A Complete Guide to Getting Your Real Estate Broker License in Pennsylvania

You’ve been licensed in Pennsylvania for a few years. You’ve hit your sales goals every year, mastered the 6 traits all great agents have, done countless transactions, and now you’re the expert agent at your broker company. What’s next? Maybe you want to get your cemetery broker’ license or become a rental listing referral agent?

More likely, whether you want to start your own broker company and have agents work for you, or whether you want to be a branch broker, the next step is getting your Pennsylvania Real Estate Broker License. This blog will give you a complete understanding of everything you need to do to get your broker license.

Age

According to the Pennsylvania statutes, you must be 21 years old and have a high school diploma, GED, or equivalent education to qualify for a broker license. The same information is written on the Pennsylvania Real Estate Commission website. However, you need to be licensed as a salesperson for at least 3 years before you can become a broker in Pennsylvania.

Experience & Education

The general rule for meeting the experience and education requirements for Kentucky is that you have to be licensed as a sales associate for at least 3 years and you must complete 240 classroom hours of real estate courses. That seems like a lot, but it can be very manageable if you have some college credits.

The Pennsylvania Real Estate Commission also accepts academic credits from colleges and universities as classroom hours in real estate. Certain bachelor’s degrees equivalent to a major in real estate will be accepted to having the necessary 240-hour requirement. If you have a law degree from an accredited law school, your education will be accepted to meet the education requirement for a broker’s license. If you have either of these degrees, you won’t have to take any more broker education.

If you don’t have a law degree or bachelor’s degree in real estate, the Commission requires you complete 16 credits or 240 classroom hours in professional real state education. That means that 1 credit = 15 classroom hours. 2 credits, or 30 hours, must be in an approved brokerage and office management course. 2 credits/30 hours must be in an approved broker law course. (We happen to sell both in a 60-hour package).

The remaining credits/hours must be in elective courses. Pennsylvania requires that 6 credits or 90 hours must come from Commission developed course outlines of the following topics: real estate law, real estate finance, real estate investment, Residential and Non-residential property management, real estate sales, residential construction, and property valuation. The remaining 6 credits or 90 hours must come from real estate related courses approved by the Commission, like our Examination of Pennsylvania Law course or Law of Contracts course.

Coming Soon…I promise

Even if you don’t have any college credits, you can still get your broker license. At the moment, however, there is no single online real estate school that offers the complete 240 classroom hours. For the time being, you would have to look at multiple schools to complete this education. While we currently offer the most hours (210), we are also building elective broker courses to meet the full 240-hour requirement!

Fees and Forms

You will need to follow the instructions on the PREC website. There is also an application fee and a background check fee. This needs to be done before you take the licensing exam as you will need to obtain a Certificate of Examination Eligibility Registration Form and instructions on how to register for the licensing exam.

Exam

Pennsylvania offers its real estate licensing exams through PearsonVue Exams. There is a $49 taking the exam. The format is identical to the salesperson exam; you will take the test in a testing center and there will be a national portion and a state portion. You will have 3.5 hours to answer 120 questions and obtain a score of 75% on both portions of the exam. For more information, make sure you read the candidate booklet and content outlines.

Broker Reciprocity

If you are already licensed in another state, your requirements to get a broker license can be a little different. Pennsylvania has a reciprocal agreement with 6 states, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, and New York. If you have a real estate license in one of those 6 states, you will not have to complete the pre-license education requirements OR take the state licensing exam. Another important note if you are broker not in those 6 states but want to be licensed in PA, Pennsylvania gives 2 educational credits for every year you are licensed as a broker in another state.

Now stop listening to those podcasts and get started on your broker license! If you have any questions about getting your Pennsylvania license, do not hesitate to call, text, live-chat, or email me at 859-525-0303 and john@perryrealestatecollege.com!