Florida Licence · Arizona Introduction

Before you choose an agent in Mesa, read this

If there is a Florida property attached to this move, say so — that half is mine.

Referral only

Three steps, and what each one commits you to

Step 1

A short conversation

What is prompting the move, when it has to happen, and whether there is a Florida property on the other side of it. That last one changes what I can do for you.

Step 2

A deliberate search

I look for a licensee in Mesa whose day-to-day work resembles your transaction. Then I speak to them before I hand over your name.

Step 3

A clean handoff

You get an introduction and the reasoning behind it. If you do not like them, tell me and I will go back and look again.

The mechanics change at the state line

  • Real estate licensing is state by state. An agent licensed in Florida cannot represent you in Arizona, and a Arizona licensee cannot represent you in Florida.
  • Arizona levies a tax on income; Florida does not. It is a change worth modelling against the housing cost before you commit to a price range, and it is a question for your own tax adviser rather than for any real estate agent.
  • Arizona is a community property state. How a married couple may take title, and what happens to cost basis on the first death, follow different rules than in Florida. Raise it with your attorney before closing, not after.
  • Closings in Arizona generally run through a title or escrow company rather than requiring an attorney as a matter of course — structurally closer to what you are used to in Florida than not.
  • Neither the homestead exemption nor the Save Our Homes cap travels with you out of Florida. Arizona sets its own assessment rules, its own exemptions and its own limit on how fast a bill can rise — confirm the specifics with the local taxing authority rather than assuming a Florida analogue exists.

One licence, one state

Buying at a distance is a different job from buying at home, and the licensee who suits it is not necessarily the one with the largest sign presence. Somebody has to walk the property with a phone in their hand, describe what is behind the fence rather than what is in the photographs, and be willing to say the thing that costs them the sale. That is what I am screening for when I make these calls. I cannot do it for you in Arizona, and I would not trust a page that told you otherwise.

Where I stop, on purpose

I will not take a payment from you, and could not lawfully do so if I wanted to. A Florida sales associate may be compensated only through his registered broker, so any fee here is paid by the receiving brokerage to The Keyes Company out of a commission earned only if a transaction closes. There is no invoice at the end of this and no version of it in which you are billed for an introduction.

The Florida side of a two-state move

Not everyone sells. If you are keeping the Florida property and letting it out, that is a different conversation with different consequences: the homestead position changes once it stops being your primary residence, and the insurance and association questions change alongside it. I am not your tax adviser and the county property appraiser is the authority on the exemption itself, but I can tell you what the Florida side of that decision looks like in practice before you commit to it.

The first conversation, made useful

  • How is a shortfall on the appraisal usually handled in Arizona, and what do buyers here commonly write into the contract to deal with it before it happens?
  • What is on the survey or title work here that a Florida buyer would not think to look for?
  • How is your compensation structured, and what is negotiable about it? Broker compensation is not set by law in any state.
  • If the property is listed by your own brokerage, what happens to my representation, what does Arizona law permit in that situation, and what exactly would you be asking me to sign?

Other cities in Arizona

Questions people actually ask

Does a VA loan change how the referral works?

Not on my side of it. Loan eligibility is a matter between you and a lender, not something an agent controls, and nothing on this page is a referral to any lender. What it may change is who you want at the other end: ask the licensee I introduce you to how often they work with buyers using that financing and what local practice is on the paperwork. It is a fair question and the answer is usually revealing.

What do you actually tell the agent about me?

The shape of the transaction. The city, roughly when, buying or selling, and anything you have told me matters to you in how you are dealt with. Not your finances, and nothing you have asked me to keep to myself. If you would rather I said less than that, say so — it is your information, and a shorter briefing costs nothing.

How is this different from the sites that match me with an agent?

Put the same two questions to any of them and compare the answers: how many people receive my details, and who pays you. Here the answers are one named brokerage, and the receiving brokerage pays The Keyes Company a share of its own commission if a transaction closes. Neither arrangement is illegitimate. They are simply not the same thing, and you are entitled to know which one you are in.

Can you represent me in Mesa?

No. My licence is issued by Florida and is valid in Florida only. Representing you in a Arizona transaction would be unlicensed activity there. What I can do is refer you to a licensee in Arizona through The Keyes Company.

What does a referral cost me?

Nothing. You are not charged for a referral. If a referred transaction closes, a referral fee may be paid between the two brokerages out of the commission on that transaction. It does not increase what you pay.

Start here

Give me the city, the timeline and whether there is a Florida property involved. That is genuinely all I need to start making calls.

Talk it through first Moving to Florida instead?

Jacob Campbell · Florida Real Estate Sales Associate, license 3623732 · The Keyes Company · Licensed in Florida only — referrals outside Florida are made to independently licensed agents in your state.

The brokerage on the other end

What I can describe is the process, which exists whether or not a particular agreement has been signed. Who it lands on is decided per transaction, not per quarter.

Practically, The Keyes Company routes the referral and I do the vetting. That means a conversation with the receiving agent first — what they close, how they communicate, whether they will still be reachable in week six.

Three things stay true whoever it turns out to be:

  • They will hold a current licence in the state where your transaction happens, and they will represent you under that state’s law — not under Florida’s, and not under mine.
  • Any referral fee is paid brokerage to brokerage, out of the commission on a closed transaction. It costs you nothing and it does not increase what you pay. Under Section 475.42(1)(d), Florida Statutes, any share reaching me comes from my broker and from nowhere else.
  • You are under no obligation to use them. Interview them, interview someone else, or decline entirely. If the fit is wrong, tell me and I will go back and look again.

As referral relationships are formalised, the brokerages involved will be named here, together with their licence number and the regulator that issued it, so you can verify them yourself rather than take my word for it.

Referral disclosure

  • I am licensed in Florida only. I will not act as your real estate agent in any other state, and nothing on this page is an offer to represent you outside Florida. Your agent in your state will be licensed there and will represent you under that state’s law.
  • A referral fee may be paid. If a referred transaction closes, the receiving brokerage may pay a referral fee to The Keyes Company, and The Keyes Company may in turn compensate me. Under Section 475.42(1)(d), Florida Statutes, a sales associate may be paid only by his registered broker, so any payment reaches me that way and no other.
  • It costs you nothing. You are not charged for a referral. A referral fee is paid between brokerages out of the commission on the transaction and does not increase what you pay.
  • Commissions are negotiable. Broker compensation is not set by law and is negotiable between you and the brokerage that represents you, in every state.
  • No guarantee. I can introduce you to a licensed professional and give you my honest read. I cannot promise any outcome, price, timeline, or level of service, and I do not supervise or control the agent or brokerage you choose.
  • Real estate brokerage referrals only. This page covers real estate brokerage referrals only. It is not a referral to any lender, title company, insurer, or other settlement service provider.
  • Equal Housing Opportunity. Referrals are made without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, disability, or any other class protected by federal, state, or local fair housing law.