Choosing a listing agent in Florida means signing a contract. The listing agreement names a brokerage, sets a price, a commission and an end date, decides when the home reaches the multiple listing service, and fixes what the agent owes you. Most of that is settled at one meeting, before a buyer walks through the door, which is why the interview matters more than the presentation.

We are The Audrey Ross Team at Compass Florida, and our office sits at 4699 Ponce de Leon Boulevard in Coral Gables. Audrey Ross opened her own firm in 1984, and the team has worked this market for more than 40 years. This guide covers the hire: the Florida rules behind the listing agreement, how to check an agent’s record and what to ask. Closing costs, disclosures and taxes are covered in our seller’s guide to selling a luxury home in Miami.

How Do You Choose the Best Realtor to Sell Your Home in Miami?

Judge three things, in this order: the agent’s closed sales as listing agent at your price and in your area, checked against recorded sales, the comparable sales behind the proposed price, and the terms of the listing agreement. A polished presentation can cover a thin record. A recorded sale cannot.

Ask for listing-side sales specifically: representing a buyer is a different job. Then read the agreement as closely as the comparables, because the standard Florida forms leave the terms that matter most as blanks.

What to ask	Why it matters in Florida	Where to check it
Which of your listing-side sales match my price and area?	Buyer-side sales measure a different job	The agent’s address list, checked on Property Search
Which recorded sales set your price?	A market analysis is not an appraisal under s. 475.25(1)(t)	Property Search, by address or folio
Single agent or transaction broker?	Duties differ under s. 475.278	Disclosure in or with the listing agreement
What term, protection period and cancellation fee?	The statute sets no length, only a definite end date	The listing agreement blanks
MLS now, delayed marketing or office exclusive?	Each exemption needs your signed disclosure	Your written marketing plan
Who is the broker, and who signs?	A team works under one broker, Rule 61J2-10.026	DBPR license search
How will taxes appear in listing materials?	New rules from February 1, 2027, s. 689.261	Proofs of the flyer and listing

Source: sections 475.25, 475.278 and 689.261, Florida Statutes (2026); Florida Administrative Code Rule 61J2-10.026 (effective November 1, 2021); NAR, Multiple Listing Options for Sellers (effective March 25, 2025). Retrieved November 2026.

What Must a Florida Listing Agreement Include?

A written Florida listing agreement must state a definite expiration date, a description of the property, the price and terms, the fee or commission, and a proper signature of the owner, and the broker must give you a legible, signed copy within 24 hours. The agreement may not require you to notify the broker that you are cancelling after the expiration date. Those requirements are in section 475.25(1)(r), Florida Statutes.

The Florida Real Estate Commission enforces them. Its citation rule, Rule 61J2-24.002, Florida Administrative Code, lists a listing agreement missing the required information, a copy not delivered within 24 hours, and an agreement that contains a self renewal clause as violations the Division may resolve by a $400 citation.

Exclusive Right of Sale or Exclusive Brokerage?

Florida Realtors publishes two kinds of exclusive listing agreement, and the difference is whether you can sell without owing a fee. Under its Exclusive Right of Sale Listing Agreement, the broker’s fee is due if any interest in the property is transferred, whether the buyer is found by you, the broker or anyone else. Under its Exclusive Brokerage Listing Agreement, you reserve the right to sell directly to a buyer without any real estate licensee and, if you do, owe no commission.

How Long Should a Listing Agreement Run?

Section 475.25(1)(r) requires a definite expiration date but does not set a length, and the Florida Realtors form leaves both the start and termination dates blank, ending at 11:59 p.m. on the date filled in. Once a sales contract is signed, the agreement extends through closing. The term is negotiable; ask the agent to tie it to how long comparable homes in your price band took to go under contract.

What Happens If You Want to Leave Early?

Two more blanks decide that. The protection period is a number of days after the termination date during which a fee is still due if you sell to a prospect who communicated with you, the broker or any licensee about the home before that date, though no fee is due if you relist with another broker who sells it. The conditional termination paragraph lets the broker release you early for a signed withdrawal agreement, reimbursement of direct marketing expenses and a cancellation fee; the broker may void that release, and the full fee less the cancellation fee becomes due, if you sell before the termination date and protection period run out.

Who Are You Hiring: the Agent, the Team or the Brokerage?

You are hiring the brokerage. A Florida sales associate may collect a commission only in the name of the employing broker and with that broker’s consent, under section 475.42(1)(d), Florida Statutes, and the Florida Realtors listing form is a contract between the seller and the brokerage, signed for it by the broker or an authorized sales associate.

A team is a name used inside one brokerage, not a separate firm. Rule 61J2-10.026 requires a team to perform licensed activities under the supervision of the same broker or brokerage, bars team names that suggest a separate company, such as names using Realty, Real Estate or Properties, and does not allow the team name in larger print than the brokerage name. Rule 61J2-10.025 requires every real estate advertisement to include the brokerage’s licensed name, and section 475.25(1)(u) makes the broker answerable for directing and managing its associates.

For you, the rule raises two questions: who will be your day-to-day contact, and, because the contract is with the brokerage, what happens to your listing if that agent changes firms?

Should a Seller Choose a Transaction Broker or a Single Agent in Florida?

Florida presumes every licensee is a transaction broker unless a single agent or no brokerage relationship is set up in writing, under section 475.278, Florida Statutes. A transaction broker gives limited representation with limited confidentiality. A single agent owes you loyalty, confidentiality, obedience and full disclosure. Florida does not allow dual agency, disclosed or not.

Limited confidentiality still covers what matters most in a negotiation. Unless you waive it in writing, a transaction broker may not disclose that you will accept less than the asking price, your motivation for selling, or that you will accept other financing terms. If the brokerage will act as your single agent, those duties must be disclosed in writing at or before the signing of the listing agreement, or before the home is shown, whichever comes first.

The choice matters most when your brokerage also finds the buyer. A single agent may then switch to transaction broker only with your prior written consent, on the statutory Consent to Transition to Transaction Broker notice. The Florida Realtors form also warns that such a broker may earn both the listing and the buyer’s broker compensation, which the seller should weigh when negotiating.

Duty to the seller	Transaction broker	Single agent
Deal honestly and fairly	Yes	Yes
Account for all funds	Yes	Yes
Skill, care and diligence	Yes	Yes
Present all offers and counteroffers on time	Yes	Yes
Confidentiality	Limited, unless waived in writing	Full
Loyalty, obedience, full disclosure	No	Yes
Assist buyer and seller in one sale	Yes, with limited representation	Only after written consent to transition

Source: section 475.278, Florida Statutes (2026), subsections (1) to (3), duties of a transaction broker and a single agent. Retrieved November 2026.

Is Realtor Commission Negotiable When You Sell in Florida?

Yes. The Florida Realtors listing form states that brokerage commissions are not set by law and are fully negotiable, and NAR’s guidance to home sellers on the NAR settlement says compensation for the listing agent remains fully negotiable.

Since August 17, 2024, offers of compensation to buyer brokers cannot be made on the MLS. You decide whether to offer a buyer’s broker anything, and your agent must disclose any such payment to you in writing, in advance, with the amount or rate, and get your approval. The Florida Realtors form gives three choices: the listing broker pays the buyer’s broker from its own fee, you pay the buyer’s broker under a separate written agreement, or nothing is offered, which applies if no box is checked. On the other side, MLS participants working with a buyer now need a written agreement before touring a home.

How Do You Check a Listing Agent’s Record Before You Sign?

Ask for the agent’s closed sales as listing agent over a stated period, with addresses, then confirm each one in the public record and on the agent’s brokerage profile, and confirm the license with the state.

The Miami-Dade Property Appraiser’s Property Search can be searched by address, owner name, folio number or subdivision name and shows ownership and sales information for each property, so any sale on the agent’s list can be checked in minutes. A brokerage profile, such as a Compass agent page, lists recently sold homes. Count only the sales at your price and in your area.

The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation’s license search shows a license’s type and rank, such as broker or sales associate, its status, licensure date and expiration, with links to related licenses and license complaints. The Division of Real Estate states that complaints are confidential but that it can tell you of disciplinary action taken against a licensee, and under section 455.225(10), Florida Statutes, a complaint becomes public 10 days after probable cause is found, or sooner if the licensee waives confidentiality.

How Should a Listing Agent Arrive at Your Price?

From recorded comparable sales the agent can name by address or folio, adjusted for the differences a buyer’s appraiser and inspector will see. In Florida, an agent’s comparative market analysis or broker price opinion may not be called an appraisal, under section 475.25(1)(t), Florida Statutes.

The common mistake is hiring the highest number. A list price far above the comparables, offered to win the listing, adds nothing a buyer will pay for, because buyers test it against the same recorded sales. Ask for the comparables in writing before you sign. For a figure on your own address, request a valuation on our What’s My Home Worth page.

What Should a Miami Listing Agent’s Marketing Plan Say?

It should say, in writing, whether the home goes to the MLS at once, as a delayed marketing listing or as an office exclusive, what each choice gives up, and how the home will be presented online and in print.

Under NAR’s Clear Cooperation Policy, a listing must be filed with the MLS within one business day of public marketing, and the Florida Realtors form writes that into the listing agreement. NAR’s Multiple Listing Options for Sellers policy, effective March 25, 2025 and implemented by MLSs by September 30, 2025, allows an office exclusive or a delayed marketing listing, each only with your signed certification that you understand the MLS exposure being waived or delayed. Each local MLS sets its delayed marketing period.

Our brokerage’s own option is Compass Private Exclusives, phase one of Compass’s three-phase marketing strategy: the home is shown to agents across Compass’s network of brokerages and their buyers before any public launch, and Compass publishes a disclosure form describing each phase. Our seller’s guide explains how private and public marketing compare.

Two Florida details belong in the plan. The Florida Realtors form lets you refuse automated value estimates and third-party comments displayed beside your listing on virtual office websites. And from February 1, 2027, under section 689.261, Florida Statutes, as amended in 2026, printed listing materials may not include the current owner’s property taxes, and public listing websites must follow new rules for showing estimated taxes.

What Are the Red Flags When Hiring a Listing Agent?

Some are matters of practice and some are matters of law:

• A list price well above the named comparable sales, with no evidence for the gap.
• A long term, protection period or cancellation fee presented as standard. Each is a blank, and each is negotiable.
• No written marketing plan, or no written answer on MLS, delayed marketing or private exclusive status.
• No definite expiration date, or a clause that renews the agreement unless you give notice, both contrary to section 475.25(1)(r).
• A promise to act as your single agent with no written single agent disclosure at or before signing. The Commission’s citation rule sets a $600 fine for a first failure to give a required brokerage relationship disclosure on time.
• A market analysis presented as an appraisal, or advertising without the brokerage’s name.

Who on The Audrey Ross Team Would You Talk To About Selling?

You would start with Audrey Ross, Founder, CEO and Lead Agent of The Audrey Ross Team and a Vice President at Compass, together with the team’s ten Luxury Real Estate Advisors.

Since 2017, Audrey Ross has been the listing agent on 192 closed sales: 100 at $1 million or more, 34 at $3 million or more and 14 at $5 million or more, up to $17 million. 61 of those 192 listings closed from January 2024 through October 2026. Since 2017, she has been the listing agent on 56 closed sales with a Coral Gables address, covered in our guide to choosing an agent in Coral Gables, and since 2018 on 16 with a Palmetto Bay address, covered in our Palmetto Bay buyer and seller guide.

Closed sales as listing agent	Count
All areas, since 2017	192
At $1 million or more	100
At $3 million or more	34
At $5 million or more	14
Closed January 2024 through October 2026	61
Coral Gables address, since 2017	56
Palmetto Bay address, since 2018	16

Source: Compass, Audrey Ross agent profile, closed sales where Audrey Ross was the listing agent, March 2017 to October 2026. Retrieved November 2026.

The advisors are Carolina Caraccia, Cristina Cipolletti, Janet Tralins, Jeanie Vidaurreta, John Hopkins, Laureen Wheeler, Lisa Sayfie, Rie Nakai, Sebastian M. Garcia and Will Powers. Each is listed, with contact details, on our Meet the Team page.

Frequently Asked Questions About Choosing a Realtor to Sell Your Home