How Long Does It Take To Get A Real Estate License?
If you are looking for a financially rewarding career right after graduation, you can choose to be a real estate salesperson. The career is challenging. But you will potentially earn a median salary of around $78,080 per year. Isn’t that tempting?
Well, a career should be more than just financially tempting. But, if you have determined to walk this path, you will need a license. So, how long does it require to get a real estate license?
Let’s figure it out in this article.
How Long Does It Take To Get A Real Estate License?
You cannot get your real estate license overnight. But, the process does not take longer than any other professional license. The educational qualification needed is also not much. You will get a real estate license only with a high school diploma or qualification equivalent to the same.
The qualification required is also not that much in some of the states in the US. So how long does real estate license processing take in the US? The answer is 4 to 6 months. But that is only if you are going to traditional classrooms. But, if you are going for online real estate pre-licensing classes, you don’t have to wait that long. Based on how fast you can complete the course, it will take you as little as 8 weeks.
But the process of getting your real estate license might also speed up or slow down based on a few important factors listed here –
Factor 1: How Did You Complete The Pre-Licensing Course
Before starting your career as a real estate salesperson, you will require a real estate license and knowledge. You can resort to three different ways to get your real estate license –
- Going to local colleges.
- Through professional schools.
- From state-approved third-party institutions.
- Certified Real Estate Courses
The time required will be based on the decision you take. There are both online and offline classes that you can take. It will require longer if you are taking in-person classes from local schools, colleges, or third-party course providers. The in-person classes are provided over the semester.
So, generally, this will require more time. But, if you take the online classes instead, you will proceed at your own pace. You can complete the whole process in a few weeks.
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Factor 2: The State Where You Reside
Each of the states has some exclusive guidelines and rules. Getting a real estate license is not the same in Florida as in Texas. You can almost assume there are 50 different rules for the 50 states to get your real estate broker license.
Requirement Of Pre-Licensing Courses
Now, real estate licensing requirements can vary depending on the courses required. Different state rules and guidelines depending on the courses or educational requirements for real estate licensing. The state guidelines require students to take a real estate licensing course before appearing for the real estate exam.
You have to pass successfully to receive the credit hours. The courses are like assigned credit hours similar to college courses. Let’s take California and Florida’s real state industries as an example. In Florida, 63 hours of training credit hours are necessary before someone can appear in the agent licensing exam.
But, in California, you will need a 135-hour-long college-level course before taking the real estate exam. So, as you can see, in California, you need more credit hours than in Florida.
State-Level Comparison Of Real Estate License Timing
The state-level timing also modifies the answer to your question – How long does it take to get a real estate license? In California, the 135 hours of the course are spread over three different courses.
In California
According to the California Department of Real Estate mandates, the students need to spend at least 2.5 weeks in each course. So, it means you can complete the course within 7.5 weeks.
Once you have completed the real estate course, you will be eligible to submit your exam application. The DRE typically takes 6 to 8 weeks to process applications. You can let DRE schedule your exam date for the earliest possible date.
But you can also schedule your date once you have gotten the approval. Usually, you get to appear in the exam after a week or so once the application is approved. If you score more than 70%, you have passed.
In Florida
But the same process is a little different in Florida. Here, you need 63 course credit hours. Also, you can send your Exam Application to the DBPR (Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation) even BEFORE your coursework gets completed.
The DBPR usually notifies the applicants of any possible errors in the application within 30 days. They also must approve or deny the application within 90 days. However, if there are no errors in the application, you can complete your course work and get those 63 credit hours within 90 days.
Then you are ready to appear in the exam online or offline. The real estate exam is held under the supervision of a company named Pearson VUE. You can register and take the exam and pass the whole process in one sitting if you want to.
So, if you are appearing in the real estate exam, you can expect to complete the process within 12 weeks. But, if you get approval from the DBPR earlier, the whole process will be done quicker than you expect.
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Bottom Line
How long does it take to get a real estate license? As you have already read in this article, it will take anywhere between 8 weeks to 4/6 months to complete the licensing process. However, depending on the state rules, it can take different times for different people. Also, you need time between two weeks to a month to prepare yourself for the exam.
Did this article answer your query? You can also share your experience completing the real estate licensing process. We also entertain queries related to similar topics from our readers. Thank you for reading.
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