How Nobilis Is Paid

If you are comparing property advisers, you will meet two models. It is worth understanding both, because the difference determines what you pay and where the incentives sit.

The two models

Fee-for-service. You pay the adviser directly, typically a fixed fee or a percentage of the purchase price. The adviser takes nothing from the seller. You carry the cost.

The selling channel, which is our model. Nobilis is remunerated by the licensed estate agents appointed to sell each project. Those arrangements sit entirely within the selling channel. You pay us nothing.

What that means for the price you pay

This is the part that matters, so we will be blunt about it.

We do not set property prices and we do not add a margin. The price is set by the developer. Buying through Nobilis costs you exactly the same as approaching that developer directly. You are not paying a premium for our involvement, because there is no premium to pay.

At times the selling channel can secure outcomes not available buying direct: a partial rebate at settlement, a reduced deposit, or included upgrades. Where those are offered, we pass them on to you.

The fair objection, and our answer

The reasonable challenge is this: if you are paid from the selling side, are you really working for me?

Here is our answer. Our business depends on repeat clients and referrals, not on any single transaction. A buyer we push into an unsuitable purchase does not come back, does not refer anyone, and may well tell people. The commercial incentive to give you straight advice is stronger than the incentive to close a deal, and it is not close.

In practice that means if a property does not stack up for your circumstances, we say so. We have told buyers to wait, to look in a different suburb, and to walk away from projects. That is not generosity, it is how the business survives.

What we are not

We think you should know the limits as clearly as the benefits.

• We do not hold our own stock. We are not selling you something we own, so we have no inventory to clear.
• We are not independent in the fee-for-service sense. We are paid by the selling channel and we say so plainly rather than describing ourselves in a way that implies otherwise.
• We are not licensed to give credit, legal, migration, tax or financial advice. We coordinate independent specialists around your purchase, and each of them advises you in their own right.
• We do not represent every development in Melbourne. We work with a curated group of developers. If what you want sits outside that, we will tell you rather than steer you to what we have.

How to check any adviser, including us

Four questions worth asking whoever you speak to:

• Who pays you, and how much, on this specific purchase?
• Does your fee change depending on which property I choose?
• Do you hold or own any of the stock you are showing me?
• Have you ever told a client not to proceed? What happened?

A straight answer to all four tells you most of what you need to know.

General information only. Nobilis does not provide credit, legal, migration, tax or financial advice. Independent professional advice is recommended before any property purchase decision.