The real deal: How Simon Cohen rose to the top

AS a kid growing up in Sydney’s leafy St Ives on the north shore, Simon Cohen’s dream weekend was looking at houses. 

He’d convince his Dad to drive him around to marvel at the spectrum of the Emerald City’s real estate, fuelling dreams.

“It was an absolute passion of mine from a very young age,” Simon says.

“I also loved looking at glossy photos in the paper of properties for sale and seeing who the top agents were. 

“My grandmother was a real estate agent in South Africa and whenever we visited I’d spend Sunday open homes with her, interacting with people and seeing how it all unfolded.”

Today, at 40, Simon is one of the nation’s biggest real estate dealmakers, regarded as the go-to buyer’s agent for prestige property in Sydney and with a reputation for unrivalled access to exclusive off-market listings. 

Cohen Handler, the firm he co-founded in 2009 from a room above a pub in Paddington, has grown into Australia’s leading property buyer’s agency with eight offices (in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth) and circa 120 staff. This, as well as a commercial property arm, investment advisory, leasing management service, and an interior design studio. 

Cohen Handler to date has assisted clients purchase more than $10 billion worth of property. 

Last year, Simon was personally involved in some of the nation’s biggest house deals, including the estimated $80 million sale of Spanish Mission-style Bellevue Hill residence Alcooringa.

But it’s not necessarily the most prestigious sales that bring him the most satisfaction.

“Alcooringa is the most expensive I’ve dealt with but there have been a lot of sales that were very tough at lower levels to get across the line. It’s the tough ones that give me the greatest joy.”

Simon began his career nearly 20 years ago as a “pavement pounding” sales agent with Ray White Double Bay, ultimately becoming one of Ray White’s top three percent of agents nationally.

“I approached specific houses for buyers that everyone said were untouchable,” he recalls. “Only the `kings’ of the industry back then could get in the door and list those properties.  

“But I got the listings and created relationships. I’m very proud to say many of those vendors and buyers are still my clients today.”

In 2009 Simon and former colleague Ben Handler (they parted ways in 2018) founded their own business as buyer’s agents. 

Many thought they were crazy, as a buyer’s agent was still rather a foreign concept in Australia. Further, the market was coming off the back of the GFC. 

“But I’m a believer,” Simon says. “I saw an opportunity in that buyers were not being represented properly. 

“There was all this emphasis on sellers and as a selling agent I was only able to help with the stock my firm had. 

“I’d see people missing out on great opportunities every single day – all the other stock in the off-market.”

Simon describes the early days of Cohen Handler as electric … “constantly marketing, screaming and begging. There were days when people told me I should give up but I never wanted to.”
He stresses that the relationship with conveyancers has been all-important over the years to his and Cohen Handler’s success.
“I have a go-to network of people who are a) extremely confident and b) are available to get things done when they need to be done,” he says.

“For example, I might need to call a conveyancer late on a Friday night to get a deal over the line. 

“If they are available at short notice to make things happen quickly and efficiently it can save clients a lot of money – also entire deals.”
While Simon’s reputation has been forged in the luxury sphere, he gets as much pleasure from the “everyday” market.

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

While Simon maintains the Sydney prestige market has no ceiling, he says the everyday market fluctuates a lot more and first home buyers shouldn’t be disheartened.

His advice: “You don’t have to buy where you live. You can find affordable property in areas outside main cities where research and analytics show there’s going to be reasons for growth. 

“What’s really sad is that many young people in Australia have convinced themselves it’s impossible to buy property and decide they’ll rent. By the time they’re in their 30s, perhaps with a few kids, they’re still renting and have no capital. Getting into the market will be even tougher, if not impossible.”

While snapping up properties for buyers big and small, Simon made a very special purchase of his own last year, the five-bedroom Paddington mansion Brompton, estimated to have set him back between $12-13 million. Actually two Victorian terraces that have been combined, Simon is in the process of renovating the property while he remains in his current abode, a two-storey apartment in Potts Point. 

“Construction is going well but I’m always adding, adding, adding …!” he laughs.

While he enjoys the finer things in life he has worked so hard for, Simon is grounded and takes nothing for granted.

“I have 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,” he says.

“But fundamentally I’m happy just surrounding myself with people I love. I have the best friends in the world, a great family and my health.”

Travel is another of Simon’s passions and it was on a recent trip he discovered that he’d also become something of a global name, following his starring role on Amazon Prime’s reality series Luxe Listings Sydney (2021-22).
“The show was an incredible highlight for me and something I’m very proud of but I could never have expected this …

“I was in this little village in the Puglia region of southern Italy, like the last place you’d think people would be watching a show about Sydney real estate.

“This guy recognised me from Luxe and literally chased me down the street! That was definitely a career highlight!”