Reference
What the selling agent will not tell you
An agent works for the vendor and is paid on the sale price. Here is what that means in practice, what they are legally allowed to leave out, and where the answers actually live.
12 min read
A selling agent is not dishonest. They are simply not yours. They are engaged by the vendor, paid by the vendor, and in most cases paid a percentage of what you pay. Everything that follows is a consequence of that one arrangement, and none of it requires anybody to lie.
The gap that costs buyers money is not between truth and lies. It is between what is disclosed and what is explained. A vendor discloses by attaching a document. Whether you understand the document is not their problem.
Start with the incentive, not the person
On a commission of roughly two per cent, an extra $20,000 on the price is worth about $400 to the agent. That is not enough to make anybody dishonest. But it is more than enough to shape which facts get volunteered on a Saturday morning and which ones wait to be asked about.
The much larger incentive is certainty. An agent's worst outcome is not a slightly lower price, it is a sale that collapses. That is why the pressure you feel is almost always about speed and commitment rather than price - sign today, bid unconditionally, waive the cooling-off. Every one of those removes your ability to change your mind after you have read something.
Fourteen things you will have to find yourself
None of these are secrets. Every one of them is discoverable before you sign. All of them routinely go unmentioned.
In the contract itself
- Special conditions that delete or narrow the standard protections - the standard form is a starting point, and the annexure is where it gets rewritten
- A clause letting the vendor rescind without giving reasons, usually created by deleting three words from a standard condition
- The deposit released to the vendor before settlement, so it funds their next purchase and is unsecured if the deal collapses
- A compensation threshold cut from 5% to 1%, which quietly removes most of your ability to claim for anything
- Penalty interest on late completion, plus fixed fees, sometimes made essential terms so a small slip becomes a breach
- The property sold as-is, with all defects patent and latent, and no right to object, requisition or claim
In the title and the plan
- Easements and rights of way that decide where you can and cannot build
- Covenants restricting materials, height, or what the land can be used for
- A discrepancy between what the deposited plan shows and what the title register records
- Whether the certificate of title is an old paper edition, which affects how settlement is prepared
In the planning certificate
- Zoning that does not permit what you were planning to do with it
- Minimum lot size rules that make the block unsubdividable, even when it looks large enough
- Flood, bushfire, landslip, contamination and heritage overlays
- A tree preservation order covering the whole council area, which decides what happens to the garden and the extension
Agent phrases, translated
None of these are lies. All of them are doing work.
- 1"There is a lot of interest"
Sometimes true, always said. It is unfalsifiable and it costs nothing to say. Treat it as noise unless you can see the evidence: registered bidders, contracts issued, offers in writing.
- 2"The vendor is motivated"
Usually means the vendor has already bought elsewhere. This is genuinely useful information and it cuts your way, not theirs - a vendor carrying two mortgages values certainty far more than the last $15,000.
- 3"Offers over $1.2m"
A price guide is a marketing instrument, not a valuation. Check it against actual sold comparables, not against other listings, which are also marketing.
- 4"It has all been done"
Ask whether the work was approved. Unapproved renovations become your problem the moment you settle, and the council order arrives addressed to the owner, which by then is you.
- 5"That is just a standard contract"
There is a standard form. What is attached to it is not standard, and the annexure is written by the vendor's solicitor for the vendor's benefit.
- 6"You would want to move quickly on this one"
The one piece of advice an agent gives you that is reliably against your interests. Speed is the vendor's ally in every negotiation and yours in none.
Questions that change the answer
Ask these in writing, by email, so the reply exists. A written question is much harder to answer vaguely than a question in a hallway with other buyers listening.
- How long has it been on the market, and has it been listed and withdrawn before?
- What did the vendor pay, and when?
- Are there any special conditions in the annexure that change the standard contract?
- Has any work been done without council approval or without a building certificate?
- Are there any outstanding notices, orders or work orders on the property?
- For an apartment: is a special levy proposed, and what is the capital works fund balance?
- Is the deposit to be released to the vendor before completion?
- Why is the vendor selling?
Where TrueBuy fits
The problem is not that this information is hidden. It is that reading a 300-page pack properly is a professional skill, it takes an evening, and you often get the pack three days before an auction while working a full-time job.
TrueBuy reads the whole pack and reports every finding with the exact quote and the page it came from, so you can put the point to the agent rather than describe a feeling. A concern you can show is a concern they have to answer. It does not replace your conveyancer - it means you arrive at your conveyancer with the questions already found, and you arrive at the agent with evidence instead of instinct.
Find what is in your contract before you sign it
Upload the pack and get every finding quoted and paged, free while we are getting started. You take it to your conveyancer, and to the agent.
Common questions
Is the selling agent allowed to lie to me?
No. Misleading or deceptive conduct is prohibited under consumer law in every jurisdiction, and agents have additional duties under state licensing rules. But there is a wide gap between lying and volunteering, and almost everything that costs buyers money sits in that gap. An agent who is never asked about the special levy has not lied about the special levy.
Who does the selling agent actually work for?
The vendor. They are engaged by the seller, paid by the seller, and in most cases paid a percentage of the sale price, so their interests are aligned with a higher price and a faster exchange. Being friendly and being on your side are different things, and the friendliness is genuine - it is simply not representation.
What has to be disclosed by law?
It varies by jurisdiction and it is narrower than most buyers assume. In NSW a vendor must attach prescribed documents to the contract - title, plan, planning certificate, drainage diagram. Material facts such as a death in the home or known flooding have specific rules. Almost everything else is disclosed by attaching a document, not by anybody telling you what is in it.
If the documents contain everything, why do buyers still get caught?
Because a contract pack for a house runs 30 to 60 pages and an apartment pack with strata minutes can pass 300. It is handed over days before an auction, written in legal register, and the important sentence is one line in an annexure. Nothing is hidden. It is simply not read, because reading it properly is a professional skill and a full evening.
Should I still use a conveyancer if I run a document review?
Yes, always. A review tells you what is in the documents and what to ask about. Your conveyancer or solicitor is the person who advises you on your position, negotiates the amendments and acts for you at settlement. The review makes their job faster and your questions sharper - it does not replace them.
Where these figures come from
Grants, thresholds and duty rates change. Always check the current rules with the relevant state revenue office or Housing Australia before you rely on a number here.
Information, not legal advice. Confirm with your conveyancer before acting.