How To Get A Texas Real Estate License

texas real estate school

If you are wondering how to get a Texas real estate license, the first step is to sign up for a Texas real estate license course.

The Texas Real Estate Commission (commonly called TREC, for short), manages the licensing process in the state of Texas. They are responsible for making sure all the Texas licensees comply with the various laws, which include background checks, fingerprinting, pre-license education requirements and continuing education requirements after a license is obtained.

Before you can apply to obtain a Texas real estate license, you must be able to prove you are at least eighteen years old, a legal citizen of the United States (or legal resident alien) AND a legal resident of Texas.

Texas Real Estate License School

The following education is required for a sales agent license, which can be completed at a certified online real estate school or classroom style real estate school:

Principles of Real Estate I (30 classroom hours)
Principles of Real Estate II (30 classroom hours)
Law of Agency (30 classroom hours)
Law of Contracts (30 classroom hours)
Promulgated Contracts Forms (30 classroom hours)
Real Estate Finance (30 classroom hours)
All of your education course documents must be submitted when your application is filed.

There are a few fees involved with the licensing process (of course), and these are current as of this month:

Application fee $205 (required for everyone)
Background check fee $29.75 (required if you have been previously fingerprinted and your fingerprints have been submitted to TREC)
Paper processing fee $20 (charged only if you are submitting forms by mail when they are also available online…JUST SUBMIT THEM ONLINE, OKAY?)

Also keep in mind that TREC will make sure you don’t have an defaulted payments on student loans (payment plans are fine) and they want to be sure you haven’t committed any crimes that would make you a threat to the public as a real estate agent. Some hiccups on your record aren’t the end of the world, so just be honest if that’s your situation.

If you’d like to get a head start on your Texas real estate career, check out our bookshelf with books we have found useful for people who are getting started in the business.