Brisbane based prestige property buyer’s agent Lauren Moore was not afraid to ruffle a few feathers by swapping sellers for buyers with the aim of creating a more level playing field in her local marketplace.
Launching Lauren Moore Property in March 2018, Lauren, who was previously a sales agent, says she decided to “flip the switch” and advocate for buyers who she felt were underrepresented in Brisbane. She says that despite “buyer’s agents” being quite a new service in Queensland, she saw a gap in the market and decided to go for it. “When speaking with local families, I noticed a huge frustration in Brisbane’s inner city local real estate market. There was limited stock and high buyer demand so buyers had little control or support.
“I knew buyers’ agencies were in their infancy in Brisbane and there was a huge gap in the market for someone to advocate for families looking to purchase a new home. The prestige market was missing a strong industry leader in the buyer’s agency space, and even though it made more sense for me to go back into sales, I decided to flip the switch and advocate for buyers,” Lauren said.
She says she has experienced solid growth as her business has almost doubled year on year. “My business has taken off and it actually wasn’t something I expected or forecasted. I was inundated with clients wanting to utilise my service.” Lauren also grew her team in 2020, bringing on Jillian Breen who was also an accomplished sales agent, who is now using her expertise to represent clients on the other side of the transaction.
Despite COVID-19, Lauren says her client activity has remained strong. She says her role creates diversity in the property market, previously steered by sales agents. “The selling agent has always controlled the narrative in real estate. This for years has left buyers with no control in the purchasing process. Agents are there to get the best price for the vendor. Unless you have worked in the industry and been privy to how the sales, negotiation and auction process works, there is no way an ordinary buyer is on an even playing field or aware of the inside tricks of the trade.
“Buyer’s agents were traditionally used for investors, but with interstate migration at an all time high in the past few years, we have really seen the interstate purchasers drive the buyer’s agency industry in Australia for owner occupiers.”
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