Every piece of property advice is paid for by somebody
That is not a criticism. It is a fact about the industry that buyers are rarely invited to consider.
The question is not whether your advisor is paid. It is whether they are paid by you, or by the party on the other side of your transaction.
Those two structures produce different advice, reliably, without anybody involved being dishonest.
How developer commission actually works
A developer sets aside a percentage of the sale price to pay whoever brings a buyer. The intermediary is paid on completion, and only on completion.
The buyer usually believes they are getting free advice. They are not. The commission is inside the price they pay. It is simply routed through a third party rather than itemised.
The consequence is structural. The intermediary earns nothing if the buyer walks away, nothing if the buyer chooses a different developer, and nothing if the honest answer is that the numbers do not work.
What a commission structure quietly rules out
It rules out one specific recommendation, which happens to be the most valuable one an advisor can make.
Buy nothing this year. Wait for the next cycle. This building is fine and this price is not. Your capital does better somewhere else entirely.
None of those conclusions pay a commission. An advisor whose income depends on a transaction closing is not free to reach them, whatever their personal integrity.
The three questions that settle it
Ask them early, before you have been shown anything you like.
- Who pays you, and how much, on this transaction? A direct answer is easy for anyone with nothing to manage.
- Do you receive anything from the developer, the agent, the lawyer, the mortgage broker or the currency provider? Referral fees further down the chain are common and rarely volunteered.
- Have you ever advised a client not to buy? Ask for the circumstances. The answer reveals whether that outcome is available to them.
What independence costs
It costs a fee, paid by you, visible in advance.
At Horizon the discovery call is free and carries no obligation. A due diligence review starts from 997 pounds. Support for a full purchase is scoped and agreed before anything begins, with no percentage of the deal and nothing from the developer.
The reason to say that plainly is not to advertise the price. It is that a buyer who knows exactly how their advisor is paid can weigh the advice properly, which is the only thing that makes advice worth having.
Independent advice. Clear numbers. No pressure to buy.
Sources
- Horizon Holding Ltd fee structure, as published on the firm’s services and FAQ pages. Free discovery call, due diligence review from 997 pounds, scoped fees agreed in advance, zero developer or agent commission.
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