Can a trustee sign a Florida real estate contract and deed without the beneficiaries?

That depends on the trust instrument and on what the title underwriter will insure, which is why the brokerage asks the closing agent weeks ahead what it needs: usually a certification of trust or the relevant pages, and for a land trust the recorded instrument naming the trustee and the powers conveyed. Whether the trustee has the authority is a question for the office’s attorney, not the brokerage.

Does the brokerage handle FIRPTA withholding when a foreign entity sells?

No. Withholding, exemptions and any withholding certificate are determined by the office’s CPA and attorney and carried out by the closing agent. The brokerage flags a foreign seller early, supplies the dates and documents the advisors ask for, and makes sure the closing timetable leaves room for the paperwork, but it does not give tax advice.

Is there any compensation for a CPA or attorney who introduces a family office?

No. Florida license law limits referral compensation to licensed real estate brokers and sales associates, and it treats gifts and hospitality the same as cash, so an introduction from an advisor cannot be paid for in any form. The brokerage acknowledges the introduction by treating the office well and by keeping the advisor informed to the extent the office allows.

Which documents will our auditors be able to request after a transaction?

The full closing package: the relationship disclosure and brokerage agreement, the authorization naming who could instruct and sign, every offer with its presentation time, the diligence reports and estoppels, the settlement statement, deed and title policy, and the wire confirmations with the record of the telephone verification. All of it sits in the office’s data room with a date and an author on each file.

Private Client · For Counsel, CPAs & Trustees

Real Estate Services for Family-Office Counsel, CPAs and Trustees

A brokerage that works inside your engagement letter and leaves a paper trail you can audit

The advisors around a family office are the ones who sign, who are liable, and who will be asked years later why a decision was taken. BreakThru Realty is built to work inside their arrangements rather than around them: under the office’s engagement letter and confidentiality terms, with powers of attorney and trustee authority the title company will accept, with tax questions sent to the CPA rather than answered by a licensee, and with a file that an auditor or a successor trustee can read from start to finish.

BreakThru Realty · Founder and Broker of Record: Tyson E. Sam, Florida License 3565210

Introduce an Office · Our privacy standard

Working Inside Your Engagement

We take instructions under the office’s engagement letter and confidentiality terms, and agree the working arrangement with each advisor directly rather than through the principal. General counsel and the outside firms who draft the office’s documents get the contract and closing papers in the form they expect. CPAs who will file the returns a purchase or a sale creates get the settlement statement in the form they need. Trustees who sign for a trust get authority documents the title company will accept, and chief financial officers and controllers get the invoices and statements their books require.

General counsel and outside real estate counsel
CPAs and tax advisors to the office and its entities
Individual and corporate trustees
Chief financial officers, controllers and family office administrators
Investment committee members and chief investment officers

Inside Your Engagement Letter and Confidentiality Terms

Where the office has its own confidentiality agreement and its own form of engagement, the brokerage signs them, provided they let it share what a transaction requires with the closing agent, the association and the other side’s broker. Florida’s brokerage relationship disclosure is given at the start, so counsel can see whether the office is being represented as a single agent or served as a transaction broker and change it in writing if it prefers. A short authorization then names who may instruct the brokerage, who may receive documents and who signs, and the brokerage takes instructions from no one else, including the principal, unless counsel amends the list.

Powers of Attorney and Trustee Signing

Closing documents in Florida are signed by the party on title or by someone with recorded authority to sign for it. A power of attorney for a principal abroad is drafted by the office’s attorney, reviewed by the title underwriter before the closing date and recorded with the deed. Where a trust holds or acquires property, the title company will want to see the trustee’s authority: a certification of trust or the relevant trust pages, and for a Florida land trust the recorded instrument that names the trustee and the powers conveyed. The brokerage asks the closing agent weeks ahead what it will require, and it never offers an opinion on whether an entity or a trust should hold the asset, because that is the attorney’s decision.

FIRPTA, Taxes and the Questions We Send to You

A licensee is not a tax advisor, and the brokerage does not pretend to be one. When a seller is a foreign person or a foreign-owned entity, federal FIRPTA withholding can apply at closing, and the amount, the exemptions and any withholding certificate are matters for the CPA and the attorney, with the brokerage supplying the dates and documents they ask for. Capital gains on a sale, the treatment of a like-kind exchange, depreciation on rental property, whether a residence qualifies for homestead and what a Florida domicile changes for a principal are all CPA questions, and the brokerage will say so to a principal who asks it directly rather than offer a view.

No Referral Fees, by Law

Advisors sometimes ask how the brokerage recognizes an introduction, and the answer is set by statute rather than by policy. Florida license law only lets a real estate brokerage pay referral compensation to licensed real estate brokers and sales associates, so BreakThru Realty does not pay referral fees to sports agents, managers, financial advisors, attorneys or any other unlicensed professional. Federal law also bars payments for referrals between settlement service providers, so no relationship with a mortgage lender, title company or closing agent involves any payment for sending business either way. What an advisor receives instead is a brokerage that treats the introduction as a trust to be kept: the same-day response, the written process, the documentation described on this page, and a file that reflects well on the person who made the call. If the advisor’s own firm charges the office for its time on the transaction, that is between the firm and the office and the brokerage simply asks that it be disclosed.

The Documentation You Will Receive

Everything a reviewer could ask for later is produced as a matter of course and filed in the office’s data room with a date and an author, so a trustee can answer a beneficiary and a CPA can answer an examiner without asking the brokerage to reconstruct anything. The list below is the standard closing package, and counsel can add to it. Florida license law requires the brokerage to retain its own copies for at least five years after closing, and the group keeps them for as long as the office remains a client.

The brokerage relationship disclosure and the signed brokerage agreement
The written authorization naming who may instruct, receive and sign
Every offer and counteroffer, with the date and time it was presented
Inspection reports, estoppels, association approvals and the diligence summary
The settlement statement, the recorded deed and the title policy
Wire confirmations and the record of the telephone verification before funds moved

Several Advisors, One File

An office’s counsel, CPA, trustee and controller rarely want the same document at the same time, and copying everyone on everything is how a confidential matter leaks. The authorization sets out who receives what: counsel sees the contract and title work as it moves, the CPA sees the settlement statement and the year-end package, the trustee sees what the trust must sign, and the controller sees the invoices and the statements. Where an advisor also acts for another party in the same transaction, the brokerage asks that it be disclosed to the office, and if the brokerage itself has any relationship with a provider it introduces, it says so in writing before the office chooses.

Our Privacy Standard

A confidentiality agreement before the first conversation: Ask and a mutual non-disclosure agreement comes to you or your representative before any detail is shared, and it covers everyone at the brokerage who works on the file.
Your name stays out of our marketing: BreakThru Realty does not use a client’s name, likeness, team or transaction in its advertising, social media, website or press, before or after closing, unless the client asks for it in writing.
Showings by appointment with verified buyers only: When you sell, your home is shown only to buyers whose identity and proof of funds or pre-approval have been checked, by appointment, with personal items and photographs put away beforehand.
Address withheld from internet display where the MLS allows: A seller can ask for a listing’s address to be kept off consumer websites within the rules of the multiple listing service, and for interior photographs to leave out anything personal.
One point of contact: A single named contact at the brokerage runs the file, so your details are not passed around an office.
We work through your people: If you would rather we deal with your agent, manager, business manager, attorney or family office, that is the channel we use, and nothing is sent anywhere else.
Documents by secure link, wires confirmed by phone: Files are shared by secure link rather than as open email attachments, and wiring instructions are always confirmed by a phone call to a known number before any money moves.

Introduce an Office

Tell us what you need, the timing, and how you would like to be contacted: directly, or through your agent, manager, business manager or attorney. You do not need to give a client’s name to start, and a confidentiality agreement can come before any detail is shared.

Direct and confidential: (786) 914-1017 · sales@breakthrurealty.com

Questions We Are Asked

Will the brokerage work under terms our general counsel drafts?: Yes. The office’s confidentiality agreement and engagement form are signed as drafted, as long as they allow the brokerage to share what the transaction needs with the closing agent, the association and the other side’s broker. Florida’s brokerage relationship disclosure is still given, because the statute requires it, and counsel can set the relationship it wants in writing.
Can a trustee sign a Florida real estate contract and deed without the beneficiaries?: That depends on the trust instrument and on what the title underwriter will insure, which is why the brokerage asks the closing agent weeks ahead what it needs: usually a certification of trust or the relevant pages, and for a land trust the recorded instrument naming the trustee and the powers conveyed. Whether the trustee has the authority is a question for the office’s attorney, not the brokerage.
Does the brokerage handle FIRPTA withholding when a foreign entity sells?: No. Withholding, exemptions and any withholding certificate are determined by the office’s CPA and attorney and carried out by the closing agent. The brokerage flags a foreign seller early, supplies the dates and documents the advisors ask for, and makes sure the closing timetable leaves room for the paperwork, but it does not give tax advice.
Is there any compensation for a CPA or attorney who introduces a family office?: No. Florida license law limits referral compensation to licensed real estate brokers and sales associates, and it treats gifts and hospitality the same as cash, so an introduction from an advisor cannot be paid for in any form. The brokerage acknowledges the introduction by treating the office well and by keeping the advisor informed to the extent the office allows.
Which documents will our auditors be able to request after a transaction?: The full closing package: the relationship disclosure and brokerage agreement, the authorization naming who could instruct and sign, every offer with its presentation time, the diligence reports and estoppels, the settlement statement, deed and title policy, and the wire confirmations with the record of the telephone verification. All of it sits in the office’s data room with a date and an author on each file.

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