If you have a real estate license in North Carolina, you will need to renew it every year in order to continue operating legitimately. This is the case regardless of whether you are a real estate broker or a broker in charge.

The cost of renewing your North Carolina real estate license will depend on whether you do this on time — or have to pay a late penalty fee — as well as whether you are a broker or a real estate agent.

In this guide, we break down how you can go about completing your North Carolina Real Estate License Renewal, detailing how much this will cost, as well as what continuing education (CE) requirements you will need to complete before submitting your application.

North Carolina Real Estate Renewal Cost

The total cost of your North Carolina Real Estate License Renewal will be the same regardless of the type of license you hold:

Status	Provisional Broker License	Full Broker License
Renewal Cost Online	$45	$45
Reinstatement Fee	$90	$90
Total Cost	$45 – $135	$45 – $135

On top of this, you’ll need to add the cost of purchasing a real estate CE course, as this is a legal requirement in the state of North Carolina.

North Carolina Real Estate Continuing Education

You will need to complete the following CE requirements in order to renew your real estate license in North Carolina.

North Carolina Real Estate Provisional Broker CE Requirements

You will need eight hours of North Carolina Real Estate Commission (NCREC)-approved CE courses including:

• General Update Course: Four hours

Note: Up to a maximum of four elective hours can ‘carry over’ to the following licensing period as long as no portion of the course hours went towards the current renewal.

North Carolina Real Estate Full Broker CE Requirements

You will need eight hours of NCREC-approved CE courses each license period, including four hours in the Broker-In-Charge Update (BICUP) course.

Regardless of whether you hold a provisional or “full” license, you will need to complete the remaining hours of CE by taking elective courses. These can be general real estate courses, or others such as:

• Managing Risk in Your Real Estate Business
• Technology Tools, Trends, and Risk Management
• Document Diligence: Safeguarding Your Transactions

Note: Brokers who have just been issued their licenses (either through examination or reinstatement), are not required to satisfy CE requirements in the renewal period in which it was issued, though they must satisfy them before it is renewed for the second time.

Inactive North Carolina Real Estate Agents

In North Carolina, an inactive status is allowed indefinitely, without the need to complete your CE requirements every year. When reactivating your license from an inactive state you must undertake between 0-68 hours of education, depending on the length of time your license was inactive.

Keep in mind that you will not be able to engage in any real estate sales or brokerage activity with an inactive license.

Note: Reinstatement requirements for licenses varies according to the length of time the license was expired

Duration of Time Expired	Reinstatement Requirements
Less than six months	Reinstate license online from the NCREC homepage Pay $90 fee for reinstatement Submit License Activation/Affiliation form to activate license again
Between six months and two years	Option 1 Provide proof of completion of 30 credit hour post-licensing education in the six months immediately before reinstatement application File reinstatement application and submit required documents and criminal background check Pay $90 fee Option 2 File reinstatement application and submit required documents plus criminal background check Achieve a passing grade on the licensing exam’s National and State sections

Renew North Carolina Real Estate License

You will be able to renew your North Carolina real estate license online.

You can renew your real estate license online through the NCREC Broker Licensing portal. If this is your first time renewing online, you will need to register first.

We recommend that you complete your CE training at least 10 days before your license expires. This will ensure that there is enough time for it to be processed.