How to Become a Licensed Texas Realtor

To become a Texas realtor, you must be a United States citizen or legal alien, a resident of Texas, at least 18 years of age, and cannot have defaulted on a Texas-guaranteed student loan unless a payment plan is in place. The first step in acquiring your real estate license is satisfying the education requirement. The Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) requires 210 class hours of education in order to apply for your license. If you have taken college courses in the past, some of the courses might be counted toward the education requirement. If you have no post-secondary education, there are many schools that offer the necessary courses in classroom format, by correspondence, and some online. It is possible to complete all of the education requirements for your Texas real estate license without leaving your home.

After you have completed the necessary courses, you will submit copies of course completion documents, transcripts, and a $30 fee to the Commission for review. When the Commission has determined that you’ve met the education requirements, you can complete the license application for an inactive salesperson. You can complete your application and pay the required application fees online at http://www.trec.state.tx.us/.  Applying online usually results in a faster approval process than applying by mail. The fees for filing the application are $107, and submitting an application automatically authorizes a background investigation. Texas state law requires that all applicants submit their fingerprints. Information on the fingerprint submission process can be found online at the TREC website. When your application has been approved, you are eligible to sit for the licensing exam and will receive notice that you may obtain a copy of the Candidate Information Brochure (CIB). This document contains all the information you need to register and prepare for the exam.

You cannot begin work as a licensed Texas realtor until you have obtained sponsorship from an actively-licensed Texas real estate broker. When you obtain sponsorship, a Salesperson Sponsorship Form needs to be submitted to the TREC for approval. The TREC will mail your active license to your sponsor once all the paperwork has been approved. It is very important that you do not perform any act requiring an active real estate license until your sponsor has received your active license from the TREC. Once your sponsor has received your active license, you are all set to begin work as a licensed Texas realtor.