Florida Real Estate Organizations
Florida real estate organizations may be divided into governmental real estate organizations, private non-profit real estate organizations and private for-profit real estate organizations. While this much is obvious as all organizations may be so divided, for the purposes of this article, what is distinctive about real estate organizations must be clarified. A first point is that the term 'real estate', when used in reference to organizations, connotes some form of connection to real estate brokerage services or real estate investment. Note that it doesn't seem appropriate to refer to a real estate development firm, a real estate legal firm or an architectural firm as a real estate organization, while a real estate brokerage franchise, such as Century 21, or a real estate investment entity, such as a real estate investment trust (REIT), would seem to warrant the description. Similarly, professional associations and governmental entities related to real estate brokerage and investment would seem to count as real estate organizations, while, say, professional associations and governmental entities concerned with real estate development, real estate law and architecture would not. These clarifying points shall govern the discussion of Florida real estate organizations in this article.
Florida Division of Real Estate
On a governmental level, there is just one major entity that may be called a real estate organization. This is the Florida Division of Real Estate, which within the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. This governmental entity is concerned among other things with licensure and regulation of real estate agents. What makes the designation of real estate organization appropriate for this entity is that it has a mission to insure that the practice of real estate services in the state meets certain standards of quality and integrity.
The Florida Association of Realtors
The main private non-profit real estate organization in Florida is the membership-based Florida Association of Realtors, which is a state chapter of the National Association of Realtors, and which has subchapters in every Florida county and many Florida cities. The purpose of the Florida Association of Realtors is to institute a standard of quality and integrity that goes beyond what is required by the Florida Division of Real Estate on the hope that 'Realtor' will mean a real estate professional who is assured to be somewhat better than a non-member real estate professional.
The Florida Association of Realtors is also concerned with providing its members with resources that assist them in their work. These include suites of attorney-drafted real estate forms that are insured to meet Florida Division of Real Estate standards as well as what is called "the Multiple Listing Service". The Multiple Listing Service is a data base that allows real estate brokers to share information about property they have for sale with other brokers so that the may cooperate is selling real estate. This cooperation is governed by a contractual condition of use for the Multiple Listing Service that clarifies how commissions earned in selling real estate will be split among cooperating brokers. In essence, a Multiple Listing Service posting of a piece of real estate for sale will indicate how much a broker will earn, as a percentage of sale price, if the broker is the one who brings in a buyer. The fact that anyone can enter a real estate office and find an agent who is happy to show one any property for sale in the area is entirely owed to the Multiple Listing Service.
Private For-Profit Florida Real Estate Organizations
While a smaller real estate company might be referred to as real estate organizations in a loose sense, it seems that in general a real estate company must attain a certain size and complexity before the designation 'real estate organization' sounds appropriate.
Sizable independent real estate companies in Florida that count as real estate organizations include the Orlando-based "Compass Organization", which is a holding company for a portfolio of more specialized real estate companies that includes "Compass Investment Properties, Inc.", "Compass Commercial Acquisitions, Inc.", " Compass Real Estate Management, Inc." and "Compass Homes, Inc.". This is certainly an organization!
Private for-profit Florida real estate organizations might also be taken to include the presence in the state of branch offices or franchises of national real estate organizations, such as Coldwell Banker, Century 21 and Christie's Great Estates. While a branch office is just another place of business of a single company, a franchise is a kind of license that allows independently owned businesses to operate under the guise of, and according to the standards and procedures of, an established company.
A final example of private for-profit real estate organizations in Florida are Florida real estate investment trusts, and other Florida real estate investment entities. A real estate investment trust (REIT) is a kind of tax-free corporation that is limited to ownership and management of real estate and which cannot retain more than ten percent of its profits. Like corporations in general, REITs may be privately held or traded on stock exchanges. An example of a Florida real estate investment trust is Palm Beach-based "Innkeepers USA Trust". This company made news in 2004 when it purchased the Clarion Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky for $6.4 million.
In conclusion, though 'Florida real estate organization' is a somewhat slippery expression, it may be held to cover governmental, private non-profit, and a variety of private for-profit organizations. A Florida Real Estate Agent will have many "organizations" available to them to support both their clients and their professional growth.