Florida Licensee · California Referral
A Florida licence does not reach Murrieta. Here is what does.
You are not a lead here. You are a phone call I have to make properly.
Referral onlyWhat a Florida owner does not expect
- 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.
- 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.
How a referral works
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.
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.
You decide
You meet them, you interview them, and you are free to say no. A referral is an introduction, not an obligation.
Read this part before the rest
Two closings in two states means two contracts, two sets of local custom and two lenders’ calendars, and no single person has authority over both. What can be arranged is that each side knows what the other is waiting on. If I am handling a Florida sale for you, I will tell your California agent what my dates look like and I will ask for theirs. Where those calendars are never introduced to each other, the result is usually a rent-back nobody planned for or interim financing nobody budgeted for.
The questions that tell you who you are dealing with
- What goes into an offer here besides the price, and what do sellers in California expect to see attached to it? Local custom on this varies more than people moving between states tend to assume.
- 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.
- When an inspection turns something up, what is the local practice — a price reduction, a credit at closing, or the seller arranging the work — and who conducts that negotiation on my behalf?
- 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.
Things I am going to refuse
I will not promise you an outcome. Not a price, not a timeline, not a standard of service from somebody else’s employee. What I can give you is what I asked the agent, what they said, and anything in the conversation that gave me pause. Anyone offering more certainty than that about a transaction in a state they are not licensed in is describing a wish rather than a service.
The half of this I can actually do
Most moves out of Florida have a Florida transaction attached to them. If you are selling a Florida home and buying in Murrieta, that is the strongest version of this: I represent you on the Florida sale as your agent, and I refer you for the California purchase. One relationship, two licensed professionals, and nobody pretending to be qualified where they are not.
Other cities in California
Questions people actually ask
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.
Are commissions set by law?
No. Broker compensation is not set by law and is fully negotiable between you and the brokerage that represents you, in California as in Florida.
Can you guarantee I will be happy with the agent?
No, and be sceptical of anyone who says otherwise. I can introduce you to a licensed professional and give you my honest read. I do not supervise or control the agent or brokerage you choose, and I cannot promise an outcome, a price, or a timeline.
Do you get paid if I never buy anything?
No. A referral fee only arises if a referred transaction actually closes. If nothing closes, nothing is paid by anyone.
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.
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.
Request a referral 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
A referral is only worth anything if the choice is made for your transaction rather than made once and applied to everyone. So there is no default name here.
The referral is submitted through The Keyes Company, and a receiving brokerage licensed in your state is identified for your specific transaction. I look at what that brokerage and that agent actually work on — price band, property type, whether relocations are routine for them — and I speak to them before your name is passed along.
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.