Salesperson · Broker · Every state
The license is easy.
The career is not.
Real estate has the fastest entry of any licensed profession and the most mythology around it. This site is the honest version: how licensing actually works, what the exam actually is, and whether the commission-only reality actually fits you.
- Licensed by
- Your state
- Exam
- National + state portions
- Tiers
- Salesperson, then broker
- Renewal
- CE, nearly all states
Every state licenses through its real estate commission: pre-licensing education, an exam typically split into national and state-law portions, and a sponsoring broker for new agents in most states. Hours, fees and details vary by state; the candidate handbook your state publishes is the authority. Roughly 1.4 million agents are members of the National Association of Realtors, per NAR membership counts.
What this site refuses to do
No income claims. No "six figures your first year." No pretending the ramp-up period does not exist. The career genuinely works for a specific kind of person, and the honest description of that person is more useful than another hype piece:the decision guide weighs it straight, cons first.
Your state decides
Every requirement that matters, education hours, exam vendor, fees, renewal, comes from your state real estate commission. This site teaches the universal structure so your state's handbook makes sense on first read.
The licensing roadmap
One printable page: the universal path from pre-licensing to activation, the exam's two portions, and the questions to ask any brokerage. Free.
No spam. One useful sheet and occasional notes.