Real Estate Agent News Alerts
Stay up to date on breaking news with our free News
Alert Service.
Become A Real Estate Agent In Illinois
Article Summary: This article will help anyone looking for information pertaining to a real estate license in the state of Illinois or anyone looking to become a real estate agent or realtor in Illinois. Contents of this article may include information on real estate education, schools, training courses, continuing education, tests and exams, laws, license requirements, renewal information, forms and more.
The Illinois Division of Banks and Real Estate is a division of the Illinois Department
of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR).
The Bureau
of Real Estate Professions administers and enforces the Illinois Real Estate
License Act of 2000 and is responsible for the licensing and regulation of all
real estate agents. The main office of the Bureau is in Springfield.
The requirements for a real estate salesperson license in Illinois include being at least 21 years old
and having either a high school diploma or a GED. Under certain circumstances the age requirement may be lowered
to 18 years of age. The applicant needs to complete the 45-hour Real Estate Transactions course at an
approved real estate school. Attorney’s applying for the salesperson license need to be admitted to practice law
by the Illinois Supreme Court but do not need to take a 45-hour Real Estate Transactions classroom course.
The requirements for a real estate broker license in Illinois include being at least 21 years old, having
a high school diploma or a GED, and having successfully completed 120 hours of the Real Estate Transactions courses
that were not taken for the salesperson license. In addition, the broker applicant must successfully complete
75 classroom hours of broker courses at an approved school. The classes taken are valid for three years before
the examination. It is possible in some cases to replace the 120 hours of courses with having a valid Illinois
real estate salesperson license. Attorneys may receive a broker’s license if they are at least 21 years old and are
admitted to practice law by the Illinois Supreme Court.
Illinois has reciprocity agreements with ten other states. To obtain an Illinois salesperson license
by reciprocity the applicant needs to be at least 21 years of age and a resident of the reciprocal state.
The applicant only needs to take the Illinois portion of the real estate exams. To obtain an Illinois broker license
by reciprocity the applicant needs to be at least 21 years of age, have a high school diploma or GED, be a resident
of the reciprocal state, and have been licensed in the reciprocal state for a minimum of two years. The applicant for
the broker license by reciprocity only needs to take the Illinois portion of the real estate exams.
Some of the approved
Real Estate Schools for Prelicensure allow the student to take courses by
correspondence. Students may also take correspondence courses from some of the
approved Continuing
Education Real Estate Schools. Those who receive their salesperson license
after May 1, 2004 are not required to take continuing education courses.
The examination fees are $45 for either a salesperson applicant or a broker
applicant. The license fees for real estate agents are $125 for a salesperson
initial license and $100 for a salesperson to renew a license. If the salesperson
license has expired, the renewal fee is $150. Brokers pay $125 initial license
fee and $150 for the broker renewal fee. To renew an expired broker license, the
fee is $200.
Real estate careers are enhanced by membership in the
many organizations that provide services for the professional agent. Those holding
a real estate license usually join organizations like the Illinois
Association of Realtors, the National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB),
and the Association of Real Estate License Law Officials (ARELLO).
The National Association of Realtors (NAR),
the world’s largest professional association, assists many in locating real estate
jobs within the industry. These organizations are also excellent resources of
real estate education.
This portion of our website has been created for information purposes
only. It is our belief that all information presented here is accurate
as of today, however each state is constantly striving to protect
the public and provide more quality service to those using the services
of a Real Estate Agent. Change in Real Estate laws and regulations
is inevitable. The information presented here should be considered
a starting point and we encourage everyone to fully research any
information you are seeking.
To further assist you, we have included links to each state's
real estate licensing office, and also to the state's local Association
of Realtors site that provides current information on proposed real
estate license regulations in that area.
If you do find an error or have updated information, please contact
us and we will update our information accordingly.
