Property Buyers Agent Brisbane: How to Check Who the Agent Works For

What a buyer's agent does, and what the Queensland licence covers

There's no special buyer's agent licence in Queensland. Property agents are licensed in three classes under the Property Occupations Act 2014: auctioneer, real estate agent and resident letting agent. Section 26 puts buying, selling, exchanging and letting real property inside the ordinary real estate agent licence. A Brisbane buyer's agent holds the same licence class as the agent sitting on the other side of the table.

The government's wording is blunt. Real estate agents must have a licence to work in Queensland. So every agent you speak to sits on a public register, and looking them up is free.

The Queensland Government lists a buyer's agent's job like this.

• Find suitable properties for you
• Negotiate with the seller on your behalf
• Do background checks on the property and area, and explain the local property market
• Bid for you at an auction

Two free checks you can run before you sign anything

Check one takes a minute. The Office of Fair Trading keeps a public register of all licensed property agents, salespeople and corporations, searchable online for free at ftlr.fairtrading.qld.gov.au. Read the OFT's own warning first. The free online register is for your information only, and you can't use it as evidence in legal proceedings.

Check two is the one almost nobody runs. A Queensland property agent can't provide services to you until you appoint them in writing. Residential appointments use OFT Form 6. Commercial uses Form 6A. That form is where the money gets declared, so read it before you sign it.

One line in the government's guidance to agents does more work than all the marketing on any agency website. Agents are told, word for word: "You'll need to declare any financial benefit you expect to gain from a third party." If an agency in Brisbane calls itself independent, that declaration is where the claim gets tested.

Queensland's advice to buyers is to seek independent legal advice if you're unclear about any part of the form or the fees you'll be charged. Worth doing before you sign, because changing agents later can cost you. Replace an agent before the current appointment ends and you may be liable to pay either commission under both appointments, or damages for breach of contract.

The appointment has to set out all of this.

• The services the agent will provide
• Any limits, restrictions or conditions on those services
• The commission, fees and expenses you'll pay
• The due dates for each payment
• An end date, for a sole or exclusive agency

Run FAA through both checks, including the one we fail

Check one. FAA Property Pty Ltd holds Queensland Office of Fair Trading licence 4220395, type Real Estate Agent, expiring 5 June 2027. Put that number into the OFT register and you'll see it. Under section 26 of the Property Occupations Act 2014, that licence permits FAA to act for buyers, and FAA can represent you in a purchase.

Check two is where we come out badly. Saying it here beats having you find it in the paperwork.

FAA Property earns a commission from builders and developers when a property purchase proceeds. The strategy session itself costs you nothing. Because we're paid by the supply side, you should weigh our recommendations with that in mind.

So if independence is the thing you're shopping for, engage a licensed buyer's agent. Someone who acts only for you, paid only by you. That's a different service from ours, and for plenty of Brisbane buyers it's the right one.

The one Brisbane job FAA actually does

FAA Property sources new-build and house-and-land investment property in Brisbane for Queensland and interstate investors, from our Maroochydore office. Our property management team is based on the Sunshine Coast.

One office. Suite 3-7, Level 5, Tower 2, 55 Plaza Parade, Maroochydore QLD 4558, phone (07) 5327 3469. No Brisbane branch. No Brisbane phone number. An agency address on a webpage should be one you can walk into.

FAA does manage one Brisbane-area rental: a property at 1411/2 Edmondstone St, South Brisbane, advertised at $650 a week on our live rentals feed on 5 August 2026. One property. We call that presence, and we're not going to dress it up as a Brisbane rent roll.

What the work looks like.

• Sources new-build and house-and-land investment property in Brisbane for Queensland and interstate investors
• Models the purchase costs and cash-flow scenarios before you commit to anything
• Plans the investment strategy around the property you end up buying
• Manages investment property long term, on the Sunshine Coast

What the Brisbane numbers say, and what they don't

Official figures, each with the release it came from, so you can check any of them yourself.

Those numbers describe a market. Nothing in them tells you what a specific Brisbane purchase will do, and no agent can tell you that either, including this one. Run your own figures on the actual price, the loan, the holding costs and the rent you'd realistically get.

• 2,833,524 people in Greater Brisbane at 30 June 2025, up 58,223 over the year (ABS Regional Population 2024-25, released 31 March 2026)
• 2.1% growth for that year, second among capital cities behind Perth on 2.4% (same ABS release)
• 1,016,682 private dwellings across Greater Brisbane, with 35.1% of occupied private dwellings rented and 36.1% owned with a mortgage (ABS 2021 Census)
• Queensland dwelling approvals up 33.4% in June 2026, seasonally adjusted. That's one month, state-wide, not a Brisbane figure and not a trend (ABS Building Approvals, released 30 July 2026)

Why the question of who pays your agent got sharper in June 2026

Negative gearing on residential property is being limited to new builds. The Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Act 2026 received Royal Assent on 26 June 2026, and Schedule 2 carries that exact title. It amends the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997.

Read that next to how supply-side agencies get paid. Any business earning commission from builders and developers, this one included, now sits on the side of the market the new rule favours. That doesn't make new-build stock a bad buy. It does mean you should check the numbers yourself and weigh the recommendation against who's making it.

What isn't settled: what counts as a "new build" under the change. Treasury's consultation on the next tranche of the legislation was still open when this page was last reviewed on 5 August 2026. Anyone telling you today whether a particular Brisbane property will qualify is guessing.

Two boundaries worth knowing. Nothing in the 2026 Act changes what you can deduct in the 2025-26 or 2026-27 income years. And widely held trusts and super funds, including SMSFs, are excluded from the change.

None of this is tax advice. Get that from someone licensed to give it, on your own position.

• Royal Assent 26 June 2026. Schedule 2 is titled "Limit negative gearing for residential property to new builds"
• From the 2027-28 income year, losses on existing residential investment properties bought after 7:30pm AEST on 12 May 2026 are only deductible against other residential property income, including capital gains
• Excess losses can be carried forward to offset residential property income in future years
• Properties held at announcement can still be negatively geared in future years until sold
• Investors can continue to use negative gearing on new builds