Florida Licensee · Pennsylvania Referral
Moving out of Florida? Start with the introduction.
One introduction, made carefully, costs you nothing and saves you the guesswork.
Referral onlyThe honest position, stated up front
Real estate licensing is state by state. My licence, 3623732, is issued by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation and authorises me to work under The Keyes Company on Florida property. It does not authorise me to advise on, list, show, or negotiate a home in Pennsylvania. Plenty of agents blur that line. I would rather say it first and then do the useful thing.
Things I am going to refuse
I will not promise you an outcome. Not a price, not a timeline, not a standard of service from somebody else’s employee. What I can give you is what I asked the agent, what they said, and anything in the conversation that gave me pause. Anyone offering more certainty than that about a transaction in a state they are not licensed in is describing a wish rather than a service.
What actually happens next
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.
I brief, then introduce
I describe your situation to the York licensee before you ever speak, so your first conversation starts at the second question rather than the first.
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.
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 Pennsylvania, and a Pennsylvania licence carries none in Florida — which is why an introduction, rather than representation, is the only honest offer on this page.
- Leaving Florida means picking up a state income tax in Pennsylvania. 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 Pennsylvania 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.
- Neither the homestead exemption nor the Save Our Homes cap travels with you out of Florida. Pennsylvania 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.
The first conversation, made useful
- How is your compensation structured, and what is negotiable about it? Broker compensation is not set by law in any state.
- What is the local convention on inspection and financing contingency periods, and how tight are people making them right now?
- What does a normal contract-to-close timeline look like in Pennsylvania, and what most often blows it up?
- Who handles the closing here — an attorney, a title company, an escrow agent — and when do they get involved?
The half of this I can actually do
Most moves out of Florida have a Florida transaction attached to them. If you are selling a Florida home and buying in York, that is the strongest version of this: I represent you on the Florida sale as your agent, and I refer you for the Pennsylvania purchase. One relationship, two licensed professionals, and nobody pretending to be qualified where they are not.
Other cities in Pennsylvania
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 Pennsylvania.
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 Pennsylvania?
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.
How do I time a Florida sale against a purchase in York?
Deliberately, and from the start. The two closings are separate contracts and nobody controls both, so the work is in keeping each side informed of the other’s dates. If I am handling the Florida sale, I will speak to your Pennsylvania agent about the calendar directly. Where the dates cannot be made to meet, the usual instruments are a rent-back or interim financing, and both are cheaper to plan than to arrange in a hurry.
Tell me the city and the timeline
If there is a Florida property in this, mention it first. It changes what I am able to do rather than merely how I do it.
Send me the details 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
A referral is only worth anything if the choice is made for your transaction rather than made once and applied to everyone. So there is no default name here.
The path is The Keyes Company to a licensed brokerage in your state. What I add is the filter in between — and a phone number you can still call if the introduction turns out to have been a bad read.
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.