Prelicensing
Licensing Process
Step 1: Complete the 75 Hour Prelicensing Course
Our on demand (self paced) North Carolina Real Estate Commission approved, 75-hour Broker Prelicensing course satisfies the 75-hour broker Prelicensing requirement to apply for the North Carolina state exam. Learn at your pace, from anywhere, at any time.
Click here to view the Commission’s Real Estate Licensing in North Carolina booklet.
NOTE: Upon completion of the course, email us to schedule your online proctored final exam. If you do not pass the final exam on the first try, you will given 1 retake of the test at no charge. If you fail the exam twice, you will have to re-register and pay for the course again.
Step 2: Complete your background check
The North Carolina Real Estate Commission requires that all applicants complete a background check. This process was made very simple by the NCREC so your criminal report can be obtained online by clicking here.
Cost: $15 or more depending if you’ve lived in various states in the last 7 years. Payable directly to NCREC Criminal Record Checks.
Step 3: Submit your application
Once you’ve successfully completed the 75-hour Prelicensing course and obtained your background check, you will need to apply for your real estate license by filling out a State Licensing Application. Click here to apply for your license. Once you’ve filed the application and paid the fee, you will be able to schedule your real estate exam. You will have up to three years to take North Carolina licensing exam.
Cost: $100, payable directly to the North Carolina Real Estate Commission when submitting your application.
Step 4: Schedule and pass the North Carolina State licensing exam
Scheduling your licensing exam is simple and can be done online on PSI’s website, the official exam provider. The North Carolina Real Estate Broker licensing exam consists of two portions:
1. The National portion where you’ll have to answer 71 out of the 100 multiple-choice questions (A, B, C, D) correctly in 150 minutes or 2.5 hours.
2. The State portion where you’ll have to answer 29 out of 40 multiple-choice questions (A, B, C, D) correctly in 90 minutes or 1.5 hours.
Cost: $56, payable directly to PSI Online when scheduling the exam
Step 5: You passed the exams, now what?
Once you have satisfied all the North Carolina Real Estate Commission’s requirements and passed the real estate licensing exam, you can expect to receive your license certificate within 10 calendar days after taking the exam. This license certificate will be mailed to you at the address you provided in your license application form. While waiting to receive your license certificate, you should not engage in any brokerage activity.
The license you will receive will be an inactive broker license on provisional status. This is standard for all new licensees. Before engaging in the real estate business in North Carolina, you will need to fill out a “License Activation/Affiliation” form with the help of a broker-in-charge and file this form with the Commission’s office. This will activate your provisional broker license. As you may have understood by now, a provisional broker must be supervised by a broker-in-charge in the state of North Carolina.