By TINA LIPTAI
With a background in property law, buyers’ agent Nick Viner is dedicated to delivering exceptional results for clients while building a legacy of advocacy and professionalism.
Relentless dedication to excellence. That’s what soccer fan Nick Viner most admires about professional players and it’s a mindset that he aims to bring to his own work every day.
“Cristiano Ronaldo is a big inspiration,” Nick explained. “He encapsulates dedicated professionalism. He has relentlessly pursued excellence in his chosen profession, year after year, across three decades. Actually, he really would make a fantastic buyers’ agent!”
Nick knows a thing or two about consistency and hard work. After 17 years as a buyers’ agent, he’s seen the specialty grow from a relatively unknown service to a thriving and competitive part of the real estate industry.
“The industry has certainly changed a lot since I first started out. And, over the years, how I view success has evolved – but I’ve always been driven by advocacy, and building a good reputation and legacy.”
Finding his place
While Nick’s legal background definitely helped to prepare him for many aspects of working as a buyers’ agent, it was the task of buying his own home in Sydney that unlocked the possibility of a whole new career.
“My Dad was a lawyer, so it made sense for me to be a lawyer too, but it never felt quite right,” he explained. “I remember after my first law lecture at university I called Dad and said ‘it’s not for me’. However, I persevered with it for another 10 years.”
Nick, who grew up in England, gravitated towards property law and worked for 10 years on property matters, including residential and retail subdivisions, property litigation and conveyancing. He said his interest in property was sparked by fond childhood memories of holidaying in the South of France with his family and looking at old ruins that were for sale.
“We’d go and look at all these derelict barns and medieval ruins that were on the market, just out of interest,” he remembered fondly. “We never bought any. But, as a kid, I could see the potential for these places and I think that drove my early interest in property.”
Then in 2004, at the age of 26, he moved to Sydney and began looking to buy a home, which gave him a crash course in how to find the best property while working within set parameters.
“I spent a lot of time researching suburbs and properties,” he said. “I had a budget and a list of features that were important to me. I wanted to buy a house as close as possible to the CBD and that’s how I ended up in the Inner West. I bought the worst house on the best street.
“After the success of that purchase, I had the confidence – supported by my legal background – to then help friends and work colleagues find a house. I did the research and negotiations, and helped them to buy their properties too.”
Career pivot
Realising his career skills aligned with his new-found knack for purchasing property was a lightbulb moment.
“I’d never heard of buyers’ agency before,” Nick recalled. “This was around 2007 or 2008, and buyers’ agency was still a fledgling industry in New South Wales at that time. But I had a strong sense that this was something that combined my interest in property and my legal skills, and was definitely worth pursuing.”
After completing training and gaining experience working as a junior buyers’ agent, Nick knew his career pivot was the right move and decided to launch his own business – Buyer’s Domain.
“I soon discovered that I was better than I thought,” he laughed. “My buyers’ agency business is essentially the same today as it was back then. It’s me working as the sole buyers’ agent. I prefer it this way, because I can stay focused on doing the work and offering the highest levels of service for my clients. The buck stops with me, and my clients know what they’re getting.”
In 2013, Nick added property management as a service for investor clients and his wife Tanya oversees this side of the business.
Art and science
Remaining the sole buyers’ agent in the business means Nick can take the time to dive deeper with his clients and truly understand what they’re looking for. This is invaluable, especially if they can’t articulate it themselves.
“Sometimes you take a brief, but you get a sense that it’s not quite the full story,” he explained. “There’s often an element of psychology involved, where you’re deciphering what your client is really looking for. Sometimes people aren’t quite sure about want they want or they can’t express themselves clearly. Then there are challenges buying for a couple who aren’t quite on the same page or express contradictory ideas.
“There’s absolutely an art to understanding what your client is asking for and then delivering it. There’s also the science of interpreting objective data, such as recent comparable sales, to assess how much a property is likely to sell for.”
Nick said that buyers’ agency is not about trying to sell a property to a client. Great buyers’ agents use a combination of both art and science to find the perfect property for their client and, in doing so, de-risk the process and negotiate the best deal.
Nick started putting this into practice early on in his career. One experience that came to mind was working with a couple who were looking to upsize.
“They were upgrading from a modest house in the Inner West of Sydney to a much larger home on the Lower North Shore,” he recalled. “However, the brief was very vague. Other than the number of bedrooms, there was no clarity about their preferred property style or even preferred suburbs.
“I was engaged on a Thursday and started inspecting the properties that I’d shortlisted on the Saturday. There was one property in particular that stood out, because it was a landmark Federation home with a lot of character and views of Sydney Harbour. In discussions with the selling agent the following Monday, I learnt that the vendors had received an offer and were close to selling, however they would allow my clients to inspect the property that afternoon – otherwise the property would be sold the next day.
“In short, I presented this one house to my clients, who fell in love with it immediately. I conducted the due diligence on the Tuesday and the contract for sale was signed on the Wednesday – less than one week after my engagement.
“It’s one of my proudest moments, because the art and science of being a buyers’ agent came together so well. I used data and facts to find and assess the property. But I also had a strong sense that the home would be right for my clients because, having met them at their previous home, I understood their needs on a deeper level and was able to guide them through the process.”
Leadership and advocacy
Nick said that the real estate industry has evolved a lot since he started out and among his many contributions has been his commitment to the industry’s broader shift towards professionalism.
Nick served as Chair of the REINSW Buyers Agency Chapter Committee for four years and was a member of the Chapter Committee for more than a decade. During this time, he worked with the Chapter Committee to drive amendments to add buyers’ agents to the front page of the Contract for Sale and Purchase of Land. He was also instrumental in contributing to amendments to the Residential Conveyancing Protocol to clarify the role of a buyers’ agent in the conveyancing transaction.
“These changes really opened up buyers’ agency to a wider audience by boosting credibility and recognition of our role in the transaction,” he explained.
But while the visibility of buyers’ agents has certainly improved, Nick said that there are still a lot of misconceptions about what a buyers’ agent does.
“People think that I’m just an agent who finds properties, but the reality is that there’s a lot more to it than that,” he emphasised. “I’m a property acquisition specialist and a professional negotiator. Throughout the process, I’m advocating on behalf of my clients. Having been a lawyer, I genuinely enjoy the advocacy side of my role.
“In fact, I prefer the term buyers’ advocate, rather than buyers’ agent, as it clearly distinguishes our role from that of selling agents on the basis that we act solely in the buyer’s interest.”
People power
As the real estate industry has evolved and recognition of buyers’ agents has increased, Nick said that buyers’ agency as a specialisation has become a more competitive market. There are now a far greater number of buyers’ agents, but this only makes him more determined to deliver better service for clients.
“There’s a lot of discussion at the moment about the immediate impact of AI on the industry, but I believe that there’s no substitute for genuine human connection and expertise,” he said.
“Yes, someone can do their own research on a property or the suburb they want to buy in – and these days, there’s a wealth of information and resources available online, some useful and others not. But there’s a real art to reading people, sourcing the right properties and negotiating to get the best outcome. That’s not something AI can help with or replace.
“One of the biggest pieces of advice I’d give someone starting out as a buyers’ agent today or someone who wants to improve their business, is to focus on developing exceptional communication skills. Being able to clearly communicate with both your client and the selling agent is imperative for a good outcome. Emails and texts are fine, but spending time face to face, especially with your clients, is very important because this is a people business.”