We’re delighted to share some exciting news from Home Scouts: our small team has received three finalist nominations in the 2026 REIQ Awards for Excellence.
Home Scouts has been named a finalist for:
Buyers’ Agency of the Year – Home Scouts
Buyers’ Agent of the Year – Bronwen Stacey
Buyers’ Agent of the Year – Sandra Connors
For a boutique buyers’ agency working across the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane, having the business recognised alongside some of Queensland’s leading buyers’ agencies is incredibly special.
But having both of our buyers’ agents individually recognised makes this year’s announcement particularly meaningful.
For Sandra, our Brisbane buyers’ agent, it marks her first individual REIQ Awards for Excellence finalist nomination – something we’re especially proud to celebrate.
The Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ) Awards for Excellence recognise individuals and businesses across Queensland’s real estate profession.
The awards cover a broad range of areas including residential and commercial sales, property management, buyer’s agency, auctioneering, business broking, innovation and community contribution.
According to the REIQ, the awards are designed to recognise best practice, high performance and outstanding contributions to Queensland real estate.
Awards are lovely to receive, but for us, the more important question is:
What does recognition like this mean for someone choosing a buyer’s agent?
Choosing a buyer’s agent involves a considerable amount of trust.
You may be asking someone to help you make one of your largest financial decisions. They may be assessing properties on your behalf, inspecting when you can’t be there, researching value and risk, conducting due diligence, negotiating with selling agents and helping you decide when to pursue a property – and when to walk away.
That makes the quality of the person representing you important.
Industry recognition should never be the only reason you choose a buyer’s agent. Nor does being an award finalist guarantee a particular result for a client.
However, independent industry recognition can provide another useful piece of information when assessing the experience, processes, professionalism and standards of the person or agency you’re considering.
The REIQ Awards for Excellence are not based simply on public voting or the number of transactions an agency completes.
Applicants prepare detailed submissions against the criteria for their category, covering their performance and achievements during the relevant qualifying period.
The REIQ says preparing an awards submission encourages agencies and individuals to critically review their business practices and performance, identify their strongest initiatives and achievements, and have their performance considered through external and independent analysis by experienced judges.
That is one reason being named a finalist means a great deal to us.
Behind an awards submission are the less visible parts of running a professional buyer’s agency: the systems, research, client communication, due diligence, professional development, decision-making and processes that sit behind every property purchase.
The buyer’s agency profession has grown considerably in recent years.
For consumers, more choice can be a good thing. But it also makes understanding the difference between providers increasingly important.
A buyer’s agent should do far more than find properties online or open doors at inspections.
At Home Scouts, our role can involve developing the buyer brief, researching locations and individual properties, inspecting homes, analysing comparable sales, assessing value, identifying potential risks, coordinating due diligence, liaising with other property professionals, developing an offer or auction strategy and negotiating on our client’s behalf.
Just as importantly, sometimes our advice is not to buy.
Finding a property is only part of the job. Helping a buyer determine whether that particular property represents the right combination of location, quality, value, risk and longer-term suitability is where experienced buyer representation can really matter.
Our 2026 REIQ finalist nominations span both of the markets in which Home Scouts operates.
Bronwen Stacey, Founder and Principal Buyers Agent, is based on the Sunshine Coast and works with buyers across Noosa and the broader Sunshine Coast.
Sandra Connors, our Brisbane Buyers Agent, brings longstanding local Brisbane knowledge to buyers purchasing across Brisbane and surrounding areas.
This local focus is central to the way we work.
There isn’t one uniform Sunshine Coast property market, just as there isn’t one Brisbane property market.
Different suburbs – and even different pockets within the same suburb – can experience different levels of supply, buyer competition and demand. Property type, price point, land, aspect, street, condition and future supply can all influence the way an individual property should be assessed.
Our job isn’t to predict the market.
It is to understand the market surrounding the particular property our client is considering and help them make a well-informed decision based on the available evidence.
The 2026 REIQ Awards finalist nominations aren’t Home Scouts’ first experience of industry recognition.
In 2024, Home Scouts was named a finalist in the PIPA National Awards for Excellence for Business of the Year – Small.
That recognition continued in 2025, when Home Scouts was again named a finalist for PIPA Business of the Year – Small, while Bronwen was also recognised individually as a finalist for QPIA® of the Year – Buyer’s Agent (Local) and QPIA® Graduate of the Year.
Those awards are particularly meaningful to us because of our commitment to ongoing professional development and evidence-based property advice.
Bronwen is a Qualified Property Investment Adviser® (QPIA®) and an accredited member of the Real Estate Buyers Agents Association of Australia (REBAA), as well as serving on REBAA’s national Executive Committee.
Industry recognition doesn’t replace qualifications, experience, local knowledge, robust processes or happy clients.
But when considered together, these things can help buyers build a clearer picture of the person or agency they are considering entrusting with their property search.
If you’re comparing buyer’s agents, looking beyond awards and marketing claims is important.
Ask about their experience in the specific location in which you want to buy. Understand who will actually conduct your search and inspections. Ask how they assess property value and risk, how they undertake due diligence, and what happens if the right property takes longer than expected to find.
You can also look at professional qualifications and industry memberships, client reviews, recent purchases and case studies.
And ask questions about their approach.
Do they appear focused on getting you to buy something quickly – or are they equally comfortable advising you to walk away from the wrong property?
For us, that distinction matters.
Awards aren’t why we do what we do.
Most of the work in buyer’s agency happens quietly behind the scenes: inspecting properties that ultimately aren’t right, researching comparable sales, speaking with agents, reviewing documents, attending building and pest inspections, navigating negotiations and dealing with the occasional – and not-so-occasional – curve ball.
The rewarding part is seeing our clients ultimately secure a property that genuinely fits what they set out to achieve.
So every now and then, it is lovely to stop and celebrate.
We’re incredibly proud to see Home Scouts recognised as a 2026 REIQ Buyers’ Agency of the Year finalist, and to have both Bronwen Stacey and Sandra Connors named among the 2026 REIQ Buyers’ Agent of the Year finalists.
We also feel privileged to be recognised alongside such a high-calibre group of buyers’ agents and buyers’ agencies – including colleagues here on the Sunshine Coast and in Brisbane, and those from further afield across Queensland.
For Sandra, we’re especially thrilled that this is her first individual REIQ Awards finalist nomination.
Whatever happens on awards night, having our little team recognised in all three places is something we’re very proud of.
If you’re planning to buy a home, relocate or invest in property and would like experienced, independent representation on your side, we’d love to have a conversation.
Looking on the Sunshine Coast?
Learn more about working with a Sunshine Coast Buyers Agent.
Buying in Brisbane?
Meet Sandra and learn more about our Brisbane Buyers Agent service.
Or book an introductory call or complete your details below, to connect with Home Scouts to talk through your property plans and see whether we’re the right fit to work together.
