Cohen Handler

What Cohen Handler does

Cohen Handler is a Sydney-headquartered, privately held property buyer's agency operating across 9 Australian cities (Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Adelaide, Perth, Canberra, Newcastle). Founded in 2009 by Simon Cohen after exposure to the more established buyer's-agent profession in Los Angeles, the firm acts as a licensed buyer's advocate for individuals and families purchasing residential owner-occupier or investment property, with adjacent commercial services offered through the related Costi Cohen entity. The company reports over $10 billion in cumulative client property purchases, 4,000+ transactions, and 100,000+ inspections since inception, with management claiming 7-13% average savings for clients across approximately 1,700 transactions and a 4-6 week average time-to-purchase versus a 9-month market average.

The service offering is delivered by an in-house team of area-specialist buyer's agents and is structured as a multi-module platform: full-service search and acquisition, expert negotiation, property search and discovery with off-market/pre-market access, auction bidding representation, property inspections, due diligence (building/pest/valuation), investment property acquisition strategy, a buyer brief/consultation, an overseas buyer relocation track (partnered with Cohen Farquharson for executive leasing), and the CH Secure property acquisition sub-brand. There is no proprietary software platform; the underlying capability is human expertise combined with relational access to selling agents, which underpins the ~60% off-market share of monthly client purchases. The company holds no patents, has no AI/ML or API surface, and reports no external funding rounds.

The business model is purely transactional: fees are typically structured as approximately 1% of the property purchase price for full-service engagements, with fixed-fee alternatives for auction-only or standalone evaluation/negotiation work. Go-to-market combines direct sales (website enquiry, phone, in-person consultation), referrals, co-hosted buyer information evenings with partners such as Azura Financial and Cooley Auctions, and substantial earned media through founder Simon Cohen's role on Amazon Prime's Luxe Listings Sydney and Nicole Jacobs' profile from The Block TV. Customer segments split between residential owner-occupiers (first-home buyers, families, downsizers) and property investors (yield- and capital-growth-focused), with smaller commercial and overseas/interstate buyer cohorts.

Name

Cohen Handler

Legal name

COHEN HANDLER PTY LIMITED

Website

https://cohenhandler.com.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Cohen Handler is a privately held Australian property buyer's agency founded in 2009 by Simon Cohen. It represents residential and investment property buyers across 9 Australian cities using in-house agents, charging roughly 1% transaction fees and sourcing approximately 60% of purchases off-market.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Real Estate Buyer Agency Services

NAICS

Offices of Real Estate Agents and Brokers (53121)

SIC

Real Estate Agents & Managers (For Others) (6531)

akta.pro primary industry

Buyer Representation Services (BPAJAAAJ)

Keywords

• Property buyer agency
• Buyer advocacy services
• Residential property search
• Auction bidding representation
• Investment property acquisition

Headquarters

HQ city

Sydney

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices9 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Buyer's Agency Fees: Cohen Handler charges fees for full-service property buying assistance, including property search, evaluation, negotiation, and auction bidding. Fees are typically structured as a percentage of the property purchase price (starting from approximately 1%) or as a flat fixed fee for specific services such as auction bidding only.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Cohen Handler is a full-service property buyers' agency that represents individual and investor buyers in residential, investment, and commercial property purchases across Australia. The core service combines property search, evaluation, negotiation, auction bidding, inspection, and due-diligence work delivered by in-house licensed buyer's agents. Fees are charged on a transaction basis, typically starting at approximately 1% of the purchase price, with fixed-fee options for discrete services such as auction bidding and standalone negotiation.

Product overview

Cohen Handler is a purpose-driven property buyers' agency offering a unified service platform for residential and investment property acquisition across Australia. The core offering is the Property Buyer's Agent Services, which encompasses various service modules including Investment Property Acquisition, Expert Property Negotiation, Property Buyer Brief, Property Search and Discovery, Auction Bidding Service, Property Inspections, Property Due Diligence, CH Secure, and Overseas Buyer Services. The company operates through multiple Australian locations (Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Adelaide, Perth, Canberra, Newcastle) and leverages extensive relationships with selling agents to provide clients access to off-market properties and expert representation throughout the property purchasing process.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• CH Secure: A specialized division of Cohen Handler focusing on property security and related services.

Products and services

• Property Buyer's Agent Services Full-service buyer's agent representation covering property search, evaluation, negotiation, and auction bidding for residential buyers across Australia. Delivered by in-house licensed buyer's agents across nine cities (Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Adelaide, Perth, Canberra, Newcastle).
• Investment Property Acquisition Specialised service for investors seeking income-generating and capital-growth properties, including yield and portfolio strategy, off-market investment sourcing, and purchase execution across Australian markets.
• Auction Bidding Service Standalone representation and bidding at property auctions, including pre-auction strategy, competition analysis, and on-the-day auction management. Available as a discrete engagement with its own fee structure (fixed fee or percentage of sale price).
• Expert Property Negotiation Standalone property evaluation and negotiation service to secure properties at the right price in private sale or auction settings, leveraging market knowledge and selling-agent relationships. Available as a standalone engagement at a lower fee than full buyer-agency service.
• CH Secure Specialised Cohen Handler division focused on secure property acquisition solutions for buyers in the Australian market.
• Overseas Buyer Services Relocation and remote property purchase service for international and interstate buyers entering the Australian market, delivered in partnership with Cohen Farquharson executive leasing partners. Covers search, inspection by proxy, due diligence, negotiation, and settlement.

Quantifiable outcome

• Saves clients 7–13% on property purchases based on comparables across ~1,700 transactions
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Nicole JacobscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 September 2024Nicole Jacobs, Melbourne's premiere buyers advocate with over 20 years of experience in the Melbourne property market and a property expert on The Block TV show, entered a strategic partnership with Cohen Handler. She leads Cohen Handler's Victorian operations as Managing Director, driving the growth of the team and expanding the agency's reach in Melbourne.
• Azura FinancialminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 August 2019Azura Financial co-hosted an exclusive buyer information evening with Cohen Handler and Cooley Auctions on August 22, 2019, covering buying strategies and property market updates. Azura Financial Director Tom Hawley participated as a guest speaker.
• Cooley AuctionsminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 August 2019Cooley Auctions co-hosted an exclusive buyer information evening with Cohen Handler and Azura Financial on August 22, 2019. Cooley Auctions MD Damien Cooley participated as a guest speaker to provide strategies for buying at auction.
• Cohen FarquharsonminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCohen Farquharson is described as Cohen Handler's executive leasing partner offering relocation services to assist clients transitioning to Australian property markets, particularly for overseas buyers relocating to cities such as Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, or Melbourne.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Metropole Property Strategists: Australian buyer's agency and property investment advisory founded by Michael Yardney, offering similar buyer representation, investment strategy, and off-market sourcing services across Australian markets, comparable in scale and service breadth to Cohen Handler.
• Henderson Advocacy: Melbourne-based buyer's agency providing buyer advocacy and property search services across Australia, operating in overlapping markets (especially Victoria) with a similar fee-for-service model to Cohen Handler.
• Property Mavens: Sydney-based buyer's agency offering buyer's agent services, auction bidding, and property search for residential and investment buyers, directly competing with Cohen Handler in the Sydney market on similar service modules.
• National Property Buyers: Australian buyer's agency with national coverage providing property search, negotiation, and auction bidding services, comparable to Cohen Handler's full-service buyer representation model across multiple Australian cities.
• Buyers Domain: Australian buyer's agency offering buyer advocacy services including property search, negotiation, and auction representation, serving a similar residential buyer and investor customer base across Australian markets.
• Empower Wealth: Australian property advisory firm providing buyer advocacy, investment strategy, and wealth creation services, overlapping with Cohen Handler's investment property acquisition and strategy services.

Emerging players

• Property By Sam: Sydney-based boutique buyer's agency offering buyer representation, search, and negotiation services, competing with Cohen Handler at a smaller scale in the Sydney owner-occupier and investor segment.

Broad incumbents

• McGrath Estate Agents: Large Australian residential real estate agency that has expanded into buyer advocacy services alongside its dominant selling-side franchise model, representing a broader incumbent that increasingly overlaps with Cohen Handler's buyer representation offering.
• Ray White: Major Australian and New Zealand real estate network with extensive selling-side operations and a growing buyer's agent / buyer advocacy offering, providing competitive overlap at scale as a broad incumbent rather than a specialised buyer's agency.

Regional players

• The Buyer Agents (Brisbane/QLD-focused agencies): A collection of regional Australian buyer's agencies (Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast) offering buyer representation services directly overlapping with Cohen Handler's Queensland offices but primarily operating within a single state geography.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cohen-handler
• Instagraminstagram.com/cohenhandler
• Xx.com/cohenhandler
• Facebookfacebook.com/cohenhandler

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cohen Handler