One Licence, Forty-Nine Referrals
An introduction to an agent licensed in California
I will not pretend to work Visalia. I will find you someone who does.
Referral onlyWhat I do once you call
Ask me what I get out of it
A fair question, and the answer is on this page. If a referred transaction closes, the receiving brokerage may pay a fee to The Keyes Company, which may in turn compensate me. If nothing closes, nothing is paid. You pay nothing in either case, and there is no invoice at the end of this.
I call, you hear the reasoning
You are told why this person rather than another one: what their recent work looks like, how they answered the questions I put to them, and anything about the conversation that gave me pause. You can weigh that yourself.
Say no at any point
Before the introduction, after it, or three conversations in. There is no agreement between us, nothing to cancel, and no version of this in which declining costs you anything at all.
Florida to California: what is genuinely different
- 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.
Starting with what I cannot do
One thing to check before you let me introduce anyone. If your move is being paid for by an employer, or you are using a benefit programme attached to your work or your service, read that programme’s terms first. Some of them require you to register with them before you speak to any agent and will not pay out if you have already committed to someone. That is not a rule I control and it is not a reason to avoid a referral — it is a reason to make one telephone call in the right order.
Things I am going to refuse
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.
Selling here, buying there
If what you are leaving is a condominium or a house inside an association, the Florida side has a queue attached to it. Estoppel letters, association approval, and the building’s inspection and reserve documents where those apply — none of it moves at the speed of a buyer who wants to close in thirty days. Starting that paperwork while you are still deciding about Visalia is the cheapest thing you can do for your own timeline.
What I would ask if I were you
- What does a normal contract-to-close timeline look like in California, and what most often blows it up?
- Who handles the closing here — an attorney, a title company, an escrow agent — and when do they get involved?
- What disclosures is a seller in California required to make, and what are they entitled to stay silent about?
- If I am buying before my Florida property sells, what do sellers here accept as proof of funds?
Other cities in California
Questions people actually ask
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.
How do I time a Florida sale against a purchase in Visalia?
Deliberately, and from the start. The two closings are separate contracts and nobody controls both, so the work is in keeping each side informed of the other’s dates. If I am handling the Florida sale, I will speak to your California agent about the calendar directly. Where the dates cannot be made to meet, the usual instruments are a rent-back or interim financing, and both are cheaper to plan than to arrange in a hurry.
Do you get paid if I use an agent you did not refer me to?
No. A fee arises only where the introduction came through The Keyes Company and a transaction closes with that agent. If you find someone yourself, or use somebody you already know, nothing is payable to anyone — and that is a perfectly good outcome. I would rather you had the right agent than that I had a fee.
I have a relocation package through work. Does that change anything?
It might, so check before I introduce anybody. Some employer programmes and benefit schemes require you to register with them before you speak to an agent, and will not pay the benefit if you have already committed to someone. That order of operations is theirs rather than mine. Read the terms, make that call first, and then come back — the referral will still be here.
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.
Before you fill in anyone else’s form
I would rather have one honest conversation that ends with me saying you do not need me than ten that end in an introduction you regret.
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.
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 path is The Keyes Company to a licensed brokerage in your state. What I add is the filter in between — and a phone number you can still call if the introduction turns out to have been a bad read.
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.