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Become A Real Estate Agent In North Carolina
Article Summary: This article will help anyone looking for information pertaining to a real estate license in the state of North Carolina or anyone looking to become a real estate agent or realtor in North Carolina. 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 North Carolina Real
Estate Commission is an independent state governmental agency whose primary
function is to oversee the licensing and regulating of the over 80,000 real estate
agents in the state. The North Carolina Licensing Law can be viewed online.
The requirements for a real estate salesperson license in North Carolina
include being at least 18 years of age and having successfully completed at least
67 hours of approved classroom real estate courses within the three year period
preceding the date of application. An equivalent amount of experience and/or education
may be accepted by the Commission in place of some of the 67 hours. All applicants
must pass the salesperson real estate exams.
The requirements for a real estate broker license in North Carolina include being at least 18 years of age and having successfully completed at least 60 hours of approved classroom real estate courses within the three year period preceding the date of application. Applicants for the broker real estate license also need to have either completed the salesperson educational courses or have a valid North Carolina salesperson real estate license. An equivalent amount of experience and/or education may be accepted by the Commission in place of some of the 60 hours. All applicants must pass the broker real estate exams, with the exception of those who hold a North Carolina salesperson license. They are not required to take an additional examination.
All applicants for a real estate agent license need to provide proof that
they possess competency, honesty, truthfulness, integrity and general moral character.
Therefore, all applicants need to provide a Criminal Record Report and fingerprints
to aid investigation.
The list of approved real
estate schools for prelicensure is available online. The educational courses
are available during the daytime, evenings or weekends.
All licensed real estate agents need to complete at least eight classroom hours
of approved continuing education courses each year before renewing their
license. In addition, those with a real estate broker license need to complete
an approved special course of six classroom hours every three years. Agents whose
license is inactive do not have to fulfill the continuing education requirement.
The approved continuing
education real estate schools may be located online. Many of the courses are
available by distance education. Although licenses expire on June 30th of each
year, the deadline for the continuing education courses is June 10th.
The North Carolina real estate licenses are issued for a one year period ending on June 30th and renewal of the licenses begins 45 days before that date. The license renewal fee is $30.00. If the license expires, the reinstatement fee is $55.00. If the license is not renewed within six months after it expires, the agent will need to re-do the entire application process, including education and examination requirements.
North Carolina has reciprocity
agreements with twelve states. Licensed agents in good standing in these states
may obtain a nonresident real estate license without taking the North Carolina
examination if they are currently active and were originally issued their license
based on passing that state’s license examination. A salesperson licensed by reciprocity
must be actively and personally supervised by a licensed North Carolina real estate
broker. There is a $30.00 fee for the nonresident license. Additional requirements
may apply, depending on which state the applicant is from.
North Carolina application forms are available via U.S. mail and may be requested
by writing publications@ncrec.state.nc.us. However, many other real
estate forms may be obtained online.
Real estate careers are strengthened by membership in the many organizations
that provide services for the professional agent. Organizations like the North
Carolina Association of Realtors (with over 31,500 members) and the National
Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB)
assist many in locating real estate jobs within the industry. The Association
of Real Estate License Law Officials (ARELLO)
and The National Association of Realtors (NAR),
the world’s largest professional association, are excellent resources for real
estate education and professional enrichment.
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.
