Referral, Not Representation

Relocating to Oklahoma City? Here is how a referral works.

Read the limitation first. The useful part sits directly underneath it.

Referral only

Where the line actually falls

A referral fee is not a finder’s fee and it is not something you pay. It is a share of the commission the Oklahoma brokerage earns on a transaction it closes, paid across to The Keyes Company under an agreement signed between the two firms before you are ever introduced. Nothing is added to your closing statement, and nothing arises at all unless a transaction completes. I set this out early because the word “referral” has been used to describe several quite different arrangements, and you are entitled to know which one you are being offered.

Things that surprise people moving out of Florida

  • Real estate licensing is state by state. An agent licensed in Florida cannot represent you in Oklahoma, and a Oklahoma licensee cannot represent you in Florida.
  • Leaving Florida means picking up a state income tax in Oklahoma. 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 Oklahoma 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. Oklahoma 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

Step 1

Start with the constraint

Almost every move has one thing that cannot flex — a start date at work, a lease ending, a tenant with rights until a fixed date, a closing already on the calendar. Tell me that first; it determines everything else.

Step 2

I brief, then introduce

I describe your situation to the Oklahoma City licensee before you ever speak, so your first conversation starts at the second question rather than the first.

Step 3

You keep my number

The introduction is not the end of it. If something reads wrong three weeks in, call me — I would rather hear it than find out at closing.

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.

One move, two transactions

Sometimes the Florida property is not the one you live in. A second home, an inherited house, a unit that has been let for years — each of those sells differently and each carries paperwork that has to be in order before it can go on the market at all. If one of them is attached to your move to Oklahoma City, that part sits squarely inside my licence, and it is worth starting early, because the documents take longer than the marketing does.

The questions that tell you who you are dealing with

  • How are deposits handled in Oklahoma — 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 Oklahoma 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.
  • 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?

Other cities in Oklahoma

Questions people actually ask

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.

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 Oklahoma as in Florida.

Am I obliged to use the agent you introduce?

No. A referral is an introduction. You can interview them, interview others, and decline. If they are not right, tell me and I will look again.

I have a relocation package through work. Does that change anything?

It might, so check before I introduce anybody. Some employer programmes and benefit schemes require you to register with them before you speak to an agent, and will not pay the benefit if you have already committed to someone. That order of operations is theirs rather than mine. Read the terms, make that call first, and then come back — the referral will still be here.

Why should I go through you instead of searching myself?

You may not need to. If you already know a good agent in Oklahoma City, 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.

Say where you are going and when

A referral costs you nothing and commits you to nothing. The worst outcome is that you meet an agent you decide not to hire.

Request a referral 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.

The brokerage on the other end

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.

Practically, The Keyes Company routes the referral and I do the vetting. That means a conversation with the receiving agent first — what they close, how they communicate, whether they will still be reachable in week six.

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.