What is a real estate agent?

The legal definition, then the real one.

Legally, a real estate agent is a licensee. In Florida the license is called a sales associate; in Georgia it is a salesperson. Either way the agent cannot practice alone: the license must be held under a licensed broker, the agent cannot be paid directly by a client, and every commission flows through the brokerage first. The broker is legally responsible for the agent’s work, which is why the brokerage name appears on every contract, sign and listing.

The real definition is closer to project manager for the largest financial transaction most people will ever make. An agent prices the property, markets it, shows it, writes and negotiates the contract, and then coordinates the inspector, appraiser, lender, title company and the other side’s agent until the deal closes. Most of the work happens between contract and closing, when nobody is watching.

An agent is also a licensed fiduciary or a licensed neutral, depending on the relationship you sign (more on that below). Either way the state can discipline or revoke the license, and that accountability is the practical difference between hiring an agent and asking a well-meaning friend.

Agent, Realtor, broker: not the same thing.

Agent is the generic term for anyone holding a real estate license. Realtor® is a trademark, not a license level: it means the agent or broker is a member of the National Association of Realtors and has agreed to its Code of Ethics. Most active agents are Realtors, but the word says nothing about experience or production. Broker is the higher license. In Florida a broker candidate must first work as an active sales associate, complete additional coursework and pass a separate state exam; a broker can own a brokerage, supervise agents and be paid directly.

You will also see broker associate (a broker-licensed agent who chooses to work under another broker) and team (a group of agents operating under one brokerage’s license). A team name on the sign is marketing; the license behind it is what matters. At Momentum Realty the broker of record is a co-founder who still works the business daily, which is the arrangement we would tell any consumer to look for.

What an agent does for a buyer.

A buyer’s agent sets up a search from the MLS itself rather than a public portal, which matters because portals lag and drop listings that are under contract or withheld. The agent schedules showings, pulls comparable sales before you write an offer, drafts the contract with the right contingencies (inspection, financing, appraisal), negotiates repairs after the inspection, and keeps the lender, title company and seller’s side moving toward the closing date. On a typical Florida purchase that is thirty to forty-five days of coordination after the offer is accepted.

Since August 2024, nationwide rule changes mean a buyer must sign a written buyer-broker agreement before touring homes with an agent. The agreement spells out what the agent will do and what they will be paid. Read it; it is negotiable, and a good agent will walk you through it line by line. Our Florida buyer closing-cost calculator shows where the money goes at the table.

What an agent does for a seller.

A listing agent’s first job is the price, built from recorded sales of comparable homes rather than an automated estimate. Then comes preparation and staging advice, professional photography, the MLS listing that syndicates to every portal, and the marketing that reaches buyers who are actually qualified. When offers arrive the agent vets the buyer’s financing, negotiates price and terms, handles the inspection-repair negotiation, and manages the contract to closing.

Sellers pay for this from proceeds at closing, so the honest measure of a listing agent is net: what you walk away with after commission, concessions and time on market. Our cost to sell a house in Florida guide itemizes every line, with statute citations for the state and county charges.

How real estate agents get paid.

Agents are paid by commission: a percentage of the sale price, negotiated in the listing or buyer agreement, paid at closing from the transaction proceeds. No law and no association sets the rate. The commission goes to the brokerage, which splits it with the agent under whatever arrangement they have; traditional splits, capped splits and flat-fee or 100%-commission models all exist. If the sale does not close, nobody is paid, which is why agents are so motivated to solve problems between contract and closing.

The 2024 settlement changed the mechanics. Offers of buyer-agent compensation no longer appear in the MLS. A buyer’s agent is paid according to the buyer agreement: by the buyer directly, by a seller concession the buyer requests in the offer, or a combination. In practice most Florida and Georgia sellers still agree to contribute, because it widens the pool of buyers who can afford to close, but it is now an explicit negotiation on every deal.

Representation in Florida and Georgia.

In Florida, unless you sign something different, the law presumes a transaction broker relationship: the agent provides limited representation to a buyer or seller, or both, and owes honesty, disclosure of known material facts and skill, but not the undivided loyalty of a fiduciary. A single agent relationship, established in writing, adds those fiduciary duties. Ask which one you are in; the disclosure is required to be in writing before you sign a contract.

In Georgia, the Brokerage Relationships in Real Estate Transactions Act (BRRETA) draws the line between a client, who has a written brokerage engagement and full representation, and a customer, who receives services without representation. Dual agency and designated agency exist and require written consent. The practical rule in both states is the same: know, in writing, whether the person showing you the house is working for you.

How to choose a good one.

Judge an agent on recorded results in your area: recent closings in the neighborhood, list-to-sale price accuracy, average days on market against the local median, and how quickly they answer the phone during the interview, which is how they will answer it during the transaction. Every one of our city agent guides publishes the local market numbers so you can hold any agent, ours included, to them.

If you are in Northeast Florida, start with Jacksonville real estate agents; statewide and in Georgia, meet the Momentum Realty agents and search by area.

How you become a real estate agent.

In Florida the path is a 63-hour state-approved pre-license course, a background check and fingerprints, the state exam, and then affiliation with a licensed broker before you can practice. Georgia requires a 75-hour course and its own exam. The license is the easy part. Most new agents leave the business within a few years, and we wrote why real estate agents fail to explain exactly why, and what the ones who last do differently.