An introduction to an agent licensed in Mississippi

What works differently in Mississippi

• Licensing in this industry is granted state by state, not federally. A Florida licence carries no authority in Mississippi, and a Mississippi licence carries none in Florida — which is why an introduction, rather than representation, is the only honest offer on this page.
• Sale prices in Mississippi are not a matter of public record — it is one of a minority of non-disclosure states. Coming from Florida, where documentary stamps on the deed make the number effectively public, expect to lean far harder on your agent for comparables than you are used to.
• Leaving Florida means picking up a state income tax in Mississippi. 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 Mississippi 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.
• Mississippi shares Florida's coastal exposure and, with it, a named-storm deductible regime in its property insurance market. The mechanism will be familiar. Do not assume the premium will be.
• Neither the homestead exemption nor the Save Our Homes cap travels with you out of Florida. Mississippi 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.

Starting with what I cannot do

After the introduction I am not in your transaction. I do not supervise the agent, I do not see your contract, and I have no authority to intervene when something goes wrong — that authority belongs to their broker and to the body that licenses agents in Mississippi. What I do keep is the telephone. If something reads badly three weeks in, tell me. I would far rather make an awkward call to another brokerage than find out at closing that the introduction was the wrong one.

What I do once you call

Things I am going to refuse

I will not treat the introduction as the end of my involvement when that suits me and the beginning of it when that suits me better. What I owe you afterwards is honesty and a returned telephone call. What I cannot offer is supervision of another brokerage’s agent, because I have no authority over them at all. I would rather draw that line now than have you rely on something I am unable to deliver.

Questions I would put to them myself

• How are deposits handled in Mississippi — 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.
• If my timeline slips by six weeks, what happens to the agreement I am about to sign with you, and what happens to any money already committed?
• Who handles the closing here — an attorney, a title company, an escrow agent — and when do they get involved?
• 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.

Where I stop being a referral and start being your agent

Worth asking yourself before you call: is there a Florida house in this? If so, the referral is only half the conversation. The other half is a Florida listing, which is my actual job, and coordinating the two is materially easier when the same person is watching both calendars.

Other cities in Mississippi

• Biloxi
• Starkville
• Jackson
• Tupelo
• Pearl
• Hattiesburg
• Greenville
• Ridgeland
• All of Mississippi