buyers to walk away from a property.”

Mr Mosley says his biggest selling points for buyers are his access to off-market property, and his black book of trusted contacts – including solicitors, architects, surveyors and so on – which he may consult before recommending an offer.

How to find a buying agent

Like estate agents, buying agents are not required by law to be licensed or hold a qualification, but are governed by regulations and are required to be signed up to a redress scheme.

The main two are the Property Ombudsman and Property Redress. Before you do anything else, check out their credentials and how complaints are dealt with.

Mr Mosley says a buying agent will need a deep understanding of your finances and lifestyle in order to advise you properly.

“You may work with one for years, so it’s important it’s someone you get on well with and trust. Discuss your search brief with a few and see which is a good fit before retaining one.”

Mr Mosley’s ‘Dos’

1. Work with a buying agent on an exclusive, retained basis. This way, selling agents will know you are a serious buyer. You don’t want two buying agents competing with each other to push properties in front of a client. The relationship should be consultative.

2. Ensure the agent only takes commission or payment from you, the client, and no other third parties.

Mr Mosley’s ‘Don’ts’

1. Don’t use a buying agent who is overly keen to take a retainer fee. They should first want to establish if your goals are achievable before acting for you.

2. Be wary of fee structures which can charge you a percentage of the discount achieved on the asking price. In central London, it is common for agreed sales to be 20pc below the initial asking price.

Are they worth the fees?

Many buyers might dismiss out of hand paying someone thousands of pounds to do something they could do themselves.

Mike Staton, a Mansfield-based mortgage broker, was shocked to hear that more people were using buying agents. He attributed the rise to the popularity of shows such as Netflix’s Selling Sunset, which glamorises the life of high-end real estate agents in California.

“What next? Tesco picks your shopping, delivers it and cooks your meals too? For me, this would be a completely unnecessary part and adds an extra element to an already overcrowded process.”

But Fareham estate agent Emma Lawson says buying agents can be valuable if they are experienced.

However, one of her clients used a buying agent and nearly bought two dud properties on their poor advice. The buying agent thought a damp report from 2000 would be adequate.

Ms Lawson says: “He had no contacts and no real knowledge. However, a good agent with the right contacts could be worth their weight in gold.”

What a buying agent should be doing

Buying agent Henry Pryor describes his job as helping ensure someone’s biggest purchase doesn’t turn out to be their most expensive.

Mr Pryor compiled a checklist for Telegraph Money of what buying agents should be offering for their fee:

• Sourcing off-market properties – those available but not advertised on websites or in agent’s windows.
• Advising on neighbourhoods, comparing and contrasting different places.
• Researching a street, village or town looking at crime, natural threats such as flooding and over-flights by planes.
• Assessing relative value.
• Finding out more about the sale from the selling agent.
• Researching the motivations of the sellers and look for pressure points such as death, debt or divorce.
• Commenting on yield and the potential for capital growth.
• Negotiating with the seller and their agent. Not all selling agents are slippery, but some certainly are.
• Introducing the best mortgage brokers, accountants and wealth managers along with advisers, tradesmen and lawyers.

Fellow buying agent Ms Fildes thinks of herself as “the barrier between you and the selling agent”.

She adds: “Like any market, there’s a real variation in estate agents. We know the ones which talk sense and nonsense.

“Agents will try every tactic possible. Many try to work up prices for first-time buyers because of the interest in well-priced properties. I used to manage offices for years as an estate agent, but I never had to lie.

“We’re saving chunks of money off properties, that’s our remit. But it’s also the confidence that you’re not buying a dud.”

Ms Fildes says people wrongly think buying agents only work with the very wealthy. While some agents won’t pick up the phone for properties under £500,000, she said she does not have a cut off.

“You can really protect first-time buyers in this line of work. They’re not very experienced and they’re busy earning.

“I’m amazed first-time buyers have even contacted me, it’s [often when] they have had enough with estate agents and were getting nowhere.”

Weighing up the fees

The average house price was £259,423 in October 2023, according to the Halifax House Price Index.

Here’s a breakdown of what you would pay based on buying agents’ various fee structures if one helped you buy a property at the average price.

Some estate agents are beginning to catch on and are also offering themselves as buying agents on top. While they can’t earn double fees on properties with their books, they can earn a fee from buyers for properties outside of their areas.

Georgina Cox and Mark Worrall, directors at estate agent MovingWorks, have come up with an alternative “Finder” service.

For a £500 retainer and a 1pc fee of the purchase price plus VAT, they claim to use data as well as their experience to find someone a house.

Mr Worrall says: “It comes down to time. [Hiring a buying agent] is more valuable in overall monetary terms if you’re richer. But at the lower end of the market, [saving smaller amounts of money is more important] and so arguably carries bigger value.”