Real estate companies in Florida: 43,189 offices, the public companies based here and the rules that protect buyers and sellers

People who search for real estate companies in Florida mostly want a brokerage: the results are statewide and regional brokerages, the Florida Realtors association, top-agent lists and a map of nearby offices. This report is for them, for the job seekers and investors who use the same search, and for businesses that sell to Florida's real estate firms. It covers the market in Census data, the companies headquartered here, the licensing rules that decide who can rent, sell or manage, what sellers must disclose, and how to prospect.

Florida real estate in Census data

County Business Patterns (CBP) 2023, real estate (NAICS 531), Florida:

Average pay is our calculation: payroll divided by employees.

CBP counts establishments with paid employees, not companies, and leaves out self-employed agents, which in Florida is most of them. Broward has fewer establishments than Miami-Dade but slightly more jobs, and Orange County averages 5.7 employees per establishment against Miami-Dade's 3.5. Builders and developers are classified in construction; for the codes, see the NAICS code for real estate.

Who needs a Florida licence

Florida's real estate law (chapter 475) defines a broker broadly. It covers anyone who, for another and for compensation, sells, buys, rents or negotiates the rental of real property, and "all persons who advertise rental property information or lists." A sales associate does the same work under a broker's supervision, and a broker associate is qualified as a broker but works for another. In practice, a company that finds tenants for owners needs a broker licence.

Association management is licensed separately (section 468.432). An individual can't manage a community association for others without a community association manager licence, and a firm that manages more than 10 units, or an association budget of $100,000 or more, needs a community association management firm licence.

The Department of Business and Professional Regulation's licence search lets you look up any of these licences. Its other pages, including the licensee data downloads, blocked our automated requests, so this page doesn't give licensee counts.

Public real estate companies headquartered in Florida

SEC-registered listed companies with real estate codes and a Florida business address, ranked by 2025 revenue and checked against each latest Form 10-K:

Two brokerages are on the list, and their filings show the agent model. Douglas Elliman reported about 580 employees, 180 of them at its brokerage headquarters in New York City, though its 10-K gives Miami as its principal executive office. Stratum Holdings reported 43 full-time employees and 2,842 agents who are independent contractors. Chatham Lodging reported 16 employees. The national ranking by revenue is at the biggest real estate companies in the US.

How to vet a Florida brokerage, manager or association manager

1. Search the licence on DBPR's licence search, for the agent, the brokerage and, for a manager, the person who'll run your property or association.
2. For a rental manager, confirm a licensed broker stands behind the leasing; Florida's definition of broker includes renting property for others.
3. For a condo or HOA, check both the manager's individual licence and the firm's community association management firm licence.
4. Ask about storm plans: how the manager handles hurricane preparation, insurance claims and vendor priority after a storm.
5. Ask for local results: Miami condos, Orlando new construction and Gulf Coast waterfront homes are different markets.

Selling a home in Florida

• Give the flood disclosure. Florida's law (section 689.302) requires a seller of residential property to give the buyer a flood disclosure at or before the time the contract is signed. It asks whether you know of flooding that damaged the property while you owned it, whether you've filed a flood insurance claim (including through the National Flood Insurance Program), and whether you've received federal flood assistance such as from FEMA. Gather your records before you list.
• Set the commission yourself. From 17 August 2024, sellers' agents can no longer post buyer-agent compensation on a Realtor MLS, and buyers sign their own agent agreements before touring; NAR says the amount is "not set by law and is fully negotiable."
• Check the agent's licence and broker on DBPR's search before you sign a listing agreement.

Prospecting Florida real estate companies

Illustrative example. The company, rates and results are invented.

Coastline Roof Check (coastlineroof.example) inspects roofs before hurricane season. It targets residential managers with 20 to 999 employees: 189 + 67 + 50 + 15 + 7 = 328 establishments (the 1,000-plus cell for this type isn't published). Two contacts each makes 656 people; a 3% reply rate gives about 20 conversations, and one in four booking a portfolio inspection gives 5. Timing matters: the outreach runs in late winter, before budgets for the season are set. Bebop finds managers like these and writes a playbook for each.

Subject: Roof checks before June at [company]'s properties

Hi [first name], hurricane season starts in June, and it helps to know every roof's condition before then. We inspect, photograph and grade every roof in a portfolio in two weeks, with a repair list ranked by risk. Could we start with three of your properties in [county] this spring?

Sources

For every industry in the state, see companies in Florida.

Next step: turn the segment you want into a list with how to build a prospect list.