Step by step guide to getting your Real Estate License
Becoming a Licensed Real Estate Salesperson
One of the first steps to working in the Real Estate industry is to become a licensed Real Estate Salesperson. Without this license, you are not allowed to sell property or help people buy property.
While there are many guides on this process, and an official state website for this, the steps are not always clear, and actionable items are not always clear. This guide is meant as a journal but also as a tutorial for others who are looking to get into real estate and don’t have a mentor to help them with the process.
The Steps
Let’s go over what you have to do step by step to become a licensed real estate salesperson.
Requirements
PrepAgent provides a great explanation here
For NY specifically, I also needed to get a NY ID, which was a curveball since I’m out of state.
Register and complete an approved 75-hour real estate course for your state.
There are many options here, and many of them are good.
- For me, I was just self-studying, so I just needed a textbook essentially. Real Estate Express provided me with an affordable option, costing around $180 for the course, so I was very happy with that. I do have to say their UI isn’t super up-to-date, but it works and is very straightforward. Also quizzes at the end of each chapter was very helpful.
- I think PrepAgent is a great option here, as they have great videos online on YouTube, have modern UI, and seem to have a good support.
The way the course works is that there are a bunch of chapters, covering both National and State Real Estate content. For NY, each chapter has a minimum amount of time you have to spend in the chapter, so if you finish early, you will have to wait around a bit. However, if you pay attention and study the chapter at a reasonable pace, you probably won’t have much time to spare anyway.
At the end of the course, after you have completed all the chapters and completed the quizzes, you will be able to schedule and take the final exam. I thought this was the official Real Estate Exam, but I was a bit disappointed when I learned I still had to take another exam (more about that later…), but hey, that’s why I’m writing this guide.
Once you pass the course exam, you have completed the course officially, which means the 75-hour course requirement is done.
After the exam, you still have to submit an affidavit of course completion to the course provider, who will then send you a certificate that you will need to use for getting your license.
Taking the State Exam
Apparently, most courses are harder than the state exam so they prepare you better. It’s a bummer that you have to take yet another exam even after you’ve already worked so hard to pass a course, but I guess that’s just how it be.
For NY, you sign up for your exam by
- Going to the NY Department of State Website that covers the Real Estate Salesperson: This will tell you what to bring to the exam, what to expect, and rules.
- You will then sign up for the written exam here. Notice that you do need your NYS ID, so if you don’t have that now, you should definitely get one!
Some tips for the state exam:
- Show up very early! There will likely be a line, and they will start at the exam time sharply, without waiting for people
- They will not provide calculators so make sure you have your own
- Bring an eraser so you can erase mistakes
- Make sure to NOT WRITE ON THE EXAM, or you may be disqualified from the exam
Find a Sponsoring Broker
You can actually do this before you finish the course, but I think it helps to know more about the field before doing this. Maybe consider this step when you’re 75% the way through your studies.
Finding a Broker is very open to your desires. If you do full time, there are likely more brokers that will take you, since most places like to have dedicated agents.
There are some things to consider when finding a sponsoring broker:
- Is the CEO / manager someone that you respect and can help you?
- If there is a monthly fee, is it worth it?
- If there is 100% commission, do they give you enough support where it’s worth it for you?
- Does your sponsoring broker have a good enough reputation in the area that you want to be dealing in?
- If you want to do part time, is the sponsoring broker ok with that?
Getting your License!
Once you have a sponsoring broker, they will walk you through all the steps you need to get your license. Usually it involves something like
- Signing an independent contractor agreement
- Becoming a member of REBNY ($325–400)
- Paying initiation fees to the company
Beyond
Congrats! You are now a licensed real estate salesperson. Go on fancy showings, fun tours, and networking — the world is yours!
I would like to note that being a Real Estate agent is hard, and it’s more than just showing customers places and hoping they sign (most of the time they don’t). For more insight for lessons I’ve learned as an agent, check out: https://github.com/mikinty/real-estate-salesperson