A brokerage interview can sound encouraging without telling you much about your first working week. You hear about support, opportunity, and technology. What you need to know is more concrete: who checks your work, who answers a difficult question, and what you have agreed to pay.
Bring the same questions to each conversation. Take notes, request the relevant documents, and compare the answers after the meeting rather than deciding while the presentation is still fresh.
Bring three sets of questions
People
Who supervises, teaches and reviews your work?
Costs
What is payable, when, and under which written agreement?
Process
How are advertising, documents and transaction questions handled?
Start with the people responsible for your work
Confirm the brokerage's licensed identity and the responsible broker through DBPR's license search. Search by name or license number; a familiar logo is not a substitute for checking the actual business and people involved.
Supervision is more than a recruiting benefit. Florida Statutes section 475.25 makes a broker's failure to direct, control, or manage an employed associate grounds for discipline.
Ask who provides your day-to-day supervision and who covers when that person is unavailable. If a mentor or team leader is your main contact, ask how their role connects to the responsible broker. Then try a specific situation: a buyer wants to submit an offer on Saturday evening, and you are unsure about a contract provision. Who do you call?
Ask to see what training means
A library of videos, a weekly meeting, and a supervised transaction exercise are different kinds of support. Ask for the onboarding schedule, whether attendance is required, and which sessions include feedback on your own work.
- Will someone review a practice offer and explain corrections?
- How will I learn the office's disclosure and document procedures?
- Can I observe client meetings with appropriate permission?
- Who helps me recognize when a question belongs with an attorney, lender, inspector, or insurance professional?
Ask to speak with an associate who joined recently. Focus on how the training works, not on their earnings. A useful question is what happened the last time they needed help with an unfamiliar task.
Build a cost sheet before comparing compensation
Request the complete written fee schedule and compensation agreement. Do not treat a headline split as the whole financial arrangement, and do not assume one office's terms are an industry standard.
Separate possible expenses into four groups: joining costs, recurring charges, transaction-related charges, and optional purchases. Ask which apply to you. Discuss technology, training, marketing, insurance-related charges, and any required third-party memberships or services without assuming every brokerage charges for each item.
Then test the schedule against two hypothetical months: one with no closed transactions and one with a closing. Have the brokerage show what would be charged in each case, when it becomes payable, and whether charges can change. This is a budgeting exercise, not an earnings forecast.
If leads are offered, ask how they are assigned, what response expectations apply, and whether a separate agreement or charge is involved. The word "provided" does not answer any of those questions.
Understand the agreement before you sign
Request time to read the agreement and any policies it incorporates. Check how compensation is calculated and paid, how disputes are handled, and what happens to pending transactions if the relationship ends. Ask how client records, personal contact lists, marketing accounts, and access to office systems are handled when an associate leaves.
Do not guess at the legal effect of a restriction or a repayment clause. Bring unclear terms to a qualified attorney. A recruiting explanation is helpful, but it should match the written arrangement you are being asked to accept.
Look closely at everyday procedures
Ask the office to walk you through a transaction from the first inquiry to the completed file. Who approves advertising? Where are signed documents stored? How are deadlines tracked? What is the procedure when money or a deposit is offered to you?
Florida law prohibits false or misleading real estate advertising, so a review process matters. See section 475.25. Separately, section 475.42 requires an active license and limits sales associates to working through their registered employer. Joining an office socially is not the same as having the required licensing relationship in place.
Compare the answers, not the atmosphere
Finish with a simple comparison: supervision, practical training, written costs, agreement terms, and daily procedures. Mark unanswered questions instead of filling the gaps with assumptions. Choose an arrangement you understand and can realistically work within.
Still building your foundation? Explore the 63Hours introduction and use the Florida real estate questions to revisit concepts that come up in your interviews.
This is general educational guidance, not legal advice or a brokerage endorsement. Official sources were checked on October 4, 2026; verify current requirements and obtain advice on your own agreement.