The Sunshine State of Florida each year attracts millions of visitors and part time residents. These people need a home for their stay and not everyone loves it to stay in a hotel room for their time here.

Therefore more and more people buy a house here in this beautiful sunny state. When they come to Florida they live in their own house while the rest of the year the houses are usually rented furnished.

The industry - buying, selling, leasing and management - is the field of activity for a growing number of Realtors here in Florida.

A Realtor here in Florida is not comparable to an agent in Germany. To qualify as a Florida Realtor you need to take an education class and to show your knowledge in a state exam which lasts several hours. Only when this exam has been successful a license is issued. This license is only valid for a maximum time of 2 years and must be renewed after this period.

The renewal is only possible if the license holder constantly educates himself and takes the prescribed courses. If the training is not completed then the license expires after a maximum of 2 years.

The new licensee cannot begin at once his own business. First the licensee has to act as an agent under the supervision of a broker for approximately 1 year to get the necessary experience. During this year further training is mandatory for another exam which must be finished successfully to become a broker.

The earliest time for this broker exam is one year after the first state exam and only possible if the licensee collected experience in the employment of a broker during this year.

There are different types of agents:　

        Transaction Agent　
        Seller agent and　
        Buyer Agent

The Transaction Agent

The transaction agent works with both parties to a real estate transaction activities. For example the agent serves both the buyer and the seller in the Real estate transaction. These activities include only the settlement of necessary communication and Paperwork of the transaction. The transaction agent gives the questions of the buyer or buyer’s offer for the property to the seller. The agent also presents the answers of seller or the acceptance of an offer to buyer.

The agent has in this case an intermediary status and will neither favor the buyer nor the seller. The agent’s payment for such a transaction is a commission which the seller of the property has to pay.

The seller agent　
The seller agent is hired from the seller of the property and this agent take every necessary efforts to sell the seller’s property at the best market price and the best financial conditions.

The seller agent has confidentiality obligations to the Seller. These obligations are restricted by legal and ethical rules which must be respected. If these rules are not respected this may lead to sensitive monetary penalties and in some cases the loss of the license.

For these services the agent receives a listing contract in which all legal agreements between the seller and the agent is regulated. One point of that agreement is the commission for the agent. The amount of the remuneration is freely negotiable between the seller and the agent.

Buyer Agent

The buyer agent is hired from the buyer. If a buyer's agent is only hired for a particular purchase of a property then the agent will do the research for the desired property and will get all major information about this property together. For this work buyer and agent write usually an agreement which includes an appropriate compensation for the agent or the agent will be paid on hourly basis.