- Sales Associate
- A licensee who performs real estate services but must work under the direction and supervision of a licensed broker, and cannot be paid a commission directly by anyone other than their employing broker.
- Fiduciary Duty
- The legal obligation of loyalty, obedience, confidentiality, full disclosure, accounting, and skill that an agent owes to a principal. Broker exam questions frequently test which brokerage relationships create these duties.
- Single Agent
- A brokerage relationship in which the broker represents either the buyer or the seller — but not both — as a fiduciary, owing the full set of agency duties to that one party.
- Transaction Broker
- A broker who provides limited representation to a buyer, a seller, or both in a transaction without becoming a fiduciary for either party. This is Florida's presumed brokerage relationship unless another is established in writing.
- No Brokerage Relationship
- A working arrangement in which the broker does not represent the customer at all but still owes honesty, fair dealing, and disclosure of known material facts affecting the property's value.
- Escrow Account
- A trust account maintained by a broker at an approved depository to hold other people's funds, such as buyer deposits, separate from the broker's own money until the transaction closes or the funds are properly disbursed.
- Commingling
- The prohibited practice of mixing escrow funds belonging to clients or customers with the broker's personal or business funds. It is a common license-law violation tested heavily on the broker exam.
- Conversion
- The unauthorized use of escrow funds or other people's money for the broker's own purposes — a more serious violation than commingling because the funds are actually spent or diverted.
- Broker
- A real estate licensee who performs real estate services for another person for compensation and is authorized to operate independently, open a brokerage office, and employ other licensees.
- Florida Real Estate Commission (FREC)
- The state body that regulates real estate licensees in Florida, with powers to make rules, discipline licensees, and administer license law. Its structure and disciplinary authority are core broker-exam topics.
- Comparative Market Analysis (CMA)
- An informal estimate of a property's probable selling price based on recently sold, comparable properties. Unlike an appraisal, it is not a formal valuation and may not be represented as one.
- Earnest Money Deposit
- Money a buyer puts down with an offer to show good faith, typically held in the broker's escrow account until closing. Broker exam questions test how quickly deposits must be placed in escrow and how disputes over them are resolved.