Real Estate Agents: directory of firms

New South Wales runs a two-class system. You need a certificate of registration as an assistant agent first, held for at least twelve months under a licensee's supervision, before you can apply for a class 2 licence. Two further years on a class 2 licence, plus work experience requirements, open the door to class 1. A class 2 holder may negotiate a sale and collect rent and deposits, but may not open or manage a trust account or be the licensee in charge.

Continuing professional development is annual and tied to what you actually do. The NSW CPD year runs from 1 July to 30 June, and compulsory topics are set per area of practice, so a residential salesperson and a residential property manager complete different mandatory modules. Missing CPD can cost an agent their licence and attract a court penalty of up to 11,000 Australian dollars.

Victoria's underquoting laws are the strictest example of a rule buyers meet every weekend. An agent selling a residential property must prepare a Statement of Information showing an indicative selling price, the three most comparable sales, and the suburb median. The indicative price may be a single figure or a range of up to ten per cent, and it cannot sit below the agent's own estimate, the seller's asking price, or an offer the seller has already knocked back.

Consumer Affairs Victoria has flagged further change: from 1 October 2026 the Statement of Information becomes the Property Price Statement, agents must disclose a seller's reserve price seven days before an auction or fixed-sale date, and the final sold price must be published once a sale becomes unconditional. The requirements apply to auctions and fixed-date sales from 16 October 2026.

Auction suits properties where the value is genuinely uncertain and competition is likely, because the price is discovered in public and the sale is unconditional on the fall of the hammer. It costs more up front, since the campaign is short and advertising-heavy, and it exposes a lack of interest very publicly if bidding stalls.

Private treaty gives the seller room to negotiate terms as well as price, and lets a buyer attach conditions such as finance or a building report. Expressions of interest sit between the two and are common where the buyer pool is small or the property is unusual. Which one an agent recommends should follow the property and the market, not the agency's preferred model.