For newly licensed agents
You're licensed. Now what?
Congratulations. It sounds like you want to start well, not just start fast. Here is a calm path through your first 90 days, and the honest questions to ask before you choose a brokerage. It's yours, wherever you land.
Your first 90 days
Twelve calm steps, in order
Picture day 90: your license is working, your people know what you do, and your first contract doesn't scare you. Each step below gets you a little closer. Tick them off as you go.
The twelve steps
- You passed. You're licensed.
- Choose a brokerage to hold your license.
- Put your post-licensing class on the calendar.
- Get into the MLS.
- Ask about E&O insurance.
- Make a simple first-year money plan.
- Write down 20 people who trust you.
- Host your first open house.
- Learn the contracts, slowly.
- Set up your online presence, with your brokerage's name.
- Learn fair housing, and live it.
- Find a mentor.
Choosing a brokerage
Seven honest questions to ask any brokerage
Every good brokerage should welcome these. Ask each one the same seven, write the answers down, and compare them side by side. The right fit usually becomes clear.
Question 1
What will I pay, in writing?
Ask for the split, every monthly fee, every per-deal fee, and what happens when you leave. A good brokerage is glad to write it all down.
Question 2
What is included, and what costs extra?
Two plans with the same split can feel very different once you add up E&O, software, marketing and admin help.
Question 3
Who trains me, and who answers when a deal gets hard?
Your first contracts matter most. Ask who reviews them, how fast they answer, and whether you can reach the broker directly.
Question 4
How do leads work here?
Ask where leads come from, how they're shared, and what is expected in return. Be gently wary of promises about numbers.
Question 5
What does an ordinary week feel like?
Culture is the part you live with every day. Ask to sit in on a meeting, and ask a newer agent what surprised them.
Question 6
What tools do I get, and do my clients see the same thing?
Good tools save hours. Ask for a short tour of what you would use on a normal day.
Question 7
Do I need to join a trade association here?
Most brokerages belong to the national trade association, and their agents pay local, state and national association dues. Some brokerages, often called Thompson brokerages, take part in the MLS directly instead. In both, you can list, show and work with every agent in the market. Ask which model a brokerage uses and what it costs you.
If you asked us
How Inspired Nooks Realty would answer the same seven
- What will I pay, in writing?
- One monthly brokerage fee, and your Stellar MLS subscription billed by Stellar. The full plan is shared in writing with every agent who asks.
- What is included, and what costs extra?
- The monthly fee includes transaction management, a CRM, design, email and social tools, E&O insurance and admin support.
- Who trains me, and who answers when a deal gets hard?
- Mentoring is built in for newer agents, with contract reviews and a broker who answers. Courses from the Inspired Agent Academy, which Cara founded, are included at no cost with full membership.
- How do leads work here?
- Website inquiries reach the office in one queue and are routed to agents by specialty and area, with the history attached. We don't promise a number.
- What does an ordinary week feel like?
- We are a small, locally owned house in St. Pete. Cara personally reviews every application.
- What tools do I get, and do my clients see the same thing?
- Search with investor and land filters, saved searches, calculators and a client portal. Your clients see what you see.
- Do I need to join a trade association here?
- We are a Thompson brokerage: full Stellar MLS access, and no association dues. Our agents use titles like Real Estate Agent or Sales Associate.
The details, including the full plan, are on our Join page.
The luxury track
How new agents earn a first high-end listing.
Only a few agents will specialize in luxury homes. Every agent can work to that standard. Here is how it starts, long before the first estate.
Present with discretion
Owners of a one-of-a-kind home often care about privacy as much as price. Listen first. Keep the details off social media until they say yes. Follow up in writing, briefly.
Price a home with no twin
When nothing truly compares, show your work: the closest sales, each adjustment, and the range you stand behind. Invite the owner to question it. Confidence comes from the math, not the number.
Market it like an estate
Professional photography, a short film, and drone views from a licensed operator. Write copy about the light, the water and the craftsmanship. Every home deserves this care, and at the top of the market it is expected.
You're always free to choose any provider you like. These are the companies that have gone above and beyond for our clients, time and again.
Show privately, and the same way for everyone
By appointment, with the same pre-approval or proof-of-funds step for every buyer, a planned route through the home, and valuables put away before anyone arrives.
Know the waterfront
Seawalls, docks, elevation, flood zones and insurance come up in every waterfront conversation. You don't need every answer. Know the questions, and who answers them: a marine contractor, the elevation certificate, an insurance agent.
Old Northeast & Snell Isle Tierra Verde How we present estates
Build your bench early
An inspector, a stager, a photographer, a marine contractor, an insurance agent and a title partner you trust. When a high-end call comes, you already know who to bring.
You don't need a luxury listing to work like a luxury agent.
Return calls the same day. Prepare before every appointment. Protect every client's privacy. Present a starter condo with the care you would give a waterfront estate. Owners notice, and they remember who treated their home that way.
Free for every new agent
Your toolkit, from day one.
The same resources we use with our own clients, ready for yours this week. Use them wherever you hang your license.
Sign up once and every tool opens for you.
The background check for any house.
Permits, system ages, flood details and what a new owner's taxes could be, on one page. Run one before a showing, a listing appointment or an open house, and you can answer the questions buyers and owners actually ask.
Run a QReport on getqreport.com
Powered by QReport, an independent service. You run reports yourself on their site. Reports come from public records; verify anything important with the county, an inspector or an attorney.
Closing-cost calculator
Every Florida closing line for a price, buying or selling. Walk a buyer through it before they write an offer.
Can I afford it?
Five easy questions and a comfortable price range. A calm first step for a buyer who isn't sure where to start.
Seller net sheet
What an owner would walk away with at a price, line by line. Bring it to your first listing conversation.
Investor deal analyzer
Cash flow, cap rate and cash-on-cash return for any rental. Run the numbers together with an investor client.
Rent budget
The rent that fits an income, with move-in costs laid out. Useful for the renters who will buy from you later.
Trusted Partners
The local pros we call first, for the day a client asks who you'd recommend.
You're always free to choose any provider you like. These are the companies that have gone above and beyond for our clients, time and again.
The Journal
Neighborhood guides and plain-English explainers you can send to clients as-is.
The Local Desk
What's happening in St. Pete and the beaches this week. Easy, friendly reasons to reach out.
It seems like the hardest part of a first season is not knowing what to hand a client. Now you have something.
Inspired Agent Academy
The luxury standard, at every price point.
The education division of Inspired Nooks Realty, founded by our broker, Cara Savell Keelin. Practical classes for Florida agents, taught the way we practice.
How to present, price and care for a home as if it were one of a kind, because to its owner it is. The same habits serve a first condo and a waterfront estate.
CE at Sea, the Academy's continuing-education cruise, last sailed September 15 to 19, 2026. Dates for the next sailing are coming soon.
Courses
Florida 14-hour CE renewal
14 hours · Online
Taken through our CE partner, The CE Shop.
Browse CE courses ↗ (opens in a new tab)Pricing coming soon
Florida Core Law Update: CSI Florida Real Estate
3 hours · Classroom and online
Our own course. Coming soon.
Pricing coming soon
Academy workshops
2 hours · Live, taught by Cara
Hands-on sessions, two hours each.
The Listing Machine · $1M Blueprint · AI Tech Tools · Pop-bys & Deals
Pricing coming soon
For agents with Inspired Nooks Realty, Academy courses are included, at no cost, with full membership and the yearly referral plan.
Visit the Academy ↗ (opens in a new tab)Free, and yours to keep
A few things we'd hand a friend who just passed
The Quiet Standard, Chapter 1 →
Our playbook for agents: follow-up, scripts in a calm voice and a 90-day plan. The first chapter is free.
CE at Sea →
Continuing education for agents, learning together somewhere beautiful. Meet the partners who helped make it real.
Your toolkit →
QReport, the calculators, our Trusted Partners, the Journal and the Local Desk. The chapter sign-up opens every tool.
Free chapter
Chapter 1 of The Quiet Standard, with its worksheet, plus a few short notes for new agents: first-90-days tips, scripts and checklists. Every tool on the site opens for you on this device, too. Unsubscribe any time.
Questions
What new agents ask us
Do I have to join Inspired Nooks to use this guide?
What should a new Florida agent do first?
What questions should I ask a brokerage before I join?
Does a Thompson brokerage change anything for my clients?
Is this legal or tax advice?
A note from Cara
The first months after you pass can feel like a lot: new words, new systems, and quite a few people asking where you'll hang your license.
Whatever you decide, I hope this page makes your first season calmer. Ask every brokerage the same questions, and choose the one that answers them best.
If you'd ever like to talk it through, I'd be glad to. Coffee and a conversation about your first 90 days is always on offer. No pitch, and nothing to prepare.
Cara Savell Keelin, Broker-Owner, Inspired Nooks Realty
Coffee and your first 90 days
Confidential, and just a conversation. Cara will reach out personally.
Not ready for coffee?
That's completely fine. Just the free chapter and a few notes for new agents is a lovely place to start.