Australian buyers’ agents Cohen Handler are expanding their Melbourne business, citing a desperate need for greater buyer representation in the auction-crazy city. Ben Handler and Simon Cohen opened in Melbourne in 2014 after operating in Sydney for five years.

They are now looking to move into a bigger Melbourne office space and plan to double their team within the next year.

The firm has close relationships with real estate agents throughout Melbourne and Sydney, and try to purchase property before it goes to auction.

“We have access to off-market properties and are professional negotiators," says Handler, the firm's CEO. "On average this means that we can save our clients 10 per cent on the asking price of the property."

Handler says that Melbourne is a great market for opportunistic buyers because its population is expected to match or even outgrow that of Sydney by 2053.

"While the yields from property are lower in Melbourne than in Sydney, we are finding that capital growth is a really strong factor in the investment equation," he said.

“There are a number of key differences to the Melbourne property market; the most predominant of which is the higher number of properties that go to auction," said Handler.

"Melbourne sells more properties at auction than other cities around the country.

People are time poor, and in a market where auctions play such a big role it means that they invest time, effort and emotion into a property, only to lose out at auction. Or if they do win, they often pay more than they would like, just to secure the property,” he said.

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Cohen Handler launches high-end property service