Buyer’s Agents Debated: When You Need One and When You Don’t, With PK Gupta

Is the rise of buyers agents putting the Australian property market at risk? PK Gupta has built a community around a clear argument: most Australian investors do not need a buyers agent. Reece Beddall disagrees. This episode is the conversation that followed, with both sides of the argument tested against the data.

The Buyers Agent Boom and What It Is Doing to Prices

The number of buyers agents operating in Australia has grown sharply since 2020. PK Gupta’s concern is that concentrated buying activity from agency clients is distorting prices in specific suburbs, pushing up the entry cost for individual investors trying to access the same markets without representation. Reece challenges this framing and argues the buyers agent’s role is fundamentally about access to information and process management, not price manipulation.

The disagreement is productive. Both positions are grounded in data and the listener gets a clearer picture of exactly when a buyers agent adds genuine value and when the fee is not justified by the outcome.

Negative Gearing, CGT and the Data Behind the Debate

PK Gupta’s modelling on negative gearing reform is direct: limiting negative gearing to two properties will not move house prices at the national level. University modelling on reducing the CGT discount from 50 percent also suggests the price impact is more modest than the media coverage implies. The episode covers the oil shocks, inflation cycles, and 17 percent interest rate environments of the past, and why Australian house prices grew through all three, with implications for how investors should be thinking about the current correction.

Regional Markets and the DIY Investment Approach

PK Gupta champions a data-driven, DIY approach to property investment built on understanding macro forces, qualitative research, and identifying the next affordable growth corridor before the institutional money arrives. He points to specific regional markets as the smartest play for the next decade. Reece tests those arguments against Follio’s own data and client experience.

Published: 31 Jul 2026