Red flags for real estate

People search “suspicious activity indicators real estate” when a suburban agency wants a counter card of property red flags and is about to photocopy a regulator guide. Checked against AUSTRAC’s real estate risk insights on 4 October 2026. This is general information, not legal advice. This page does not reproduce that guidance. The report itself, after a suspicion, is the suspicious matter report for Tranche 2. The wider agency program is real estate AML compliance. The sector map is /tranche-2.

Prompts on a sale file

Real estate indicators are about the sale in front of the agency: a buyer who will not be identified, a price that staff cannot reconcile with the campaign, a deposit from someone who is not the buyer, pressure to exchange before questions are answered. AUSTRAC’s real estate risk insights describe the sector. This page does not copy those insights.

The suburban agency writes three or four prompts in its own words and teaches the desk to make a note. The note is not the report. If a suspicion is formed, the report is a different page and a different duty.

• Tie the prompt to the campaign. A price, a buyer, and a deposit are things the agency actually sees. A generic finance red flag that never occurs at an open home will not be used.
• Write the observation, not the conclusion. “Deposit came from a person not named on the contract” is an observation. “This is money laundering” is a conclusion the program’s decision-maker has not made yet.
• One odd fact is a prompt. It can have an ordinary explanation. Record the explanation if you accept it. Do not record a blank line.
• Do not coach the buyer. Telling a buyer how to make the file look ordinary is not salescraft. Fetch the person who owns the suspicion decision.

Four scenes at a suburban agency

These scenes are recognisable at a sales desk. They are examples of prompts, not a reproduction of the sector guide, and not a points system.

Where the agency indicators stop

This page is the real estate prompt. It is not the report and it is not the whole agency program. Those are the suspicious matter report for Tranche 2 and real estate AML compliance.

What the client pays

On FreeAML the firm suite is A$0. The firm emails the client a link. Verification is client-pays. On the public list a personal KYC check is A$20 and a company or trust KYB check is A$40. Use KYB when the customer is a company or a trust. A counter-card of prompts is not a customer check, and printing one is not included in the firm suite. Confirm the live amounts on FreeAML pricing. FreeAML does not decide you suspect money laundering on a sale or copy the sector indicator guide.

Frequently Asked Questions