Downsizing fees
Your Investment in Peace of Mind
If you've landed on this page, you're curious about how Dean can help you simplify, right-size, or downsize.
A buyer's agent works exclusively on your behalf, searching, assessing, and negotiating for you, the same way a selling agent, typically charging 2% to 3% of your sale price, works exclusively for the seller.
Buyer's agents weren't common the last time most people transacted, and the market's changed considerably since.
Today, when you go to buy, you're often competing with other buyers' agents, not just other buyers.
The Real Cost of Going It Alone
At this stage of life, you need time back, not more to manage.
Time to Buy
6 to 9 months searching alongside managing your own sale, around $12K to $18K in lost time, stress, and holding costs
30 to 45 days, fully managed from search to settlement
Confidence & Clarity
Endless scrolling, conflicting agent advice, guesswork on fair value
Data-backed comparables and a clear valuation framework
Overpaying Through Underquoting
Bidding against unenforceable price guides, $10K to $40K overpay risk
Accurate, data-anchored guidance on real value, before you offer
Downsizing Into the Wrong Fit
Ending up somewhere still wrong, wrong layout or location, risking a costly second move, $20K to $50K+ in resale and moving costs
Every option matched to how you actually live, not just square metres
Selling and Buying Gap Risk
No sequencing between the two, risking bridging costs or a rushed purchase, $5K to $15K+ in avoidable costs
Settlement dates coordinated on both sides so you move once, without bridging pressure
Family Coordination
Managing input from adult kids and grandkids on top of your own decisions, competing opinions slowing everything down, weeks of added delay
One clear point of contact, so family input adds perspective, not pressure or delay
Legal & Contract Issues
Missed clauses, body corporate issues discovered too late, $10K to $50K exposure
Contracts and body corporate records reviewed upfront
Negotiation
Emotion-led, no comparable sales data, $10K to $50K overpay risk
Ceiling pricing and a structured negotiation framework
Emotional Cost
Fatigue, attending inspections and packing up a family home while still coordinating everyone else's expectations
Objective guidance and full support, so you get your time back
Total Exposure
Up to approximately $230K+ in time, errors, delays, and avoidable costs
Significantly reduced through a structured, coordinated process
These figures are illustrative, not guarantees. They're based on Dean Rowe's experience transacting in the Brisbane property market, and actual costs vary depending on the property, timing, and individual circumstances.
How Does Dean Rowe Buyers Agency Differ From Other Agencies?
Most buyer's agents sound similar, until you look at how they operate. The difference lies in process, precision, and execution, that's where results are made or lost.
Commission-based or sliding-scale fees, 2 to 2.8%
Flat, transparent fee, no sliding scales, no percentage models
High client volume, 10 to 20 buyers at once
Low-volume, high focus, a small number of clients so every engagement gets full attention
Delegated teams, meet the director once
Direct involvement from brief to settlement, no handballing to juniors
Inconsistent updates, clients left guessing
Clear, proactive communication throughout
Reactive sourcing, waits for listings
Direct-to-vendor and targeted outreach, actively shortlisting off-market opportunities
Platform-driven "hot suburb" approach
Independent research, based on council and planning data, not groupthink
Developer kickbacks and referral fees
No developer incentives, no bias, the client is the only client
Borderless agencies outsourcing inspections
Local, on-ground due diligence, every property personally inspected or verified
Conflicting briefs, overlapping clients
No conflicting briefs, never representing two buyers competing for the same property
The fees
The Fee Breakdown
Total fee: $17,990 + GST
This happens in two parts.
1. Upfront Retainer: $1,490 + GST per month
What Dean does under the retainer
- Locking in and validating your buyer's brief, goals, timing, and budget
- Considering lifestyle, mobility, and long-term needs
- Identifying suitable areas and property types
- Shortlisting suitable properties and attending inspections personally, midweek and Saturdays
- Assessing layout, access, and building condition on every property
- A two-stage due diligence process
- Reviewing body corporate records, sinking funds, and financial position
- Building and pest inspections arranged and attended on your behalf
- Reviewing contracts and confirming legal and financial details before you sign
- Determining fair market value and structuring your offer
- Negotiating directly with the selling agent, on your behalf, so you never deal with them yourself
- Coordinating with your conveyancer and broker throughout
- One point of contact managing the whole process, start to finish
2. Success Fee
The balance, less any retainers already paid, becomes payable once your purchase reaches unconditional, that's when finance, due diligence, and building and pest clauses are all satisfied, typically 7 to 10 days after the contract date. This is when your final invoice is issued.
For example, if your search takes 2 months, you'll have paid 2 × $1,490 + GST ($2,980 + GST) in retainer by that point. The remaining balance, $15,010 + GST, is what's payable once we go unconditional.
CLIENT STORY
Tony and Lenda. 75 years young. 50 years together. One more big move to make.
Tony and Lenda had just sold their acreage in Beaudesert, west of Brisbane.
The grandkids were on the Gold Coast. That's where they needed to be.
Staying at their daughter's place in between, time was not on their side.
I drove out, sat with them, and listened to 50 years of life together
Eight properties inspected between Hope Island & Southport.
We found this gem in Southport.
Secured on a Sunday night before the Monday crowd of buyers
Tony and Lenda now pinch themselves every morning waking up to this view.
"We couldn't have done this without Dean. He made the whole process easy." Tony & Lenda
How did Dean help Tony and Lenda avoid the traps?
- Scheduled and shortlisted properties for them, only showing what genuinely matched their brief
- Widened the search from Hope Island to Southport once it was clear that's where the right property was
- Educated Tony and Lenda on building types they hadn't considered, and ran background checks on an off-the-plan developer whose apartment they'd fallen for, exiting that contract after due diligence flagged too many risks
- Negotiated on a Sunday night, before a lineup of cash buyers arrived on Monday with offers
If you'd like to discuss your next move, please fill out this form and Dean will give you a call back.