Frequently asked questions

helm is an Australian property selling platform that puts you in control of your sale. You list your property, run your own sale and keep control of every decision. helm provides the AI tools to enhance your listing, distribution to Domain (with realestate.com.au as an optional add-on), offer scoring to evaluate buyers and direct support throughout. One flat fee. No commission.

Built for sellers who want to lead their own sale with proper tools and analysis behind them. The seller is the principal; helm is the software and the intelligence layer, not an agent acting on your behalf.

No. helm is a software and technology platform, not a real estate agency. helm does not act as your agent, does not negotiate on your behalf and does not enter into contracts for you. You run your own sale and make every decision.

The major portals (Domain and realestate.com.au) only accept listings from licensed agents. helm co-founder Rob Harrison is a licensed real estate agent in Queensland, and that licence is what allows helm listings to reach those portals. You still deal directly with buyers and make the calls.

The simplest way to think about it: an agent runs the sale for you and charges commission. helm gives you the software and AI to run the sale yourself.

Fair question. helm is new because the model is new, not because we're inexperienced. Co-founder Rob Harrison is a licensed real estate agent in Queensland and a product leader for regulated industries. Co-founder David Jack architects platforms for health, finance and AI.

The platform runs on Australian infrastructure (AWS, Sydney region), with your property data held onshore, encrypted in transit and at rest. helm is built to comply with the Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles, and we partner with a trusted conveyancer for settlement. You can create an account and explore how helm works before committing, and you only pay when you choose a plan to publish your listing.

helm uses AI in four places, all visible to you:

1. Photo enhancement. The AI improves your photos for lighting, colour balance and composition so they present well on the portals. You upload, the AI enhances, you approve.
2. Listing description. The AI drafts optimised listing copy from your property details. You edit it before publishing.
3. Offer scoring. When a buyer submits an offer, helm scores it on its terms (deposit, finance condition, settlement length, cooling-off) and explains the trade-offs in plain language so you can compare offers. It assesses the offer, not the value of your property, and it doesn't tell you to accept or reject.
4. AI assistance. An in-platform AI chat for questions about your sale and how the platform works: what an offer's conditions mean, what a clause generally refers to, how a part of the process fits together. It gives you general information and surfaces what's relevant, not legal advice and not instructions on what to do. For anything legal, check with your conveyancer.

The AI does the analysis and surfaces the trade-offs. You make the calls. Nothing happens automatically without your sign-off.

helm suits sellers who want to lead their own sale, have a few hours a week to handle enquiries and inspections and want to keep more of their sale price. The core fit is equity-conscious professional households selling owner-occupied homes in the $900K to $1.8M range. It also suits property investors selling without emotional attachment, and first-time sellers who want guided intelligence and smart tools rather than a bare listing service.

Properties listed through helm range from inner-city units to family homes on larger blocks. If your sale is straightforward (clear title, no complex legal issues) and you can give the campaign your attention, helm fits.

A traditional agent runs your sale and charges commission, usually 2.0% to 3.0% in most Australian markets, plus marketing costs. They set the price, talk to buyers on your behalf and present offers for you to accept or reject. helm flips that. You run your own sale with our software, and the AI gives you decision support (offer analysis and guidance through the process) that an agent would otherwise provide. Pricing your property and accepting an offer stay your decisions.

Neither model is universally better. An agent suits sellers who want to hand the process off entirely and value not having to think about it. helm suits sellers who want to lead it and would rather have the tools than the delegation.

Those platforms give you listing infrastructure. You pay a fee, they put your ad on the major portals and you handle the sale yourself with limited tools. helm gives you the listing infrastructure plus an intelligence layer the others don't have. AI photo enhancement is built in, not sold as a separate add-on. AI offer scoring is built in. AI assistance for questions about your sale and the process is built in.

Same listing distribution, more context to work with. The trade-off is helm is newer; the older platforms have been around longer. We'd rather be the platform that helps you make better decisions than the one with the longest track record of just putting ads online.

You can, but there are tradeoffs. Most agents work on an "exclusive agency" agreement that locks them in as the only seller representative for an agreed period. If you're in that arrangement now, you'd need to wait it out or negotiate an exit before listing with helm. Some sellers use helm after their agent contract ends without a sale. Others use a "general authority" that allows multiple paths to sale including a private listing through helm.

Your conveyancer can review your current agency agreement and confirm what's possible. If you want to switch, we can help you understand the timing.

helm has two plans, both with every feature included:

• Essential: $349 per week (2-week minimum, cancel anytime). Best for fast sales or testing the market.
• Complete: $2,499 one-off (listed until it sells). Best value for most sellers.

Domain listing is included free with both. No commission, regardless of what your property sells for.

Beyond the platform fee, a sale involves the usual transaction costs, none of which helm marks up or takes a cut of:

• Conveyancing or solicitor: $700 to $1,500
• realestate.com.au listing (optional): around $1,500 at cost
• Form 2 search fees in Queensland (title, plan, body corporate disclosure where applicable): $200 to $500
• Professional photography (optional): $300 to $800
• Premium portal upgrades (optional): $300 to several thousand
• Capital gains tax if the property isn't your primary residence (your accountant can calculate)

We tell you upfront which suppliers we recommend and why.

Both helm plans include every feature with no feature-gating between tiers:

• Listing distribution on Domain (included free)
• AI-enhanced photos and AI-generated listing description
• AI offer scoring on every buyer offer
• AI assistance through in-platform chat
• Seller dashboard with real-time performance data (views, saves, enquiries)
• Direct buyer messaging and open home scheduling
• Support from the helm team

Optional extras (billed separately at cost, no markup): realestate.com.au listing (around $1,500), professional photography, premium portal upgrades. We don't mark up suppliers. You pay what they charge.

Two parts: commission and marketing.

Commission averages around 2.0% to 2.5% of the sale price plus GST, ranging from about 1.6% in Sydney's premium suburbs to 3.5% in some regional and outer-suburban areas (Brisbane around 2.45%, Sydney around 2.1%, Melbourne around 2.0%). There's no legal cap on commission anywhere in Australia. Queensland was the last state to remove its cap, in 2014; every other state already had fully negotiable rates. On a $1.5M sale at 2.2%, that's $33,000 before GST.

Marketing is charged on top, typically $2,500 to $5,000 for a standard package and $10,000 or more for premium. Line items include photography, signage, portal listing upgrades (Domain and realestate.com.au), brochures, premium portal placements and optional drone or video.

helm replaces the commission entirely and includes AI-enhanced versions of your own photos plus the Domain listing, all for a flat fee.

No. helm never receives, holds or pays out any money connected to your sale. That includes the deposit, the purchase price and any other funds owed between you and the buyer.

Those funds flow directly between you and the buyer through your conveyancers or solicitors, into the appropriate trust or settlement arrangement they set up. The only thing helm ever charges you is the platform fee (and any optional add-on like realestate.com.au), processed through Stripe. That fee has nothing to do with your sale proceeds.

helm flags this early rather than at the end. The platform tracks your listing's performance (views, saves, enquiries and offers), shows you how it's tracking over time and how your listing copy and photos are performing on the portals. If you want more reach, paid portal upgrades are an option. What you adjust, and when, is your call.

If you're on the Complete plan, your listing stays live until it sells. If you're on the Essential weekly plan, you can pause or cancel at any time after the 2-week minimum. The in-platform AI assistance can help you make sense of the performance data, but any change to your price or presentation is yours to make.

A strong offer pairs a price you're happy with against a clean finance condition and a settlement term you can work with. helm's AI offer scoring looks at the things that make two same-price offers very different:

• Finance condition (cash, pre-approved or subject to finance)
• Settlement length (30, 60, 90 days or other)
• Cooling-off (waived, shortened or standard)
• Deposit size (10% is standard, 5% is common, 2% signals weakness)

The score shows where each offer sits across these terms, with plain-language notes on risk, so you can compare offers side by side. It assesses the offer's terms, not the value of your property, and whether the price itself works for you is always your call. Two offers at the same number can be very different propositions once the conditions are weighed up.

helm displays all live offers side by side, each with AI scoring on its conditions, so you can compare price, finance, settlement and the rest in one view. The highest number isn't always the strongest offer once the conditions are weighed up.

How you run a multiple-offer situation is your call. helm gives you the offers and the context to compare them. It doesn't decide for you, set the rules, or contact buyers on your behalf. You stay in control of every conversation and every decision.

Yes. You can sell your own property privately in every state and territory in Australia. The legal requirements are around the contract of sale and disclosure, not who runs the marketing or negotiation. You need a conveyancer or solicitor to prepare the contract and handle settlement. In Queensland from 1 August 2025, you must also provide a Form 2 Seller Disclosure Statement before the buyer signs.

The only thing you can't do as an unlicensed individual is list directly on Domain or realestate.com.au (both portals only accept listings from licensed agents). Platforms like helm provide the licensed-agent wrapper so your private listing reaches those portals.

In most states you can be live on Domain the same day you sign up. helm handles your photos and listing copy with AI, so the path from sign-up to live listing is measured in minutes.

Where the law adds a step first:

• Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, Northern Territory: no contract of sale needed before advertising. List the same day.
• New South Wales and the ACT: a property can't be advertised until a contract of sale has been prepared. In NSW that's a legal requirement on the listing, not a helm rule. Your conveyancer usually turns it around in 2 to 3 business days.
• Victoria: you can list while your Section 32 vendor's statement is being prepared.

If you want professional photography, allow 2 to 5 business days for the photographer to attend and turn the shots around.

Queensland note: you can list before your Form 2 seller disclosure statement is ready, but it must be prepared and signed before any buyer signs a contract. Allow 7 to 14 days with your conveyancer.

Buyer enquiries come into your helm dashboard in real time. You see the buyer's name, contact details, the property they're enquiring about and the message. You respond directly through helm or by phone. No middleman, no delay, no "we'll pass it on to the vendor."

The Australian average is around 30 to 45 days from listing to sale. Inner-city and inner-suburban properties typically move faster than outer-suburban and regional ones. Settlement then adds another 30 to 60 days.

Timing depends on pricing, condition, photo and listing quality, your local market and the season (spring and autumn move faster than mid-winter or the December break). helm tracks performance daily, so you'll know within the first couple of weeks if your campaign needs adjusting.

Yes, in practice. The contract of sale is a legally binding document and the consequences of getting it wrong (incorrect title details, missed disclosures, settlement delays) can cost tens of thousands. A conveyancer or property solicitor prepares the contract, manages the deposit in trust and handles settlement.

Conveyancing fees in Australia typically run $700 to $1,500. Property solicitors charge slightly more (usually $1,000 to $2,500) but are recommended for complex sales such as multiple titles, body corporate issues or deceased estates.

helm partners with a trusted conveyancer to make settlement straightforward. You can use them or bring your own.

Open homes work best on Saturdays between 10am and 12pm (Sunday viewing has lower attendance in most markets). Block 30 minutes per inspection slot and have a sign-in sheet at the door. helm provides a digital version that emails enquiries straight to your dashboard.

Practical setup: every internal light on, blinds open, soft music optional, kitchen and bathrooms spotless, personal items minimised, pets removed during the inspection. Have a one-page property summary printed and available for visitors to take away.

Private inspections by appointment work well for higher-end properties where buyers want privacy. helm handles the booking flow through your dashboard so you can offer time slots without phone tag.

After each inspection, follow up within 24 hours. It's where most private sellers drop the ball, and where agents win deals.

The buyer has 5 business days to cool off and terminate, in standard Queensland residential contracts. The period starts the day after the buyer receives a copy of the fully signed contract, and the buyer forfeits 0.25% of the purchase price if they exercise it. The cooling-off does not apply to:

• Property sold at auction (or under contract within 2 business days after auction)
• Buyers who give a signed waiver before signing the contract
• Commercial property

Cooling-off periods vary across Australia: 5 business days in NSW and the ACT (0.25% penalty), 3 business days in Victoria ($100 or 0.2% of the price, whichever is greater), 4 business days in the Northern Territory (no penalty), and 2 business days in South Australia. Western Australia and Tasmania have no statutory cooling-off period. The seller has no equivalent cooling-off. Once you sign, you're bound.