Buyers’ agent Simon Cohen’s firm has bought $300 million worth of real estate in the past 68 days

Simon Cohen’s buyers’ agency has snapped up $300m of real estate this year alone. He’s got one piece of advice for young Aussies who say they’ll never own a home.

As a teenager, Simon Cohen would often bug his dad to drive him around Sydney’s famed Point Piper so he could gawk at the spectacular mega mansions overlooking the harbour.

On the long drive from the family’s modest home in the northern suburbs, a young Cohen would dream of the day when he might play a role in those multimillion-dollar transactions, aspiring to be a dominant figure in the world of real estate.

A few decades on, the 40-year-old has achieved that vision – and then some.

In the first 68 days of the year, his buyers’ agency Cohen Handler has brokered more than $300 million in deals.

“It’s an OK number,” he quipped. “We did well over a billion last year, so we’re on track. My philosophy is if you’re not moving forwards, you’re moving backwards, so it’s a fair start.”

Simon Cohen is the go-to guy for those looking to drop millions on their next home.

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But he clarified that his competitors would have likely done just “a fraction of that”, the modesty easing momentarily, adding: “The size and scale and power of our business compared to anyone else in the marketplace is vastly different.”

Building an unbeatable empire

Cohen launched his firm 15 years ago at a time when few understood the service offering of a buyer’s agent – and smack bang in the middle of the Global Financial Crisis.

“We were pushing shit uphill,” he recalled.

He and co-founder Ben Handler shared a desk in a tiny office above a pub in Paddington, tirelessly “marketing, screaming and begging” in order to make their mark.

Since then, Cohen Handler has expanded rapidly with eight offices and 70 staff across the country, as well as a commercial property arm, an investment advisory, a leasing management service, and an interior design studio.

And in the time since, he and his growing team of buyers’ agents have brokered some 2700 deals worth a combined $8 billion.

Simon Cohen and Ben Handler in the early days of Cohen Handler.

Cohen Handler has already bought about $300 million worth of real estate so far this year. Picture: Supplied

When someone with serious cash to spend is looking for a home, chances are it’s Cohen – the go-to buyer’s agent in the prestige space – who’ll be tapped to sniff out the best property possible.

It might be a sprawling estate in Bellevue Hill, an ultra-modern trophy home in Vaucluse, a historic mansion in Point Piper, a park side pile in Centennial Park, or an oversized terrace in Paddington.

Take the Spanish Mission icon Alcooringa, a seven-bedroom mansion on a 1560 square metre elevated block, which he recently bought for a client for a staggering $80 million.

“It’s one of those unique, special homes – its history and character,” Cohen said. “It’s unlike anything else in Sydney.”

Simon recently bought Alcooringa, a stunning estate in Bellevue Hill, for a client for $80 million.

It marked his biggest-ever deal in dollar value terms – for now.

“That will change in the next few weeks,” he revealed. “There are a few things in the works. There’s just so much money being poured into Australia, a lot into Sydney, and a lot into prestige property.”

His clients value discretion, so he “politely declined” to run through some of the big names he’s represented, but they’re company executives, entrepreneurs, financiers, celebrities and the odd billionaire.

Simon at his Potts Point ultra-luxe apartment. Picture: Dave Wheeler

Simon has just bought a new home – a landmark mansion in Paddington.

Many of the sellers of those pricey properties are equally keen on privacy, with 80 per cent of the deals Cohen handles conducted ‘off-market’.

“It’s stuff no one’s seen and no one’s hearing about. And I think that’s super important, not only for my clientele, but the people who own these houses. They don’t want randoms traipsing through an open home.”

Not just for the uber-rich

Buyers’ agents being so favoured by the top end of town has crafted an enduring misconception that those services aren’t on offer for purchasers of all types, he noted.

“The vast majority of our deals so far this year have been for everyday mum and dad buyers,” Cohen said. “We’re working with a lot of small investors, first homebuyers, young family types … that’s what’s been really nice.”

Encountering so many people lately who are just starting out on their property journeys has Cohen reflecting on the state of the housing market.

While acknowledging things are tough, he doesn’t buy the grim assessment that the Great Australian Dream is dead – it’s just evolved.

“What’s really sad is the youth, young people in Australia, have convinced themselves it’s impossible to buy property,” Cohen said.

“They give up before they try and decide they’ll rent. If they do have extra money they’ve saved, they spend it.”

Simon with a client at an auction in Woollahra recently. Picture: Thomas Lisson

By the time they’re in their 30s, perhaps with a few kids, they’re still renting and have no capital and getting into the market will be even tougher, if not impossible, he said.

“The longer you wait, the harder it is. If you buy a property today and you’re 20, when you’re 30 and you’ve got a family, it’s increased 30 per cent in equity. You can easily move to the next property.

“What I would say to young people today is that it doesn’t matter what it is. You can get great investments in rural Western Australia or the outskirts of South Australia – affordable properties with a good yield and good growth. You don’t have to live in it.”

A mansion in Bellevue Hill recently bought by Simon for a client.

A mansion in Centennial Park recently bought by Simon on behalf of a client.

The view of previous generations, that the first and only goal is to buy a home to live in, has been replaced by a model that requires a “mind shift”.

“You’ve really got to change how you how you look at things. It’s a lot harder now to buy your own home for $2 million or $3 million and pay it off. But if you can buy a [rental] for $600,000, you’re in the market.

“You’ve got something growing. You’re in the market. Rent where you want in Cremorne. Happy days. Just get in as soon as you can and build from there. That’s the key. The longer you wait, the more it’ll pay.”

‘All about investing’

Cohen uses his own recent home purchase to illustrate his point about the cost of hesitating.

He’s about to upsize from a chic designer two-storey apartment in the heart of Potts Point to a five-bedroom Paddington home – actually two Victorian terraces that have been combined into one luxe property – that set him back about $13 million, according to reports.

“Not that long ago, I probably could have bought a waterfront [for that price],” he said.

“And I think to myself, why didn’t I stretch myself there? So it’s case in point. Do you want to be paying a lot more money later for something you could buy today for a lot less?”

Simon Cohen starred in the Amazon Prime series Luxe Listings Sydney.

Simon with his mum, who he brought into his business as COO.

Simon is arguably Australia's most high-profile buyer's agent.

There’s no denying Sydney has affordability pressures and that’s especially true at the market’s top end.

“I deal with billionaires from around the world and they call you and say: ‘I’ve got $30 million, $50 million, $100 million to spend.’ Anywhere in the world – Miami, London, Paris, New York, LA, San Tropez – you’re getting the pick of any house you want.

“You come to Sydney, it’s very difficult. There’s a premium There are only so many waterfronts. There are only so many estates in Bellevue Hill. There are only so many big homes in Wahroonga or Woollahra.”

Simon grew up in the suburbs of Sydney.

Cohen puts his money where his mouth is when it comes to investing, buying property and building wealth with a diverse portfolio of assets.

“I’m all about investing. I’m in different cities. I’m in commercial and residential. I’m in investment. I have a mixed portfolio. I invest in property funds, in shopping centres. As my accountant likes to say, I diversify and spread my risk, which is very smart.

“I wish I had done more – and earlier. One of the biggest regrets I have in my life is selling things I’ve owned in the past and not trying to buy more.”

‘You never know who someone is’

After those leisurely weekend drives around Sydney’s prestigious eastern suburbs, Cohen would direct his dad to swing by a Porsche dealership on the way home.

He’d peer through the windows at the 911s on show – “every boy’s dream car” – and picture himself behind the wheel.

One day, after venturing inside for a closer look, Cohen was taught a valuable lesson.

“No one took any notice of us. They were rude. I said to my dad: ‘One day I’m going to buy a Porsche 911 but not here.’ I was a kid but my dad could’ve been a millionaire, you know?

“So, when I bought my first 911, I went to the Porsche Centre in South Sydney. They treated me like any customer should be treated. Now I’m a loyal customer, several times over.”

Simon Cohen enjoys the finer things in life.

Simon's other guilty pleasure is cars.

Years later in his very first job as a pavement-pounding sales agent in the eastern suburbs, Cohen remembered that lesson about never judging a book by its cover.

He’d just secured a listing after doorknocking a prized neighbourhood in Bellevue Hill. The guy he wound up selling to had been shooed away or ignored by other agents.

“He drove a Holden Commodore. He was unassuming. I grew up in the suburbs and wasn’t from this world, so I didn’t judge him. He bought the house for $10 million.”

Turns out he ran an investment bank. He just didn’t like being showy or flashy – and clearly liked Commodores.

“He’s been a client of mine ever since,” Cohen added.

The finer things in life

Sometimes it’s hard to spot wealth, while in other cases, it’s clear if someone is doing well for themselves.

It’s safe to say Cohen falls into the second camp.

Nice clothes, expensive jewellery, fast cars, impeccable homes – he likes the finer things in life. But the thing he most likes to splurge on is travel.

“I work so hard so I can travel. It’s one of the reasons I do what I do. You probably won’t find a July when I’m not in Europe. I’m a south of France guy, Amalfi also. I did half-half last year.”

Simon most likes to splurge on travel – particularly Europe.

Simon with some of the Cohen Handler team.

It’s the kind of lifestyle that kid from the suburbs, whose family wasn’t wealthy or well-connected, who only had things “because my parents went without”, used to dream about.

“Nothing like the world I live in now,” Cohen said.

But there isn’t a great deal of time to reflect on just how far he’s come. He’s far too busy, wheeling and dealing at all hours of the day, with buyers in varying time zones.

The only consistency in his schedule is kicking each day off with a workout at the gym.

“After gym, anything can happen,” he said.

“Deals are happening, work things are happening, offices are opening. I’m in any one of our eight offices around the country. I’m off to the US for work for a few days. I’m at a conference in Hong Kong.

“I’m meeting clients, showing properties, being with staff, interviewing and hiring, doing deals. It’s not the same thing every day. So, it’s exciting.”

Originally published as Buyers’ agent Simon Cohen’s firm has bought $300 million worth of real estate in the past 68 days