Referrals Outside Florida

An introduction to an agent licensed in California

The honest version: wrong state for me, right state for someone I can find you.

Referral only

Starting with what I cannot do

Real estate licensing is state by state. My licence, 3623732, is issued by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation and authorises me to work under The Keyes Company on Florida property. It does not authorise me to advise on, list, show, or negotiate a home in California. Plenty of agents blur that line. I would rather say it first and then do the useful thing.

What this page is not offering

I will not send your details to several agents at once to see which one bites. One introduction, to one named brokerage, after a conversation with the person at the other end. If it turns out to be the wrong fit I would rather go back and make a second introduction than have set four strangers racing each other with your telephone number.

What actually happens next

Step 1

What kind of transaction

A first purchase, a downsize, an investment, a relocation with a company behind it — these need genuinely different agents, and the difference is not obvious from a profile page.

Step 2

A shortlist, not a name

Where Aliso Viejo supports it I would rather hand you two options than one. A referral that gives you no choice is just a redirect.

Step 3

Nothing is owed either way

If you take a name and never call it, that is a fine outcome. No fee arises unless a transaction actually closes, so nothing about this obliges you.

What works differently in California

Real estate licensing is state by state. An agent licensed in Florida cannot represent you in California, and a California licensee cannot represent you in Florida.
Leaving Florida means picking up a state income tax in California. Model it against the housing number before you settle on a price range, and take the actual arithmetic to a tax adviser rather than to any real estate agent, including me.
Title works differently for married couples in California, which is a community property state. It affects how you may hold the property and what happens to cost basis on a first death. That is a conversation for an attorney in California, and it is better had before closing than after.
Closings in California are generally handled through a title or escrow company rather than by an attorney as a matter of course, which is closer to the Florida pattern than not.
Florida’s homestead exemption and its Save Our Homes assessment cap do not follow you. California has its own property tax treatment, its own exemptions, and its own rules on how fast an assessment may rise. Confirm the specifics with the local taxing authority.

Questions worth asking on that first call

What are the property tax mechanics — how is assessment set, when does it reset after a sale, and what exemptions exist?
Who actually answers the phone — you, or someone on your team? Ask early; the answer changes the whole relationship.
Which documents will you ask me to sign at the very start, what does each one commit me to, and how long does it run? Ask for them by email so you can read them somewhere other than at a kitchen table.
What is the insurance picture on the kind of property I am looking at, and who should I be calling for a real quote?

If there is a Florida property on the other side

Sometimes the Florida property is not the one you live in. A second home, an inherited house, a unit that has been let for years — each of those sells differently and each carries paperwork that has to be in order before it can go on the market at all. If one of them is attached to your move to Aliso Viejo, that part sits squarely inside my licence, and it is worth starting early, because the documents take longer than the marketing does.

Other cities in California

Questions people actually ask

Do you know the Aliso Viejo market?

Not the way someone working it every day does, and I am not going to claim otherwise. That is the entire reason this page offers a referral rather than advice.

How long does it take to find someone?

Usually days rather than weeks. It depends on how specific your requirements are and how many licensees in Aliso Viejo genuinely fit them.

Can you help me sell my Florida home at the same time?

Yes, and that is the part where I am your agent rather than an introduction. Florida listings are squarely within my licence under The Keyes Company. If your move has a Florida sale attached, say so early so the two timelines can be planned together.

Is this a referral to a lender or title company too?

No. This is a real estate brokerage referral only. It is not a referral to any lender, title company, insurer, or other settlement service provider, and it should not be read as one.

What if I am moving to Florida rather than away from it?

Then there is no referral to make — that is my licence and my market. Start on the About page instead.

Tell me where you are going

Two things start this: the city, and the month it has to happen by. Everything else can be worked out on the call.

Send me the details 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.

Who I refer to

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.

The referral goes out through The Keyes Company to a brokerage licensed where you are buying. Before your name moves, I want to know that the agent on the other end has done something close to your transaction recently and will answer the phone themselves.

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.