Florida Licensee · Texas Referral
Buying in Pearland? I will introduce you to someone licensed there.
I can still help — by introducing you to someone licensed where you are actually buying.
Referral onlyThe part most sites leave out
Most of what goes wrong in a long-distance move goes wrong at the handoff: nobody owns the introduction, so you end up cold-calling names off a search results page. I would rather own it. I cannot be your Texas agent, but I can be the person who found them and who you can call when you want a second read.
What changes when you leave Florida
- Real estate licensing is state by state. An agent licensed in Florida cannot represent you in Texas, and a Texas licensee cannot represent you in Florida.
- Sale prices in Texas 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.
- Like Florida, Texas has no broad-based tax on wage income. That removes one of the variables people most often assume they are trading away when they leave Florida.
- Title works differently for married couples in Texas, which is a community property state. It affects how you may hold the property and what happens to cost basis on a first death. That is a conversation for an attorney in Texas, and it is better had before closing than after.
- Closings in Texas 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, Texas has coastal exposure and a named-storm deductible regime in its property insurance market. The mechanism will feel familiar; the numbers will not necessarily.
- Florida’s homestead exemption and its Save Our Homes assessment cap do not follow you. Texas 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.
Three steps, and what each one commits you to
Tell me what you are leaving
If the property in Pearland 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.
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.
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.
What I will not do
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 are two possible orders and they carry different risks. Sell first and you know your number but may need somewhere to live; buy first and you have somewhere to live but two sets of carrying costs until the Florida property closes. Which suits you is a conversation for you, your lender and me, and it is far better had before you are emotionally attached to a particular house in Pearland than after.
What to ask the agent I introduce you to
- How many transactions have you closed in Pearland in the last twelve months, and how many were on the side of the table I am on?
- How do closing costs divide by local custom, which of those items are genuinely negotiable, and which are simply the way it is done here?
- 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.
- If I need to back out, what actually happens to my deposit under a standard Texas contract?
Other cities in Texas
Questions people actually ask
Do you get paid if I never buy anything?
No. A referral fee only arises if a referred transaction actually closes. If nothing closes, nothing is paid by anyone.
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.
How long does it take to find someone?
Usually days rather than weeks. It depends on how specific your requirements are and how many licensees in Pearland genuinely fit them.
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.
Can you represent me in Pearland?
No. My licence is issued by Florida and is valid in Florida only. Representing you in a Texas transaction would be unlicensed activity there. What I can do is refer you to a licensee in Texas through The Keyes Company.
Ready when you are
A referral costs you nothing and commits you to nothing. The worst outcome is that you meet an agent you decide not to hire.
Ask for an 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
The honest state of things: referral relationships are being formalised, and until one is signed there is no company I can point at without overstating it.
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.