How to Get a Real Estate License in North Carolina

In order to kickstart your real estate career in North Carolina, it’s essential to obtain a North Carolina Real Estate License. However, despite the fact that the application process is mainly completed online nowadays, many applicants can still find it quite confusing and complicated.

For this reason, this How to Get a Real Estate License in North Carolina article will break down the main steps involved in the licensing process, covering everything from educational requirements to exam preparation and having your fingerprints taken.

North Carolina Real Estate License

In order to get your North Carolina real estate license and start working in the real estate industry, there are several key steps you’ll need to complete. These include:

1. Ensuring You Meet the Licensing Eligibility Requirements
2. Completing the Mandatory Pre-Licensing Education
3. Passing a Background Check
4. Submitting a License Application
5. Passing the North Carolina Real Estate Exam
6. Activating Your License

In the sections below, we’ve explored each of these steps in more detail.

Step 1: Meet the North Carolina Real Estate License Requirements

Before continuing ahead with your application for a North Carolina real estate license, you’ll first need to confirm that you’re actually eligible for it by ensuring you meet the following prerequisites:

• You must be at least 18 years of age
• You must have a Social Security number
• You must be a US citizen, a non-citizen national, a qualified alien as defined by federal law, or have lawful presence and work authorization in the United States
• You must demonstrate to the North Carolina Real Estate Commission (the Commission) that you possess the requisite character for licensure

Note: In North Carolina, the license type usually known as “salesperson” or “agent” in other states is officially called a “real estate broker” license.

Step 2: Complete the Mandatory Pre-Licensing Education

In addition to the general requirements outlined above, there are certain educational prerequisites you’ll be expected to meet in order to be able to apply for a North Carolina real estate license.

In particular, you will be required to complete a 75-hour pre-licensing course — which is officially called the North Carolina Broker Prelicensing Course — from a Commission-approved provider; this includes a mandatory end-of-course exam.

You must achieve a score of at least 75% to successfully pass the North Carolina Broker Prelicensing Course. Once you do, your course provider will submit your results directly to the Commission to be paired with your online license application.

Step 3: Pass the Background Check

As part of the licensing process, you will need to undergo a background check conducted through CriminalRecordCheck (CRC) — which is the only approved criminal record provider when it comes to real estate licensing in NC.

The total cost for your background check will depend on several factors. For example:

• If you’ve only lived in North Carolina during the past seven years, you likely will pay less than $50 for your report
• If you’ve lived in other states or countries within the past seven years, you’ll need to submit criminal record reports for each place. This will incur fees for each state and/or country checked
• If you’ve used multiple names or aliases during the past seven years, you’ll have to include checks for all names and aliases. This can result in higher fees

Keep in mind that your background check results will remain valid for six months. During this timeframe, you’ll have to complete the application process.

Step 4: Submit a License Application

After passing the background check and satisfying all other licensing requirements, you’ll be ready to move onto submitting your license application. You can do this online by visiting NCREC and completing the following steps:

• Register: Click on the “Create a Login” link to access the New Applicant Registration Information page
• Enter the Required Information: Enter all the information requested, such as your first, middle, and last names without punctuation (e.g., John Michael Smith), your street address, city, and state without punctuation (e.g., 123 Main St, Raleigh, NC), your Social Security number without dashes (e.g., 123456789), and your email address twice for confirmation (e.g., johnsmith@example.com)
• Submit Your Application: Click on the “Next” button and follow the prompts to complete your submission

This process incurs a $100 fee, which you must pay online as part of your application submission.

Assuming the Commission determines that you meet the qualification requirements and your pre-licensing education certificate and background check results have been uploaded into the system, you’ll receive a Notice of Exam Eligibility via email within five to seven business days.

Step 5: Pass the North Carolina Real Estate Exam

The next step you’ll need to complete is to pass the North Carolina real estate broker exam, which is administered by Pearson VUE.

The real estate licensing exam features two distinct parts: the National section — which is developed by Pearson VUE and is administered in all states where it oversees real estate exams — and the State section — which has been crafted specifically by the Commission and focuses on state-specific rules and regulations.

You must take both the National and State sections in the same exam session with each part scored independently. If you fail one section, you’ll only need to retake that specific section.

The examination fee is $60, and any retakes will incur a charge of $50 each.

In order to schedule your real estate exam, you’ll need to head over to the Pearson VUE website and make an online reservation. If this is your first time using the platform, you’ll be required to create an account, after which you’ll be shown step-by-step instructions on how to complete the reservation.

Keep in mind that you will need to pass both the National and State sections of the licensing exam with a score of at least 75 within a single 180-day period. Failing to do so will invalidate your results, requiring you to retake both sections of the exam.

Candidates who successfully pass both required sections will have their licenses issued by the Commission.

Step 6: Application Review

If you’ve managed to get this far, congratulations! With your application submitted and all the other licensing requirements satisfied, in most cases you should receive a letter from the Commission containing a license document within 10 business days.

If the Commission has any concerns about your character or fitness, it may extend the process until it resolves those issues. Additionally, the Commission specifies that inquiries about license issuance should be delayed until at least 10 calendar days after your exam date — or 45 days if there are character issues under review.

Step 7: Activate Your License

Newly licensed real estate brokers receive an inactive provisional broker license that they must activate in order to be allowed to practice real estate.

To do this, you’ll need to submit a License Activation/Affiliation form (REC 2.08) with a broker-in-charge endorsement to the Commission.

Within 18 months of getting your license, you will also need to complete 90 instructional hours of post-licensing education, which will need to be divided into three 30-hour courses:

• Broker Relationships and Responsibilities (Post 301)
• Contracts and Closing (Post 302)
• NC Law, Rules, and Legal Concepts (Post 303)

Once you successfully complete these courses, the Commission will automatically remove the provisional status from your broker license and thus enable you to engage fully in real estate transactions and operate independently within the state.

North Carolina Real Estate License Renewal

After activating your broker license and completing the post-licensing requirements, you will need to complete eight hours of continuing education (CE) courses annually in order to maintain your active status.

Once you’re ready for your initial license renewal, you must visit the Commission’s website and submit your license renewal application along with a $45 processing fee.

North Carolina Real Estate Commission

Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 17100
Raleigh, NC 27619

Physical Address:
1313 Navaho Drive
Raleigh, NC 27609

Phone: (919) 875-3700

Email: https://www.ncrec.gov/Support/Support

Website: https://www.ncrec.gov/