Florida Licence · California Introduction

A Florida licence does not reach Hayward. Here is what does.

Read the limitation first. The useful part sits directly underneath it.

Referral only

Where the line actually falls

When a website offers you an agent in any city you care to name, one of two structures usually sits behind it: a network of brokerages with a fee arrangement between them, or a marketplace that resells enquiries to whoever is paying for that area this month. Neither is disqualifying. What matters is that you know which you are in and who is paid by whom. This is the first kind, the arrangement runs through The Keyes Company, and it is written out in full further down rather than buried in a footer.

Three steps, and what each one commits you to

Step 1

Tell me where and when

City, timeline, whether you are buying or selling, and what matters to you in an agent. Five minutes on the phone is usually enough.

Step 2

I find the match

My brokerage submits the referral through its network, and I look for someone whose actual experience fits your situation — not whoever answers first.

Step 3

You decide

You meet them, you interview them, and you are free to say no. A referral is an introduction, not an obligation.

What this page is not offering

I will not tell you what to offer or what to ask in Hayward. Pricing is the advisory half of brokerage, it rests on evidence I have no proper access to, and giving it where I hold no licence would be the precise thing this page says I do not do. When you want that answer, take it from the licensee I introduce you to, in writing, with the comparable properties attached to it.

What changes when you leave Florida

  • Licensing in this industry is granted state by state, not federally. A Florida licence carries no authority in California, and a California licence carries none in Florida — which is why an introduction, rather than representation, is the only honest offer on this page.
  • California 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.
  • California 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 California 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.
  • 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.

If there is a Florida property on the other side

Worth asking yourself before you call: is there a Florida house in this? If so, the referral is only half the conversation. The other half is a Florida listing, which is my actual job, and coordinating the two is materially easier when the same person is watching both calendars.

Questions worth asking on that first call

  • How do closing costs divide by local custom, which of those items are genuinely negotiable, and which are simply the way it is done here?
  • Can I sign remotely — electronically, or by post — or does something have to happen in person? If I am still in Florida on the day, what does that change?
  • If my timeline slips by six weeks, what happens to the agreement I am about to sign with you, and what happens to any money already committed?
  • What is the local practice on possession — do I get the keys at closing, or do sellers here commonly stay on for a period afterwards, and how is that documented?

Other cities in California

Questions people actually ask

Will my information be sold or shared with a lead network?

No. A referral goes to a named brokerage through The Keyes Company, not into a lead marketplace. This page itself collects nothing — the links go to forms hosted by The Keyes Company, which processes them under its own privacy policy.

Do I need a California licence to be referred?

No — that requirement falls on the agent, not on you. The licensee I introduce you to will hold a current California licence and will represent you under California law.

Why should I go through you instead of searching myself?

You may not need to. If you already know a good agent in Hayward, use them. The value here is that someone with a professional reason to care makes the call, checks the fit, and stays reachable if it goes sideways.

What if the agent you introduce me to turns out to be no good?

Tell me, and tell me early. I will go back and look again, and I will say so to the brokerage that put them forward. What I cannot do is repair the transaction from Florida: I do not supervise them and I am not a party to your agreement with them. Your remedies are the ones written into that agreement, their own broker, and the body that licenses agents in California.

What is a referral agreement?

A document between two brokerages, signed before you are introduced. It records that the introduction came through The Keyes Company and what fee becomes payable if a transaction closes. You are not a party to it, you do not sign it, and it imposes no obligation on you whatsoever. Ask to be told its terms if you want them — there is nothing in it that needs keeping from you.

Say where you are going and when

If there is a Florida property in this, mention it first. It changes what I am able to do rather than merely how I do it.

Ask for an introduction 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 takes it from here

The honest state of things: referral relationships are being formalised, and until one is signed there is no company I can point at without overstating it.

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.