Florida Licensee · California Referral

Moving out of Florida? Start with the introduction.

One licence, one state, and an honest answer about Mountain View.

Referral only

Where my licence stops

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.

The mechanics, without the gloss

Step 1

Put both dates on one page

A Florida sale and a California purchase are two separate contracts with two separate calendars. Before anything else we write down what has to happen by when: the date you must be out, the date you can be in, and which of the two will not move under any circumstances.

Step 2

Introduce early, not late

An introduction is worth considerably more eight weeks out than two. An agent who knows your timeline from the start can tell you what is achievable on it. One who inherits it a fortnight before closing can only tell you what is not.

Step 3

We revisit when a date moves

One of them always moves. When it does, tell both sides on the same day. Most of the expensive repairs in a two-state move exist because somebody learned about a slipped date a week after everyone else did.

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.

Before you go: the structural differences

  • 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.
  • 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.

Where I stop being a referral and start being your agent

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.

Use the first call properly

  • 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 does a normal contract-to-close timeline look like in California, and what most often blows it up?
  • If I am buying before I have seen the property in person, what will you do on my behalf and what will you refuse to do? A clear answer to the second half of that question is worth more than the first.
  • How is your compensation structured, and what is negotiable about it? Broker compensation is not set by law in any state.

Other cities in California

Questions people actually ask

Why should I go through you instead of searching myself?

You may not need to. If you already know a good agent in Mountain View, 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.

Is dual agency allowed in California?

That depends on the state, and it is a question for the licensee I introduce you to rather than for me. Some states permit one agent to work with both sides where everybody consents in writing; others restrict or prohibit it outright. Florida’s own vocabulary — transaction broker, single agent — does not map neatly onto other states, so do not assume your Florida experience transfers. Ask what it is called there and what you would be signing.

Who holds my deposit?

It varies by state and sometimes by county: a title or escrow company, the listing brokerage, or an attorney. What matters more than who holds it is what the contract says about when it can be released and what it takes to get it back. Ask both questions before you part with the money, and ask for the answer in writing rather than on the telephone.

Say where you are going and when

There is no form on this page and no follow-up sequence behind it. The links go to The Keyes Company, which handles enquiries under its own privacy policy.

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 I refer to

There is no panel of partner brokerages on this page because there is not yet a panel of partner brokerages. When there is, they will be named here with their licence numbers, and not before.

In practice: The Keyes Company places the referral, and I go looking for a licensee whose recent work resembles what you are about to do. A first-time purchase, a downsize and an investment buy need genuinely different people, and that difference is invisible from a profile page.

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.