Obtaining a real estate license in Florida is not difficult, if you know what to expect, and can fulfill the requirements. It involves a minimum age requirements, certain education and/or experience requirements, applications and fees, and other details. So you must be sure that you know the relevant information before you get too deep in preparing for your real estate exam.
In Florida, a minimum requirement to joining a real estate brokerage as a sales agent is to have already earned a real estate license. Licensing requirements typically involve coursework and passing a state test. Florida also requires a post-licensing coursework after you earn your license; and continuing education throughout your career to keep your license active.
Free CE/PLE Courses
Our real estate firm has teamed up with Moseley Real Estate Schools!
Moseley has been training students in the real estate industry since 1972 and offers real estate education for Salesperson Licensing, Broker Licensing, Continuing Education, and Post License Education. Sign up for a Pre-License Course or check out their FREE CE/PLE today!
Licensing FAQs – Where do I go from here? – and other frequently asked questions
Q. What are some of the licensing requirements?
A. These are the basic requirements to het a real estate license:
Be at least 18 years old
Earn a high school diploma or general equivalency diploma (GED)
Take the state licensing course (63-hour pre-license course and exam for sales associates; 72-hour pre-license course for brokers) from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) and pass the state exam for each license.
Q. Who offers pre-license courses?
A. Accredited universities, colleges, community colleges, technical centers in Florida or real estate schools pursuant to s. 475.451, Florida Statutes, may offer these FREC-approved courses. Our company is in the process of getting licensed to be able to offer this classes in-house.
Q. Can I take “specialty” continuing education courses until they add up to 45 hours to fulfill the post-licensing requirements for sales associates?
A. No. Post-license courses sales associates are specifically approved for that purpose and designed to build on knowledge acquired during the pre-licensing education courses. A sales associate’s license is provisional until completing the post-license education requirement.
Q. If I fail the salesperson’s post-license course exam, can I re-take the exam?
A. Yes. Students failing a post-licensing education examination must wait at least 30 days but no more than one year from the date of the original examination to retake the examination. Only one retake is permitted. Otherwise, students who fail the end of course post-licensing examination must repeat the course before being eligible to again take the course examination.
Q. If I miss a post-licensing session due to illness, can I make up the session?
A. Yes. Make-up classes may not extend more than 30 days beyond the scheduled end of course examination without approval of the Commission. Make-up classes must consist of the original Commission-prescribed course material.
Q. What happens if I do not complete the sales associate’s person’s 45-hour post-license education requirement before the expiration of my initial sales associates license?
A. Your license becomes void, and you have to retake the pre-license course, pass its exam, and retake the state exam. In effect, you have to start from scratch.
Q. Can I take correspondence courses to fulfill the 14-hour continuing education requirement?
A. Yes. A FREC-approved equivalent correspondence course or other FREC-approved forms of distance learning may substitute for live instruction.
Q. What are the continuing education requirements for an active or inactive sales associates licensee?
A. You must take a minimum of 14 hours of commission-approved classroom instruction during each license renewal period (excluding the first renewal period of your current license when 45 hours of post-license education is required).
A minimum of three of the 14 required hours must consist of commission-prescribed Core Law and another minimum of three of the 14 required hours must consist of commission-prescribed Ethics & Business practices.
The other 8 hours may consist of “specialty” courses on real estate practices approved by the Commission. A licensee who takes the 3-hour Core Law course in each year of the renewal cycle has one of the Core Law courses count toward “specialty credit.”