Referral, Not Representation
Leaving Florida for Charleston, WV
I can still help — by introducing you to someone licensed where you are actually buying.
Referral onlyStarting with what I cannot do
You have probably already found three pages promising West Virginia results from people who have never set foot there. This is not one of them. I hold one licence, it is Florida's, and everything below is built on that being true rather than on hoping you do not check.
Structural differences worth knowing before you go
- Real estate licensing is state by state. An agent licensed in Florida cannot represent you in West Virginia, and a West Virginia licensee cannot represent you in Florida.
- Leaving Florida means picking up a state income tax in West Virginia. 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.
- Residential closings in West Virginia customarily involve an attorney, rather than being handled by a title company as they typically are in Florida. Budget for it and expect the timeline to be structured differently.
- Neither the homestead exemption nor the Save Our Homes cap travels with you out of Florida. West Virginia 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 limits, stated outright
I will not sit between you and your West Virginia agent during a negotiation. Two voices on one side of a deal is how positions get muddled and how something ends up conceded twice. Once you are in a transaction they advise and you decide. If you want a second read from me on how something is worded, ask for it — but it will be a private conversation, not a message relayed to the other side of the table.
How a referral works
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 West Virginia 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.
What I would ask if I were you
- How do you handle it when you represent both sides of a transaction, and what does West Virginia law allow there?
- What are the property tax mechanics — how is assessment set, when does it reset after a sale, and what exemptions exist?
- What is the insurance picture on the kind of property I am looking at, and who should I be calling for a real quote?
- What is on the survey or title work here that a Florida buyer would not think to look for?
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 Charleston, that part sits squarely inside my licence, and it is worth starting early, because the documents take longer than the marketing does.
Other cities in West Virginia
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.
Why should I go through you instead of searching myself?
You may not need to. If you already know a good agent in Charleston, 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.
Is dual agency allowed in West Virginia?
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.
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.
What do you actually tell the agent about me?
The shape of the transaction. The city, roughly when, buying or selling, and anything you have told me matters to you in how you are dealt with. Not your finances, and nothing you have asked me to keep to myself. If you would rather I said less than that, say so — it is your information, and a shorter briefing costs nothing.
Ready when you are
If you would rather ask a question first than request anything, that is fine too — the phone number and email below reach me directly.
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.
Who actually ends up representing you
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.
It runs through The Keyes Company, which is what makes the arrangement lawful and what makes any fee traceable. Within that, the choice of who is a judgement about fit, made once I know what your transaction actually is.
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.