Referrals Outside Florida
Moving to Newton, Massachusetts?
One introduction, made carefully, costs you nothing and saves you the guesswork.
Referral onlyThe mechanics change at the state line
- Real estate licensing is state by state. An agent licensed in Florida cannot represent you in Massachusetts, and a Massachusetts licensee cannot represent you in Florida.
- Massachusetts 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.
- Expect an attorney at the closing table in Massachusetts. Florida closings typically run through a title company instead, so the cast of characters, the fee structure and the sequence of the last two weeks will all look unfamiliar.
- Like Florida, Massachusetts has coastal exposure and a named-storm deductible regime in its property insurance market. The mechanism will feel familiar; the numbers will not necessarily.
- Florida’s homestead exemption and its Save Our Homes assessment cap do not follow you. Massachusetts 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 the introduction gets made
Put both dates on one page
A Florida sale and a Massachusetts 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.
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.
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.
First, the limitation
A licence is a jurisdiction, not a reputation. Mine covers Florida and stops there, which means that for a Newton transaction I am not the person who represents you — no matter how much I know about moving, financing, or the mechanics of a closing. What I am is someone with a brokerage behind him and a reason to introduce you to the right person rather than the nearest one.
The questions that tell you who you are dealing with
- Do you work alone or as part of a team? If it is a team, ask who writes the offer, who attends the inspection, and who I will actually be speaking to at nine o’clock on a Tuesday morning.
- How are deposits handled in Massachusetts — who holds the money, what amount is customary, and at what point does it stop being refundable? Get that answer before you write the cheque rather than after.
- What goes into an offer here besides the price, and what do sellers in Massachusetts 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.
Where I stop, on purpose
I will not tell you that you need to move quickly. I have no basis for saying it about a market I do not work, timing is not something a licensee should be selling anybody, and urgency manufactured by the person who benefits from your decision is the oldest device in this industry. If your timeline is tight, that will be because of your circumstances, not because of my advice.
If there is a Florida property on the other side
There is a version of this where I am not a referral at all. If the property you are leaving is in Florida, I can list and sell it as your agent under The Keyes Company — that half is squarely my licence — while the Newton side goes to the licensee I introduce you to. Say so early, because the two timelines have to be planned against each other.
Other cities in Massachusetts
Questions people actually ask
Can you represent me in Newton?
No. My licence is issued by Florida and is valid in Florida only. Representing you in a Massachusetts transaction would be unlicensed activity there. What I can do is refer you to a licensee in Massachusetts through The Keyes Company.
Do you know the Newton 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 Massachusetts as in Florida.
Why should I go through you instead of searching myself?
You may not need to. If you already know a good agent in Newton, 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.
How do I time a Florida sale against a purchase in Newton?
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 Massachusetts 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.
Tell me the city and the timeline
Give me the city, the timeline and whether there is a Florida property involved. That is genuinely all I need to start making calls.
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 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.