New Zealand wide · Exclusive buyer's advocacy

Every agent in the room works for the seller. We don't.

Keystone Advocacy searches, appraises, and negotiates for you and only you, from your first open home to the day the deal goes unconditional.

Licensed · REAA 2008 REA Licence No. 10079421 New Zealand wide 022 500 4717
Andrew Metsa, founder of Keystone Advocacy, seated in a warm living room
Your advocate, on your side of the table. A real person. Not a franchise, not a call centre.
100%
of our loyalty in every negotiation belongs to the buyer
0
vendors represented in the same deal as you. Ever, by policy and by law
10+
years in NZ & Australian property, now working that experience for you, not the seller

Buying is a game the other side plays every single day. We make it a fair fight.

The agent at every open home is experienced, unemotional, and working for the seller. Most buyers walk in with none of those three things on their side. That's the actual gap. Not a lack of good intentions, just a lack of representation.

How it works

Four steps. One advocate. No divided loyalty.

A 90-day exclusive engagement that takes you from "where do we even start" to keys in hand, with someone experienced doing the negotiating.

1

We get to know you

Budget, must-haves, deal-breakers, and the search area that actually fits your life, plus introductions to any relevant professionals, if required, so you're ready to move the moment the right property turns up.

2

We search & shortlist

On-market and off. Every shortlisted property comes with an honest appraisal of what it's really worth.

3

We negotiate

Unemotional and experienced, working every angle for the lowest fair price, the way the vendor's agent works the other side.

4

Unconditional, then keys

Our fee is earned the day your deal goes unconditional, and paid at settlement through your solicitor, not before.

Who you'll be working with

The person you'll actually deal with. Not a call centre.

Andrew Metsa, founder of Keystone Advocacy, in native New Zealand bush

Andrew Metsa

Licensed salesperson · Founder, Keystone Advocacy

Andrew is originally from New Zealand and now lives in Auckland. He started out in residential real estate here, then moved into project sales in Australia, running campaigns across major residential developments worth more than $150 million combined. It was a career built entirely on the selling side. Then he stepped away from property for several years to build a retreat business, running retreats locally and internationally, and came back seeing the whole thing differently.

“Here's the honest version. I spent years selling property for the people on the other side of the deal, so I know how buyers get worked, because I did the working. Somewhere in the years I took off, building other businesses and figuring myself out, I lost my appetite for it.

I came back wanting to stand on the side that usually stands alone. That's buyers. My faith sits under all of it, and it really comes down to one old idea: treat people the way you'd want to be treated. Do that properly and they stay in your life, not because you chased them, but because you earned it. That's the business I want to build.”

Licensed real estate salesperson under the Real Estate Agents Act 2008. REA Licence No. 10079421 — verify on the public register.

Interactive · Takes two minutes

Test your negotiation skills.

You're the buyer. Five real decisions stand between you and the keys. Tap the move you'd make at each one, then see the receipt: exactly what your choices cost.

Andrew Metsa working through property research at a desk
The work that wins it happens long before you make an offer.

Our promise

What we're bound to. In writing, and by law.

These are the promises we make you, and the law, structure, and fee logic that back every one of them from day one.

Licensed & bound by law

Every engagement operates under the Real Estate Agents Act 2008 and its Code of Conduct, with a legal duty to act in your interests. Not a promise we invented, a standard we're held to.

REAA 2008 · REA Licence No. 10079421

One side of the table. Only ever yours

By law we cannot collect a fee from both sides of the same transaction. If you ever want a property we're separately involved with, that deal is referred to a different licensee, in writing, before anything moves.

No divided loyalty · disclosed upfront

You only pay in full when we deliver

A modest engagement fee gets us started, credited in full against your final fee and never charged on top. Everything beyond it is earned only on a property you actually buy. If the ninety days pass with no purchase, nothing further is owed.

Fee on success · not on activity

Paid through your solicitor, not us

Nothing changes hands early. The fee is settled at settlement through your own solicitor's trust account, timed to when your funds are genuinely in place, with a clear paper trail throughout.

Settlement · solicitor's trust account

We work with a limited number of buyers

Advocacy done properly cannot be done at scale. We take on only a handful of buyers at a time, and when our books are full there is simply a waitlist, so whoever we are representing always gets real attention.

Exclusive · waitlist when full

No jargon, no pressure, no surprises

One published fee formula, shown in full before you commit, and a straight answer every time you ask. If something is uncertain we say so. You will never be steered, rushed, or hit with a cost you did not see coming.

One formula · plain answers

One last thing, because it matters to us: ten percent of the profit from this business goes straight to charity, given through the church. That is our own money, not part of your fee, and it is not a campaign with an end date. It is simply how the business is built, and it comes from the same conviction that has us working only for you.

Fees

One formula. No cliffs. No surprises.

One clean formula for both tiers, with no cliffs. You only ever pay a success fee on a property you actually buy, and the engagement fee is credited in full against it.

  • An engagement fee to begin: $990 plus GST on Foundation, $2,490 plus GST on Concierge. Credited in full against your final fee, never charged on top.
  • A focused 90 days to begin. That is our initial committed period, so you know exactly what you are signing up to. After that we only carry on if we both want to, and you can step away whenever you like.
  • Foundation: $5,000 up to $750k, then 0.85% of the amount above, capped at $25,000.
  • Concierge: a minimum of $10,000 up to $750k, then 1.5% of the amount above, capped at $50,000.

All fees quoted are exclusive of GST. GST is added on top at the prevailing rate, shown in the calculator so there's never a surprise at settlement.

Earned at unconditional, paid at settlement through your solicitor's trust account, timed for when your funds are actually in place. The success fee is only ever charged on a property you actually buy; if the ninety days pass without one, nothing further is charged unless you choose to carry on the search with us.

Purchase price $750,000
$400k$5M+
Engagement (upfront, +GST)
$990
Fee excl. GST
$5,000
Total incl. GST
$5,750
Indicative negotiation saving $15k–$23k

All figures shown are exclusive of GST unless marked otherwise; GST is added on top at the prevailing rate. The total fee is your full cost. The engagement fee is simply the part paid upfront, credited against it. Illustrative; exact terms in your agreement.

Indicative, based on overseas buyer's-advocacy data (Real Estate Buyers Agents Association of Australia). Individual outcomes vary and savings are not guaranteed.

The two tiers

Exactly what each one includes.

Not good, better, best. Two paths for two different people. Open either one to see the full scope.

Foundation
From $5,000 + GST
Time to do the looking, mindful of cost. Expert representation without the full-service price.
Search
You find the properties yourself on the open market. Send us anything you are seriously considering and we pressure-test it against the market and flag what you may have missed, before you get attached.
Appraisal
We work out what a property is genuinely worth from recent comparable sales and current data, so you go in with your own number rather than the agent's.
Inspection
You attend the open homes and viewings. We brief you first on exactly what to look for and the questions that surface the problems most buyers walk straight past.
Due diligence
You book and pay for the builder's, LIM, and any other reports, and coordinate the inspectors yourself. We help you read them properly and understand what each finding means for your offer and your risk.
Negotiation
The heart of Foundation. We take the negotiation over completely and run it for as many rounds as it takes, with no cap, so you never face a seasoned agent on your own.
Liaison
You run the day-to-day back and forth yourself, keeping the agent, your solicitor, your mortgage broker, and the bank all moving and talking to each other. We step in at the moments that actually decide the price.
Auction
We set your bidding strategy and limits in advance and stay on the phone with you through the auction, guiding each move live.
Concierge
From $10,000 + GST
Short on time, or would rather it was all handled. The full white-glove service, start to finish.
Search
We run the entire search for you, across the open market, pre-market listings, and off-market, approaching specific streets and owners directly to find homes other buyers never see.
Appraisal
Every property we shortlist is already valued against recent comparable sales, so what reaches you is genuinely worth your time, with a considered number on each.
Inspection
We inspect in person on your behalf across greater Auckland. Further out we send a detailed video walkthrough and attend in person where the property warrants it.
Due diligence
We organise, chase, and manage every report the property needs, and deal with the inspectors for you. You still pay the providers directly, but the only person you deal with is us.
Negotiation
The same unlimited, no-cap negotiation as Foundation, run from start to finish by us.
Liaison
We are your single point of contact from the first viewing to settlement, handling the agent, your solicitor, your mortgage broker, and the bank, so you never have to chase anyone.
Auction
We attend and bid for you, to the strategy and ceiling we have agreed, so the pressure of the room is never on you.

What representation is worth

$30,000

the 2 to 3% edge on an average Auckland home, around $1.2 million. That is the difference, on average, between a price you negotiated and one negotiated against you.

2–3%
less paid, on average, by buyers who use an advocate
~A$44k
average saving recorded in Australia, where the model is well established
$1.2M
average Auckland house price, the base that edge applies to (REINZ)

Auckland's average house price is around $1.2 million (REINZ, 2026), and $30,000 is 2.5% of that. The 2 to 3% edge and the Australian saving figure are adopted from established overseas buyer's-advocacy data (Real Estate Buyers Agents Association of Australia), since New Zealand's buyer's-advocacy sector is still relatively new. Individual results vary and savings are not guaranteed.

Laptops and planning notes spread across a desk
Every number checked against the market, so your offer stands on evidence.

Questions

Good questions, straight answers.

The engagement fee is what you pay upfront to begin: $990 plus GST on Foundation, or $2,490 plus GST on Concierge. It secures our commitment to you and covers the work that starts straight away, understanding your brief, analysing the market, and appraising and researching properties. Because that work is real and happens regardless of how the search ends, the engagement fee is not refundable. If we go on to secure your property, it is credited in full against your final fee, so it is never money on top. If we do not, it is the only thing you will have paid us.

There are two moments, and nothing in between. The engagement fee is paid at the start. The success fee, which only applies if we secure you a property, is earned the day your purchase goes unconditional and paid at settlement, through your own solicitor's trust account, at the same time the rest of the purchase settles. The engagement fee you already paid is credited against it. Nothing is charged on a handshake or on activity along the way; the substantive fee is only ever tied to a completed purchase.

The 90 days is our initial committed period, not a hard stop. If the right property has not come up by then and we are both still keen, the arrangement simply carries on from there, and either of us can bring it to a close whenever we choose. Continuing usually does not involve a further engagement fee. If a good deal of time has passed and the search effectively starts fresh, we may agree a further fee for that additional work, but always by agreement and never as a surprise. The engagement fee you paid at the outset is not refundable, as it covered the work already done.

Foundation is for buyers who have already found the property themselves and want it appraised and expertly negotiated. Concierge is the full service: we search on and off market, shortlist and inspect, commission and review builder's reports, and handle every dealing with agents and solicitors from the first look right through to settlement. Put simply, Foundation is about winning the negotiation on a home you have found, and Concierge is about handling the entire journey for you.

Yes, and that is exactly what Foundation is designed for. You have done the finding; we do the appraising and the negotiating. We work out what the property is genuinely worth using recent comparable sales and current market data, point out anything that should give you pause, and then negotiate the purchase on your behalf, so you are not sitting across from a seasoned professional negotiator on your own.

For most buyers the fee is a fraction of what careful negotiation tends to save, so it usually pays for itself rather than adding to the true cost of buying. And apart from the engagement fee at the start, the success fee is not another upfront cost competing with your deposit. It is paid at settlement, out of the same settlement, once the property is actually yours, so it does not need to come out of your pocket before you buy.

That agent is engaged by the seller and works, quite properly, in the seller's interest, to get them the highest price and the best terms. We are the mirror image: engaged by you, working only in your interest, aiming for the right property at the best price and terms for you. Because we are never on both sides of the same transaction, there is never a question about whose side we are actually on.

No. We are paid by you, and only by you. If a property we happen to be separately connected to fits your brief, we tell you it exists, disclose that connection to you in writing, and refer that particular transaction to an independent licensee, so that we are never paid by both sides of the same deal. If any benefit ever did arise, the law requires us to disclose it, and we would. Everything we are ever paid, you see.

Not at all. First-home buyers are the people we most want to help, because they are usually the ones walking into a room with an experienced seller's agent for the very first time, with the most on the line. Because we take on a limited number of clients at a time, everyone gets the same genuine attention, whether it is a first apartment or a family home in a premium suburb.

We work with buyers across New Zealand, with our roots, networks and deepest local knowledge in Auckland. If you are ever buying in a market we do not know intimately, we will tell you that plainly rather than pretend otherwise.

Free
Keystone Advocacy

The Buyer's Pricing Guide · 2026

What's it really worth?

The four things that decide whether you pay a fair price, or thousands more than you needed to.

Free download2026 edition

Free download · Four pages, ten minutes

Know what it's worth before you offer.

Buyers don't overpay because they're careless. They overpay because the process is built to be read by professionals, and they face it twice in a lifetime. This guide shows you how a property is actually valued, with a worked example you can copy. No pitch inside, just the method.

  • 1
    The three numbers that mislead almost every buyerWhy the CV, the asking price, and the market headlines can't tell you what a home is worth
  • 2
    The sentence that costs buyers more than any other"There's another offer coming in tonight" — free to say, impossible to check
  • 3
    How professionals actually price a propertyThe comparable-sales bracket, shown step by step on a real worked example
  • 4
    Why the DIY version hits a wallThe freshest sales evidence isn't public yet, and freshness is the whole game
  • 5
    The honest maths of representationWhat the 2–3% edge is worth in dollars, and when going it alone genuinely makes sense

One email with the guide, nothing else unless you ask for it. Your details stay with Keystone and are never shared.

A hand holding the keys to a new home
The moment it was worth having someone in your corner.

Ready for someone in your corner?

A free, no-obligation chat about your search. No pressure, no pitch you didn't ask for, just an honest read on where you stand. We take a limited number of buyers at a time, so if our books are full we will add you to the waitlist and be in touch.

Prefer to talk? Call 022 500 4717 or email hello@keystoneadvocacy.co.nz. Your details stay with Keystone and are never shared.

Book a free chat