How to Choose a Jacksonville Real Estate Agent

Picking a Jacksonville real estate agent is a hiring decision. That person will help set your price or your offer, write the contract, watch the deadlines, and pick up the phone when the appraisal or inspection goes sideways. This guide covers what to check, what to ask, and what to sign before you hire anyone in Northeast Florida. If you want to talk it through, call or text Matt Strickland at (904) 309-0609.

Contents

Step 1: Verify the license

Every Florida sales associate and broker is licensed by the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. It takes two minutes to look anyone up on the DBPR license search. Check three things:

  • The license is current and active.
  • The license is a sales associate or a broker, and which brokerage it is held under. A sales associate always works under a broker, and the broker is responsible for the file.
  • Whether there is any public discipline on record.

"REALTOR" is a trade membership, not a license. Look up both if it matters to you.

Step 2: Understand how Florida agents work for you

Florida law allows three relationships, and the agent has to tell you which one applies:

  • Transaction broker (the default in Florida): limited representation. The agent owes honesty, skill and care, and confidentiality, but not full loyalty to one side.
  • Single agent: full fiduciary duties, including loyalty, to you alone.
  • No brokerage relationship: the agent is not representing you.

Ask which one you are getting, and get it in writing.

Step 3: Read the buyer agreement before you tour

Since August 2024, after the national REALTOR commission settlement, MLS-participating agents must have a written agreement with a buyer before touring a home together. The agreement has to state the compensation in a specific amount or rate, not open-ended, and the agent cannot be paid more than it says. Commissions were always negotiable, and they still are.

Before you sign, read:

  • How long the agreement lasts, and how you can end it.
  • Whether it covers one home, one area, or every home you look at.
  • What you owe if the seller does not cover the buyer's agent fee.

A good agent walks you through this line by line and does not rush you.

Step 4: Test local knowledge

Northeast Florida is big. Duval, Clay, St. Johns and Nassau counties each have their own schools, tax collector, and homestead office. Commutes, flood zones, and CDD fees can change the real cost of a house a lot. Ask the agent to explain:

  • How the drive differs from a given neighborhood to your work or your gate at rush hour.
  • What CDD fees and flood zones mean for this neighborhood.
  • Which school district and property appraiser cover the address.

Our Jacksonville neighborhoods guide is a good place to compare areas before those conversations.

Questions to ask any Jacksonville agent

  1. Who is your broker, and who will actually handle my file day to day?
  2. How many buyers or sellers are you working with right now?
  3. Which parts of Northeast Florida do you work in most?
  4. How do you handle the inspection period and repair requests?
  5. What happens if the appraisal comes in low?
  6. Which lenders, inspectors, and title companies do you trust, and why? Am I free to choose my own?
  7. How fast do you answer calls and texts, and is it you who answers?
  8. What exactly does your buyer agreement or listing agreement say about fees and how to end it?
  9. Sellers: how will you price the home, and can I see the sold comparables?

If you are military or using a VA loan

NAS Jacksonville, Naval Station Mayport, Blount Island, and Kings Bay sit far enough apart that the wrong neighborhood can add a long commute every day. An agent who works with military families should know the gates, the PCS clock, and how a VA file moves.

  • The VA appraisal is not an inspection. Your agent should push for a separate home inspection. See VA appraisal vs. home inspection.
  • Buyer-broker fees on a VA loan. Under VA Circular 26-24-14, veterans may currently pay reasonable and customary buyer-broker fees. The fee cannot be rolled into the loan and counts toward the cash you need to close. A seller can still agree to pay it.
  • Buying from out of state. Ask how the agent handles video tours, remote signing, and inspections when you cannot be there.
  • Selling on orders. Ask how they weigh selling, renting, or holding the home you are leaving.

Start with the VA Loan Knowledge Center and the PCS relocation hub.

If you are selling

A listing agent should bring a written pricing plan based on closed sales, not just the highest number. Ask for an estimated net sheet before you sign, so you know what you walk away with after commission, doc stamps, title, and payoff. You can run your own numbers first with the seller net sheet.

Red flags

  • They will not show you their license or broker information.
  • They want a long, exclusive agreement before you have talked about your needs.
  • They quote a sky-high list price with no sold comps behind it.
  • They steer you to one lender or inspector and discourage you from shopping.
  • They are hard to reach before you have hired them. It rarely gets better after.

Working with Military Realty of Florida

Military Realty of Florida is a Northeast Florida brokerage. Matt Strickland is the broker and a retired Navy officer, so you get direct access to the broker who is responsible for your file. We work with military families, veterans, and civilian buyers and sellers across Duval, Clay, St. Johns, and Nassau counties. Read more about Matt, see the buying and selling guides, or send us a message.

Call or text (904) 309-0609.

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