The Keyes Company Referral Network

Buying in Santa Fe? I will introduce you to someone licensed there.

One introduction, made carefully, costs you nothing and saves you the guesswork.

Referral only

The honest position, stated up front

If you are selling in Santa Fe rather than buying, this introduction matters more, not less. A listing agreement is a contract for a fixed term with a named brokerage, and it is considerably harder to unwind than a conversation with a buyer’s agent. So take longer over it than you think you need to. Ask what the agent will actually do in the first fortnight, ask in writing what it costs you to end the arrangement early, and do not sign anything on the first call — including anything I put in front of you, which is nothing at all.

The mechanics change at the state line

  • Licensing in this industry is granted state by state, not federally. A Florida licence carries no authority in New Mexico, and a New Mexico licence carries none in Florida — which is why an introduction, rather than representation, is the only honest offer on this page.
  • New Mexico 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 New Mexico agent will explain what that changes.
  • Leaving Florida means picking up a state income tax in New Mexico. 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.
  • New Mexico 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 New Mexico 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.
  • Neither the homestead exemption nor the Save Our Homes cap travels with you out of Florida. New Mexico 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 actually happens next

Step 1

Tell me what you are leaving

If the property in Santa Fe is yours to sell, lead with that. A listing is a different search from a purchase: I am looking for someone whose recent work is on the seller side, who can describe how a property like yours is normally brought to market there, and who does not have to be chased for an answer.

Step 2

I look for a listing agent

I speak to them before you do, and I put the awkward questions to them rather than to you — how long their agreements run, who covers when they are away, what actually happens in the first fortnight, and what they are willing to admit they do not handle.

Step 3

You sign with them, not me

The agreement is between you and their brokerage. I am not a party to it, I do not see its terms unless you show them to me, and I have no ability to alter them. Read it before you sign it, and ask what it costs you to end it early.

The limits, stated outright

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 Santa Fe side goes to the licensee I introduce you to. Say so early, because the two timelines have to be planned against each other.

Use the first call properly

  • Which documents will you ask me to sign at the very start, what does each one commit me to, and how long does it run? Ask for them by email so you can read them somewhere other than at a kitchen table.
  • 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?
  • What does your written agreement say about the length of the term and how I end it if this is not working?
  • What disclosures is a seller in New Mexico required to make, and what are they entitled to stay silent about?

Other cities in New Mexico

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 New Mexico.

What if I am moving to Florida rather than away from it?

Then there is no referral to make — that is my licence and my market. Start on the About page instead.

Who actually pays you?

Only my broker can. Under Section 475.42(1)(d), Florida Statutes, a sales associate may be compensated only by the registered broker. Any referral fee is paid to The Keyes Company, and The Keyes Company may in turn compensate me. There is no direct payment from you or from the New Mexico agent to me.

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.

Do I need a New Mexico licence to be referred?

No — that requirement falls on the agent, not on you. The licensee I introduce you to will hold a current New Mexico licence and will represent you under New Mexico law.

Tell me where you are going

Send me the details and I will start looking. If your move is into Florida rather than out of it, skip the referral — that one is mine.

Start the introduction 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

I am not going to publish a partner directory I have not earned. What follows is how the decision actually gets made.

In practice: The Keyes Company places the referral, and I go looking for a licensee whose recent work resembles what you are about to do. A first-time purchase, a downsize and an investment buy need genuinely different people, and that difference is invisible from a profile page.

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.