How to Buy Property Without Paying $20K to a Buyer’s Agent

How to Buy Property Without Paying $20K to a Buyer’s Agent...

In this episode of The Mortgage Chat, Tony sits down with Sean Singh, founder of PropSpotter, to talk about a game-changing alternative for investors who want real research, suburb selection, and property guidance — without the 💰$15K–$20K price tag.

We cover:
🔍 What PropSpotter does (and what they don’t)
🧠 How they help time-poor and first-time investors
💡 Why $2K might be all you need to get started
📈 Real examples of clients finding success without a buyer’s agent
📊 How they find the “warm spots” before they boom
🏡 What yields they’re securing today (hint: 5.95%+ in metro Melbourne)

If you're looking to invest interstate or feel priced out of buyer’s agents — this episode’s for you. 👇

🎧 LISTEN TO THE PODCAST
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0ey99ngIhSFhO1TfRAMcqG
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@themortgageagency

📍 FIND US HERE
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📅 Book a quick call ⬇️
https://themortgageagency.com.au/contact/

Tony Xia | The Mortgage Agency
📞 0423 718 612
📩 Tony@themortgageagency.com.au

🛡️ Tony Xia is a Credit Representative (477089) of Mortgage Specialists Pty Ltd ACN 050 601 093 (Australian Credit Licence 387025)

Transcript

say you're ready to invest
but you don't know where to start
or you don't know where to invest
cause you don't know if it's a good investment
property or not
you can't afford a full buyers agency fee
which could cost you up to $20,000
I got the perfect solution for you today
I'm your host Tony Shah
and thanks for joining me
on another episode of the Mortgage Chat
today I have Shawn Singh
the director and founder of Props Water
a research house
who I have teamed up with to help my investor clients
who is bridging the gap for investors
who cannot afford a full buys agency service
that can cost up to $20,000
so now let me introduce you
my mate Sean right here
pleasure to be here Tony
so Sean
before we get into the nitty gritty bits about props
water give us a little bit about your background
yeah certainly Tony
so I grew up in Singapore
moved here in moved here to Australia in 2,003
did my school and studies here
and then started out in the finance industry
found that that was pretty boring
so I left after
two or three years to start my own business um
that didn't go so well learnt a lot of lessons
but over the last seven years
I've spent my time at a fintech business called stake
um while I was there
I also was an avid property investor
and Tony knows all about that
but most recently I found a gap in the market um
a gap where people
needed assurance about what they wanted to buy
but they weren't sure exactly where to buy
and they weren't sure if their decisions were correct
and so
they needed a little bit of that validated as well
um that's essentially how Prop Spotter was born
Props Porter is the smarter way home
mm hmm so tell me about Props Porter right
and um
we've we've worked together a fair bit
you know you're a client of ours
and we never work with buyers agents
cause I just don't like working with buyers agents
I don't think majority of them should be paid
the fees that should be paid right
could be 12 15
20 grand whatever it could be okay
so you tell me what is prop water
um what do you guys
do and essentially how you help our clients
yeah so Prop Spotter is the Smarter Way Home
really three simple steps in our process
the first one
is that we sit down for a strategy session
with any of our potential clients
we want to understand what they're looking for
from their property investment
where are they looking
what are they considering
and what their long term strategy is
with all of that in mind
we then select the right suburb for them
after that strategy session
our team will begin to send out curated property
listings
of eligible properties in that suburb
that fit your criteria
or the investor's criteria in this case
and we'll do that until you find a property
the negotiation and due diligence is on your end
but our team are here to support
yeah sure
so essentially you're doing all the groundwork right
you're doing the research
you're drilling down the area okay
you're meeting the scope of the client
you're sending the client listings okay
of properties that fit those criteria
within those locations but essentially
they do the negotiations themselves
or they find the property themselves
um is that is that what it is
they'll have to do the negotiations and due
diligence on that specific property themselves
so things like organising the builders
and pest inspections um
running any models on
any renovations that they'd like to do on the property
um all of that will have to be done by themselves yup
but they're getting all of this service
at a fraction of the price
sure sure
sure of a full service buyers agent right
but but you know yes
you know um
you want them to do the DD themselves right
but you know for pest and building conveyance
etcetera depreciation reports
can you help them out at all or or yeah
we've got most certainly we've got the contacts
we've got a client
you know who's currently doing a property in Melbourne
um we've provided them with a renovation contact
a building and pest inspection contact
a property management contact um
the liability just falls onto them
to sort of organise and coordinate that
sure that's where a lot of the time suck happens in a
you know full service bias agency
yeah cool
so so you just wanna be essentially
you just want to stick with just as a research house
essentially providing the client all the information
that's right we provide them with all the information
the right suburb to buy
and we send them eligible properties
the rest of the honest is on the client
sure
if they're really into getting that property investment
journey underway
they've got everything in front of them to get started
sure
so essentially Prop
Spotter
is a research house that does 80% of the work for you
and the client does the other 20%
for a fraction of the price essentially yeah
one tenth of the price
one tenth could be one could be clear on that
so Sean
I've come across a lot of boys agents in my life okay
my I get calls you know
once a week once every two weeks
boys agents want to work with me
they want referrals etcetera
we're not interested we've never been interested right
because we just don't feel
a lot of them deserve what they get paid right 12
15 20 grand
but they're finding properties up in Townsville
that's cost like
call it 404 50
500 grand
so I just don't find a value in that sometimes okay
um where you know the client is needs to pay 15
20 grand for a property that cost 500 grand
and they're already struggling
finding a deposit themselves okay
so tell me what is the actual cost
you've come across for full service by agency
yeah so I think seen full service buyers
agents range from anywhere as low as $8,000
for those just getting started on their journey
yup to upwards of $20,000 um
met a friend of a friend couple weeks ago
who has nine investment properties
each one acquired through a buyers agent
at an average price of $20,000
so that's $180,000 in buyer's agency fees
over their lifetime which is insane
that's half the value of a decent property
yup yup yup why not
in the the highest I've seen it is 22 grand plus GST
why um
that's the highest I've seen it
that's a brand new car I know right
and the client paid 2 2 payments up front
so 44 GS actually no
it wasn't 44 GS
it was a 40 GS cause I got a bit of a discount right
but ended up getting the full funds refunded
um mate
cause
the properties they were recommending was just dog shit
that's half the problem
I've come across one of our recent clients
um went with a buyer's agent who I will not name um
but they were suggesting properties in flood zone areas
in rural Queensland that were not Townsville
yup they were not Mackay
they were not some of these places that were popping um
and essentially putting pressure on the client
mm hmm um
who's now our client to accept it
yup um
after a while the client went guys
if you're not going to work
to the brief that I gave you
then I'd love my money back yeah
the cricket started chirping
and he never heard from them again
yeah and
it took him two months before he picked up the phone
and called us and he's now settling on a property
so what's the actual cost to use pops by these days
the cost to use Prop Spotter is a flat fee of $2,000
that's all inclusive including GST
it's less than your council rates
so essentially two grand you're doing the research
you're drilling down the brief
you're sending them the locations
you're sending them listings
per week
and all they have to do is
just find one of those properties
they like
and they negotiate on the properties themselves
and the price themselves
and carry out their due diligence
yeah mate
that's killer that's killer
that's it mate right
and I personally believe some
investors are happy to do the negotiations themselves
right
they just want the location where it's best suits them
they want the validation
that they're making the right decision
validation exactly what
exactly what it is they want the validation
but they wanna go
they wanna pick up the properties themselves
and they wanna do the negotiations
that's right
so let's talk about the process right
from start to finish with Prop Spider
so obviously um
how we work so well
is because a lot of our clients with pre approvals
especially if they're based in Sydney
they wanna invest in the state
they don't know where to invest right
so we map out a plan for them
then next we pass them on to you
that's why it works so good the last six months
okay so let's just start from my journey first
sure okay
so what we normally like to do is um
we have a client that wants to invest into state
and they live in Sydney etcetera
and we map out a plan for them
we map out the bottom power
we give them different scenarios
then the next step is okay
where to invest right
and that's where we pass them on to you
alright so when I've done my part with the bottom power
with the scenarios and I pass them on to you
what do you guys do for the
what do you guys do with the client
yeah so historically
what's happened is the client will reach out to us
um it starts off with a 15
20 minute phone call where we just
try to understand what the client's really seeking out
to achieve um
we had one last week where a client
a client was looking to buy a property in the SMSF
hold it for up to 15 years
but they didn't want to be out of pocket
but still be exposed to capital growth
now through that um
we then send out a send out an invoice to the client
client pays the the invoice
which is a 50% deposit um
and we tie up a strategy session
at the strategy session we take all of those metrics
and discussions we had earlier
and we go deeper in real time
so we pull up all of the various property
analytics tools that we have access to um
we understand the client's needs
and we sit there right in front of the client
not trying to do anything fancy and crunch the numbers
right through that process
the outcome of that one hour session
which can sometimes go for 90 minutes
um is to lock down to one suburb yup right
a lot of property investing is about where to invest um
and it's where to invest that suits your risk tolerance
your needs your future strategy
once we've locked down on that one server
by the end of the strategy session
we write up a report for the client
acknowledging the next steps
and immediately we begin sending out suitable
property listings to those clients sure um
the clients can call us
they can discuss any of the properties
that we've sent across um
and we can advise them on how to handle negotiations
with real estate agents uh
building and pest contacts
property managers in that um
in that specific specific suburb um
but the rest is up to them yeah
so this report that you generate or you write up from
is specifically for that suburb only correct
not generic right
not correct not generic as in like
you know someone
some wise agent out there may be writing up a report
but it's generic because it's all about Townsville only
and Townsville's got hundreds of suburbs right
so that's what I'm trying to difficiate here yeah
no this is
we have locked down into one suburb
yup right
we are writing up a we are writing up a report saying
you know Tony has come to us
this is what Tony wants to seek out of his investment
and we've recommended this suburb because 1
2 and points 1 2 and 3
yup yup okay
good
so what's the next step after that
alright say you found the location
yup uh
you do you get you provided them with the report okay
so what happens after that
so right after that we begin the hunt
mm hmm right
so we're keeping an active watch on that suburb
and we're sending out any property listings that meet
that investor's criteria right
to them as soon as we get them
so is that is that a a a email weekly fortnightly
what is it multiple times a week
yup um
and we're trying to automate a lot of that stack
at the moment um
so it makes both our lives and our clients lives easier
um but we are keeping an active watch
on that particular market
sending out listings as soon as they come live
to those clients to take action on
sure sure sure okay
fantastic
so essentially the client will get an email every week
with certain listings for example
and their job is to look at those properties
and see which one they like
and potentially make an offer on them straight away
while it's still hot
that's right yup
the client will do their own negotiations
their own due diligence
make an offer on the property
with the view to potentially acquire it
so what so let me ask you this question right
what if the client doesn't know
what is the average price around that area is
can you still help out trying to give him a guide
as in
what is actually the price guide around that area
yeah most certainly
so the way we've worked with our clients in the past
Tony is we've sent them comparables
mm hmm um
and we've said to them you know
their negotiating skills are great
and job done they've acquired their investment property
obviously you're a research house
you're not a full buys agency OK
that's why you're doing as a fraction of the price
OK so
what are some of the variables that you draw down on
when you're looking at data
and look at certain locations for this client
yeah so first
we really wanna take a step back and look at a
what's the client's expectations of the property
is it capital growth is it positive cash flow
and
how willing are they to hold on to negative cash flow
you know do they see themselves being employed or
or getting a huge wage over the next 10
15 years
for the timeline that they wish to hold this property
and through all of that
we then sit down and look at suburbs that are growing
that meet their criteria right
we've got to remember
the market is moving every single day Tony
and we can
use a real life example that you did a loan for
you know 10 months ago for one of my properties yup
right yup
suburb was suburb was cold back then
yup North Frankston
Frankston north yeah
Frankston North sorry
suburb was cold back then
you know negotiations were
were in favour of the buyer yup
um and in just 10 months
that's changed tremendously
yeah hundred percent right
um last weekend
a house just sold for 150 grand over guide
mm hmm
so the market shifts and it can shift very quickly yup
um and we're looking at that yup
because you know
some of the data platforms out there
core logic etcetera
they can be up to three months delayed in their data
this is just an estimation yeah
so they're not they're not really looking
what happened on the ground last week
mm hmm we're doing a combination of that yup
to ascertain what's right for the client yup
so your data is up to date essentially 110% right
so essentially
you're looking for the warm spots that's ready to go
for the hot spots right
so I say it all the time a lot of your buyers
agents out there
are just selling you areas that's hot already
we don't want the hot spots
we want the warm spots that's ready to go boom right
and that's what you've done with Frankston
Frankston North sorry
Frankston North I think that's the right way to put it
right you essentially have to look at the warm spots
yup um
before they're hot yup
because when they're hot
it's going to be a struggle to get into those markets
and you'll be paying overs
yeah and since that's what you done
and I'm using Frankston North as an example right
because you bought that when it's still very cold
you said it was very cold right
and when did you buy that again
sorry what
what around what time frame
we settled on September 30th, 2024
and we're in July 2025 now
yup and it was flat for a while right
so from September
so when you purchased in September till like
let's go to the end of the year December
it was very flat correct
it was cold there was no
there was no growth no nothing right
so the growth actually really came in January
in January so the median
and look for those watching
my numbers may be a little bit off
but the median in Frankston
when I bought was sitting at about 625,000 yep
um the median today
just a mere 10 months later
is 740,000 yup
um and that hasn't yet really
and that's lagging behind by about two months
yup hasn't yet reflected the growth we've seen in July
um you know
if you look at recent real estate sales
I'd probably put the median at 7 80 yeah
so you're seeing about 150 k worth of growth
in the last 10 months alone
most of it like you said Tony
in the last five months this year
yeah right
so you're looking for the warm spots
like I said yeah
and that's what we wanna do right
we wanna look for the warm spots
that's ready to go to the hot spot okay
we don't wanna invest in a hot spot because
so if it's hot it'll probably go a little bit higher
but it'll probably stay flat after a while
cause they only get so hot for so
cause they only stay hot for a certain amount of time
you also have to consider that hot spots
you're getting in at the peak
yeah that's right
and so the peak
you've already missed out on probably half the boom
75% of the boom so you've got 25% left to go
and then you're either flat lining
or you're sitting in a decline for a
that'll hang around for a very
very long time yeah
Perth is a great example of that
some buyers agents um
are still recommending some parts of Perth
um but Perth has seen its better days in 2024
yeah and it's
it's beginning to flatline now in 2025
yeah sure sure
so big Sean
are you more focusing on um
new properties or existing properties
what what
what sort of properties do you normally look for
your clients
existing properties yeah
I've only ever bought existing properties for myself
um prop spotter is not looking at this from
the lens of home and land packages though
look you can make some money out of those yeah
but you can't anyway right
because cause it's a
it's a house and land package
well the data's not there
right to see it
yes right
essentially exactly right
but and also no off the plan apartments
yeah for
for anyone watching um
we are focused solely on established houses
and depending on the investor's criteria townhouses um
but very rarely units or apartments
yup yup
yup yup
I mean
tell me
how many units has boomed the last 5 years in Sydney
look eastern suburbs
yeah eastern suburbs
a little bit in the lower north shore
yup but forget about western Sydney
yup all of those units are practically going backwards
exactly
so Buddy obviously
Prop Spot is here to bridge the gap for investors right
that want to invest in interstate okay
or anywhere essentially
alright now
who are your typical clients
we've had a range of clients
um so we've had firstly that first home investor
someone who knows
they wanna get into the investment property game they
but they don't know where to start
yeah right
so we help sort of corral them
if you wish into understanding the data
looking at the data understanding their needs
and their aspirations for their investment property
um and then finding that right suburb for them
yeah yeah
the second type of client we've had um
is the experienced property investor
mm hmm right
so these guys have got a couple of properties
under their belt already
and what they're really looking for is
they've understood a little bit of the data
but they really want to spend time with a seasoned
professional
who relooks at their same data
and gives them that validation
that they're on the right track right
or challenges their thinking
and so we had a really good call last week
where somebody was thinking of
you know a particular suburb
and we challenged that thinking a little bit more
to say oh actually
well what
what makes you believe that
this is what this property will do in 10 years right
and they gave some great answers yup
but then we said OK
well if you believe that
why not consider this and they went
actually I never considered that suburb before either
but your reasons are valid
and so it's that little bit of back and forth
that helps challenge their thinking
that they're willing to pay for
and that's why we work so well together
for some of our clients right
because we have clients that are professionals
that work in the city you know
um or even tradies
whatever you wanna call them
and they're just so time
poor first time investors got the borrowing power
they can't invest in Sydney
cause it's so damn expensive right
and they wanna invest in interstate
call it you know
Queensland WA
South Australia Melbourne
whatever you wanna call it OK
but they just don't know where to start right
and more importantly mate
they don't even have you know 12
15 or 20 grand to pay for full service buyers agent
and that's why we work so well
because you do it for a fraction of the price only
that's right I mean
so you know
our typical clients are really those first time
investors that maybe looking to buy interstate
but surprisingly also looking to buy in Sydney as well
just in suburbs they're not familiar with yup
um the thought of paying 15
to 20 thousand dollars to a full service buyers agent
doesn't sit well with them
or it's not in their budget yup
um they wanna
they want someone to hold their hand
while they look through that data
yup um
and help them pick that right suburb for them
anywhere in the country yup
um and help get them
help get them started on their journey
the next type of client we have is
the experienced property investor
these are people who have multiple properties
under their belt so
they don't really need that service of a full service
buyers agents
yeah um
they come to us basically
just to get some validation on their thinking
or have their thinking challenged yup
um and we've
you know we had one client last week
where we had a very great session
um they proposed that
they brought up that they were looking at suburb a
um we went through the reasons
they were looking at Suburb a
which were all valid and fair
yup but we said
well those reasons also apply to Suburb B
and in fact Suburb B had some
you know
had some pros to it that didn't apply to Suburb A
yeah yeah
yeah
and you made a valid point right there
right because some of these first time
investors
are actually finding it difficult to even save up
to get the foot into the property market right
you know
so the average prices these days are what 500,000 for
for a good investment right
that's right and what
what are what are the average
what's the average um
salary these days right
I think the median wage in this country
is hovering at about 75 to 80 grand
a year and what about
what about Sydney itself let's
let's let's use Sydney itself
I mean let's
let's say it's 95 95 right
so you're earning 95 right
but you need to save up 10% deposit for um
investment property right
call it 50 G's yep
okay stamp duty involved 2020
yep right
solicitor cost two and a half
two and a half right
if you wanna use a full buys agency service fee
what's that call it 15 G's
yeah so now you
now you're trying now you're upwards of 85 grand right
right and 95 grand post tax is probably 70 grand
a 70 grand salary exactly right
so that's what we say
a lot of our first time investors
actually struggling to even save up for this deposit
let alone trying to use a buyers agent costing 12 15
20 G's right well
exactly right
and then use you guys fraction of the price
one tenth of the price there you go right
there you go
so for our audience
let's just draw down on a real life example right now
okay let's do it
we worked with a client right
we got him the pre approval
and he just purchased a property down in Melbourne
Victoria okay
I'll let you explain what we've just done
yeah so client had a pretty particular budget here
um he was working to about
a purchase price of about $550,000
um he was adamant
that he wanted to be in one of the capital cities
so that's uh in in Australia
particularly on the east coast
so that's Sydney Melbourne Brisbane
um Brisbane's had its days
so that's out Sydney
you're not getting a house and land for
for 500 in around the 500 grand Mark
um and Melbourne
as of the last couple of months is starting to see
you know a little bit of a rise
and so when we got started
and we started looking at the numbers um
the only option was Melbourne amongst the three cities
and through that as I'm as we spoke about earlier
Frankston North is already on a tear
so that's that's gone um
the suburbs near the airport Broadmeadows
Dallas they were already on a tear um
and most of Melbourne is essentially starting to rip
but close to it laid a suburb called Diggers Rest
lots of vacant land
lots of house and land packages coming up
but a small allocation of houses
old houses near the station
established houses that have been there for 30
40+ years um
and we snagged one for the client for $535,000 um
with a granny flat with a granny OK
with a granny yup
now the granny does need some work to it
but
once you throw in about $40,000 worth of renovations
which the client has gotten a quote for
and is gonna start pretty soon um
you're looking for
you're looking at a house and granny
that will yield about $700 a week
for a all in price of about $610,000
so so once a granny flat's rented out
what's the yield you're looking at then
yeah
so my yield calculations are a little bit different
I like to include all the costs yeah
a lot of people just do it off purchase price yeah
which is bullshit exactly in this scenario
once I account for all the costs
we're looking at a yield of 5.95% 5.95
5.95% in metropolitan Melbourne wow right
yep
5.95% in metropolitan Melbourne
off a total all in cost of $610,000
yeah and by the way his cost of funds right now is 5.8%
right so right at interest only
so if his cost is 5.8%
and his future years gonna be around just under 6%
but he'll be positive gear sooner or later
once the small rate drops 110%
and that's the intention here right
we want to create a property portfolio
that generates you cash flow
gives you opportunities for capital growth
and be in a capital city Yep
which was the client's brief in this case
so for our so for our audience out there
so are you seeing diggers rest as the next warm spot
that's ready to go to the hot spot
it depends okay
it depends right
it depends on what it depends on what the client
for a burnout for a burnout for our clients out there
for a burnout for our orders out there mate
come on I think every client has different objectives
right right
and so you know
when I look back at myself 12 months ago
I wanted to be in the next warm spot
that was turning into a hot spot
yep in this particular client's case
he wanted to be in metropolitan Melbourne
sure on a neutrally geared basis
sure that was his idea of a hot spot
yup and so Diggers Rest was the right suburb for him
yup because we were able to get him in
on a neutrally geared basis
mm hmm now
you know
if you were out there looking at the next warm spot
that's turning into a hot spot
Broad Meadows Meadow Heights um
Dallas Coolaroo
some of those suburbs there
what's the prices around there
they were 5:50 yup
they're now touching six yep really
$600,000 mm hmm
um and I think in the next six months
they'll be a hot spot yep yep
there you go guys okay
start start researching or get
or get in contact with Prop Spotter right here
so Sean for our audience and viewers out there
how can they get in contact with you buddy
Props spotter.com.au Tony
that's it that's the website
that's it got a contact us form there
or we've got our phone number up there
yep jump on there
give us a ring um
and
one of our team will be on the other side of the phone
ready to chat fantastic
so there you have it everyone
thanks for joining me
on another episode of the Mortgage Chat
and please stay in tune
and look out for more episodes in the future
cause we're gonna do a lot more content with Shawn
from the pops water team as always
thanks for joining me and have a great day
TODAY I HAVE SEAN SINGH
THE DIRECTOR AND FOUNDER OF PROPSPOTTER
A RESEARCHER
WHO I HAVE TEAMED UP WITH TO HELP MY INVESTOR CLIENTS
WHO IS BRIDGING THE GAP FOR INVESTORS
WHO CANNOT AFFORD A FULL BUYERS AGENCY SERVICE
THAT CAN COST UP TO $20,000
PROP SPOTTER IS THE SMARTER WAY HOME
THE FIRST ONE IS THAT
WE SIT DOWN FOR A STRATEGY SESSION
WITH ANY OF OUR POTENTIAL CLIENTS
WE WANT TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY'RE LOOKING FOR
FROM THEIR PROPERTY INVESTMENT
WHERE ARE THEY LOOKING
WHAT ARE THEY CONSIDERING
AND WHAT THEIR LONG TERM STRATEGY IS