Greig Sheridan is a fan of buyer's agents.
He used one 20 years ago, and so when he and his partner Glenn were looking for a home in 2021, they took up the services of an agency that billed itself as "the number one buyer's agency" in Australia.
But his most recent experience has left him questioning whether he should have used one again.
Four Corners can reveal the founder of his buyer's agency has extensive links with the founder and director of the selling agency the couple purchased their home through.
The relationship raises questions about how effectively perceived conflicts of interest between buying and selling agents are being managed, and whether the regulation of buyer's agents in Australia is fit for purpose.
An early 'red flag'
In 2021, Mr Sheridan and his partner decided to sell up out of Sydney to fund an earlier-than-expected retirement.
They set their sights on Newcastle, attracted by its more affordable prices and the prospect of a sea change.
They decided to use a buyer's agent. Buyer's agents have been around in Australia for more than 20 years, although they have more commonly been used for more upmarket properties.
But as property prices have soared and as competition among would-be buyers has intensified, more consumers are turning to buyer's agents to represent their interests and help them make what might be the biggest financial decision of their life.
When Sheridan asked around, one particular buyer's agency kept coming up: Henderson Advocacy, run by 26-year-old Jack Henderson.
"We found that real estate agents were suggesting that we call Hendersons," he said.
"We, perhaps naively, went straight to them."
Mr Sheridan was initially troubled by what he described as a "red flag". The agency agreement they were asked to sign by Henderson Advocacy had what is known as a non-disparagement clause.
It prohibited them from "making any statement or publication, which may otherwise adversely affect the agent's reputation".
"So, we couldn't leave anything less than a glowing five-star Google review," Mr Sheridan said.
"I responded to Jack straightaway saying, 'Nup, we're disengaging, we not going to proceed'."
Mr Henderson ultimately agreed to remove the clause. They agreed to sign up in August 2021 and paid a $5,500 retainer up-front.
Stephanie Tonkin from the Consumer Action Law Centre said she did not believe these kinds of clauses should appear in buyer's agents' agreements.
"A non-disparagement clause is likely to be unenforceable anyway," she said.
"The ACCC has taken action against businesses with non-disparagement clauses and deemed them to breach unfair contract terms laws."
Henderson Advocacy located a home in the Newcastle suburb of Adamstown for Mr Sheridan and his partner.
The property was being sold by a selling agent at PRD Presence, which also trades as PRD Newcastle.
They made an offer, and it was accepted. On settlement, Henderson Advocacy charged them a commission on the purchase price of the property.
What they did not know — until they were contacted by Four Corners — was that one of Henderson Advocacy's co-founders was also the founder and director of PRD Newcastle.
"That just seems totally inappropriate," Mr Sheridan said.
"The whole point of engaging a buyer's agent is to be our representative, to be able to talk all of the real estate guff and know and work through all of the strategies that the vendors' agent would be using against us.
"We're paying them a very large amount of money — we certainly want them to be on our side."
PRD Newcastle is a franchise that was co-founded and directed by Mark Kentwell, a prominent selling agent in the area.
Mr Kentwell also co-founded Henderson Advocacy alongside Jack Henderson in 2020.
He is not a director or shareholder of the company and told Four Corners he received no profit distributions or dividends from it.
The two men have also jointly directed two other separate companies since April 2021: Henderson Metro Vic Pty Ltd and Henderson Metro Qld Pty Ltd.
They appear in a number of online real estate videos together, including what they describe as "founders updates" on Henderson Advocacy's YouTube channel.
Mr Kentwell told Four Corners in a statement: "A strong relationship between a selling agent and buyer's agent is common in the real estate industry, and the customer benefits from this relationship. The interests of each client are still represented by the respective agents and licensees of the licensed trading entities they have engaged."
PRD Presence told Four Corners in a statement it "has and will continue to comply with its obligations of disclosure pursuant to the Property and Stock Agents Act 2002 (NSW)".
Mr Henderson declined to comment, referring Four Corners to positive customer reviews he has received.
Questions raised over business links
There is another layer to the relationship between Mark Kentwell and Jack Henderson.
A common tactic in the real estate industry is what's known as "prospecting".
Real estate agents rely heavily on building large databases of potential buyers to drum up business.
A lot of their work involves hitting the phones and making calls to those potential leads.
Mr Kentwell supervises and owns another real estate business called "The Growth Centre" in Newcastle that has developed a sophisticated style of prospecting.
The business is a separate corporate entity from PRD, but the ABC understands its employees are given access to PRD Newcastle's database containing the details of people they've dealt with in the past.
A copy of a script obtained by Four Corners guides them through these calls, coaching them to ask the person about the status of their search, bring up the idea of a buyer's agent and recommend Henderson Advocacy.
"Have you ever heard of a buyer's agent before?" the script reads.
"We work closely with Henderson Advocacy, who are the best in the business."
There's no mention of any relationship between Mr Kentwell and Mr Henderson.
That could be a problem, according to Ms Tonkin.
"If there's no disclosure, how is a purchaser supposed to know about the relationship? How are those players, those businesses, going to act in the best interest of the purchaser in those circumstances?" Ms Tonkin asked.
Mr Kentwell told Four Corners: "My business interests and relationships are disclosed to relevant stakeholders both in writing and verbally when required.
"My businesses and I have and continue to work with specialist lawyers to ensure compliance with all our obligations, including but not limited to our disclosure obligations, under the Property and Stock Agents Act 2002 (NSW) and Australian Consumer Law."
Broader questions over regulation of buyer's agents
Separately, the growth of entrants into the buyer's agent space has raised questions about the adequacy of their oversight.
One of the areas where concerns have been raised is the payment of commissions.
Marketers acting for developers can send emails to buyer's agents, offering them lucrative commissions.
In one email Four Corners reviewed, a buyer's agent was offered $33,000 in commission to promote a developer's properties to their clients.
Miriam Sandkuhler, a buyer's agent in Victoria, said it could be challenging for consumers to distinguish between qualified buyer's agents and other industry players.
"There are so-called property advisors, consultants; some of them take the word buyer's agent and misuse it," she said.
"The term buyer's agent hasn't been defined in legislation in each state. So, whilst there's no national definition of it, it leaves the door open for people like this to continue to misrepresent themselves, and they get away with it because the regulatory bodies just don't oversee it and manage it."
Ms Sandkuhler comes from a financial services background and is troubled by some of the advice she sees being given.
"The problem in Australia is we don't have a governing body regulating the property advice sector," she said.
"It basically means anyone can hang out a shingle and call themselves a property advisor with no qualifications whatsoever."
Cate Bakos, president of the Real Estate Buyers Agents Association, said consumers should be wary of people offering buyer's agent services for free.
"We do see people out there purporting to be buyer's agents when, in fact, they're actually marketers, or introducers or salespeople for organisations that are selling," she said.
"If they're proposing that their service is free, the consumer needs to understand that they are, in fact, paying for that service.
"It's usually in the purchase price, which means the price is escalated; it's above market value. And issues arrive when it comes time for bank valuations because banks know what properties are worth, and they generally know when commissions are involved for selling people that are pitching as buyer's agents."
Ms Bakos is also concerned some buyer's agents are entering the industry with inadequate training.
While some study for between six and 12 months to obtain their real estate agent's licence, some pathways allow agents to be licensed in as little as two months of online learning.
"This is not just an issue for buyer's agents. It's also an issue for selling agents," Ms Bakos said.
"This issue does impact the consumer.
"If someone can get a shortcut into the industry … and then run a business, they will make mistakes.
"And when a mistake is made when it comes to property, it's an enormous mistake because we're talking about large values."
