Licensed in Florida Only
Relocating to Evanston? Here is how a referral works.
If there is a Florida property attached to this move, say so — that half is mine.
Referral onlyFrom this page to a licensed agent
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.
The part most sites leave out
You have probably already found three pages promising Illinois results from people who have never set foot there. This is not one of them. I hold one licence, it is Florida's, and everything below is built on that being true rather than on hoping you do not check.
Things I am going to refuse
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 Illinois, and a Illinois licence carries none in Florida — which is why an introduction, rather than representation, is the only honest offer on this page.
- Leaving Florida means picking up a state income tax in Illinois. 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.
- Closings in Illinois 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.
- Neither the homestead exemption nor the Save Our Homes cap travels with you out of Florida. Illinois sets its own assessment rules, its own exemptions and its own limit on how fast a bill can rise — confirm the specifics with the local taxing authority rather than assuming a Florida analogue exists.
What to ask the agent I introduce you to
- How do you handle it when you represent both sides of a transaction, and what does Illinois law allow there?
- If I am buying before my Florida property sells, what do sellers here accept as proof of funds?
- What disclosures is a seller in Illinois required to make, and what are they entitled to stay silent about?
- Who handles the closing here — an attorney, a title company, an escrow agent — and when do they get involved?
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.
Other cities in Illinois
Questions people actually ask
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 Illinois.
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.
Can you represent me in Evanston?
No. My licence is issued by Florida and is valid in Florida only. Representing you in a Illinois transaction would be unlicensed activity there. What I can do is refer you to a licensee in Illinois through The Keyes Company.
Do you know the Evanston 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.
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 Illinois as in Florida.
The next step is a phone call
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.
Tell me about the move 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
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.