A Licensed Real Estate Broker is a person who provides real estate services to another person in exchange for a commission. Brokers can also sponsor and supervise real estate sales agents.

Qualifications

• Citizen of the United States or lawfully admitted alien
• 18 years of age or older
• Meet TREC’s qualifications for honesty, trustworthiness, and integrity
  • Consider requesting a Fitness Determination before applying for the license

Requirements

You have one year from the date your application is filed to meet all license requirements below:

Submit Your Qualifying Education

270 classroom hours of qualifying real estate courses, including the following mandatory courses:

• 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 Contract Forms (30 classroom hours)
• Real Estate Finance (30 classroom hours)
• Real Estate Brokerage (30 classroom hours)

The Real Estate Brokerage course must be completed not more than two years before the application date.

An additional 630 classroom hours in related qualifying courses acceptable to the Commission or approved Continuing Education (CE) courses is also required. This must include the six-hour Broker Responsibility Course.

TREC approved elective qualifying courses include:

• Real Estate Appraisal 
• Real Estate Law 
• Real Estate Marketing 
• Real Estate Math 
• Residential Property Management 
• Real Estate Investments 
• Residential Inspections for Real Estate Agents

Following is a list of course topics acceptable for related qualifying course credit if completed for academic credit through a college or university.

Accounting  Principles/Intro Bookkeeping Income Tax Managerial Advertising Principles/Intro Public Relations Architecture ​Drawing Business Intro to Business Business Communications Business Math Business Principles Business Writing Business Ethics Construction ​Basic Design Building Electricity Environmental Design Framing Materials Roofing Structures Surveying Finance ​Business Corporation Entrepreneurship Financial Institutions Money and Banking Mortgage Lending/Loan Processing

Investments Principles/Intro Investment Analysis Law Agency Agricultural  Business Commercial Contracts Institutions and Management Legal Environment Oil and Gas Property Management ​Principles/Intro Business Organizations Farm and Ranch Office Personnel Public Administration Occupational Administration Marketing Principles/Intro Agricultural Marketing Marketing Management Real Estate Law, Finance, Contracts  Farm and Ranch Properties Real Estate Trends  Title and Closings Ethics Taxation Internship Staging (Interior Design)

A bachelor's degree or higher from an accredited college or university satisfies up to 300 hours of the related education requirements for a broker license. A copy of the college transcript awarding the degree must be submitted as evidence of completion of the degree.

Upload your course completion documents in the REALM Portal when you apply online.  After completing your course work, you are welcome to submit a course and instructor evaluation. 

Meet the Experience Requirements

Candidates for a broker license must also meet the following experience requirements:

Have at least four years’ active experience as a licensed real estate sales agent or broker during the 60-month period preceding the filing of the application. Your experience must total 720 points. You must also include a transaction identification list for each transaction claimed on the experience report.

Candidates who have earned experience points above the minimum required can substitute additional experience points for up to 300 hours of the 630 hours of real estate related education. For every two points above the minimum 720 points, credit for one classroom hour of the related education will be awarded. 

File your Application

 Apply Online

Submit your application and fee to become a Broker using our REALM Portal. You will need to create an account if you do not have one already. 

Get your Fingerprints Taken and Pass Your Background Check

You are required by law to have fingerprints on file with the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) so a background check can be performed. Fingerprints on file for other agencies will not be accepted.

A license will not issue if the background check has not been passed. Expect a delay if you are notified of an investigation into your background history.

Take the Exam

License exams are administered by PearsonVUE, a testing service company. 

You will be sent a notice with instructions for scheduling the exam and obtaining a copy of the exam Candidate Handbook.

If you fail the exam three times, additional education will be necessary.