One Licence, Forty-Nine Referrals
Leaving Florida for North Dakota
One licence, one state, and an honest answer about .
Starting with what I cannot do
This page exists because you searched for something and a search engine had to answer you. That makes it an advertisement, and Florida requires me to say whose: I am a sales associate registered with The Keyes Company, licence 3623732. What is being advertised is not representation in North Dakota, because I cannot lawfully offer that. It is an introduction. Its value is that the person making it has a professional reason to get it right and a broker who is answerable if he does not.
The mechanics, without the gloss
You give me the shape of it
Price range, constraints you already know about, and whether you are on a deadline. I am not qualifying you — I am briefing whoever I call.
I make the call myself
The referral goes out through The Keyes Company. I would rather spend a week finding the right North Dakota licensee than send your details into a lead pool the same afternoon.
It stays your decision
Interview them. Interview two others if you want. Nothing about a referral obliges you to use anyone, and I have no way to make you.
Things that surprise people moving out of Florida
- Real estate licensing is state by state. An agent licensed in Florida cannot represent you in North Dakota, and a North Dakota licensee cannot represent you in Florida.
- Sale prices in North Dakota 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 North Dakota. 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 North Dakota 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.
- Florida’s homestead exemption and its Save Our Homes assessment cap do not follow you. North Dakota 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.
Cities in North Dakota
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 North Dakota.
What is a referral agreement?
A document between two brokerages, signed before you are introduced. It records that the introduction came through The Keyes Company and what fee becomes payable if a transaction closes. You are not a party to it, you do not sign it, and it imposes no obligation on you whatsoever. Ask to be told its terms if you want them — there is nothing in it that needs keeping from you.
Is dual agency allowed in North Dakota?
That depends on the state, and it is a question for the licensee I introduce you to rather than for me. Some states permit one agent to work with both sides where everybody consents in writing; others restrict or prohibit it outright. Florida’s own vocabulary — transaction broker, single agent — does not map neatly onto other states, so do not assume your Florida experience transfers. Ask what it is called there and what you would be signing.
Who holds my deposit?
It varies by state and sometimes by county: a title or escrow company, the listing brokerage, or an attorney. What matters more than who holds it is what the contract says about when it can be released and what it takes to get it back. Ask both questions before you part with the money, and ask for the answer in writing rather than on the telephone.
Ready when you are
Give me the city, the timeline and whether there is a Florida property involved. That is genuinely all I need to start making calls.
Get connected in 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 actually ends up representing you
You will notice nobody is named below. That is deliberate and it is temporary: I would rather show you an empty list than a borrowed one.
The Keyes Company handles the placement. I handle the question of whether the person on the other end is right for you, which means asking them about their last few transactions rather than reading their bio.
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.