Florida is my licence. Starkville is a referral.

What I do once you call

What changes when you leave Florida

• 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.
• Mississippi is a non-disclosure state: sale prices are not public record. Researching value works differently there than in Florida, where documentary stamps on the deed make the price effectively public. Your Mississippi agent will explain what that changes.
• Mississippi 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.
• 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.
• Like Florida, Mississippi has coastal exposure and a named-storm deductible regime in its property insurance market. The mechanism will feel familiar; the numbers will not necessarily.
• 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.

First, the limitation

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.

Where I stop, on purpose

I will not answer a legal, tax, insurance or appraisal question in any state, including my own. I am a sales associate, not an attorney, a CPA, a lender, an appraiser or an inspector, and an honest version of this job includes knowing where its edges are. What I can usually do is tell you which of those people you actually need, which is a cheaper question to get right early than late.

The Florida side of a two-state move

Most moves out of Florida have a Florida transaction attached to them. If you are selling a Florida home and buying in Starkville, that is the strongest version of this: I represent you on the Florida sale as your agent, and I refer you for the Mississippi purchase. One relationship, two licensed professionals, and nobody pretending to be qualified where they are not.

Questions I would put to them myself

• 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?
• 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 I need to back out, what actually happens to my deposit under a standard Mississippi contract?
• What are the property tax mechanics — how is assessment set, when does it reset after a sale, and what exemptions exist?

Other cities in Mississippi

• Hattiesburg
• Southaven
• Gulfport
• Jackson
• Ridgeland
• Madison
• Pearl
• Clinton
• All of Mississippi