There are 4 steps to get your Florida real estate agent license (also known as a real estate sales associate license):

1. Schedule an appointment to have your fingerprints taken by a Livescan Service Provider registered with FDLE (Florida Department of Law Enforcement). It can take up to 5 days for your fingerprints to be processed. Expect to pay about $37-60 to get your prints taken. Be sure to know your social security number when you go, bring your ID, and use the following ORI number to ensure you prints get to the Florida DBPR Division of Real Estate: FL920010Z.
2. Submit your application (Form RE 1) to sit for the real estate sales associate exam. To obtain the fastest turnaround time, try to do this 1-2 days after you get fingerprinted. You are allowed to (and should) submit this application before taking the required 63-hour pre-license course. The fee for submitting an online application is $83.75.
3. Take and pass a 63-hour pre-license course. You can do this online. There are hundreds of different companies that offer versions of this course to choose from, and you can search through them here. Courses typically cost anywhere from $100-500. At the end of the course, you must pass the end-of-course exam with a score of at least 70%. This is a different exam from the state licensing exam.
4. Schedule and pass the state licensing exam. The exam is administered by Pearson Vue. You will need to show your 63-hour course completion slip in order to sit for the exam. You will also need to have received notice that your state application to take the exam (step 2) was accepted and approved. The exam consists of 100 multiple choice questions which you have 3.5 hours to answer. You must get a score of at least 75% to pass.

Florida Statute 475.17 specifies the requirements that you must meet in order for your application to take the real estate exam (step 2 from above) to be approved:

• Be at least 18 years old,
• Have a U.S. social security number (you don’t need to be a U.S. citizen, but you DO need to have an SSN),
• Hold a high school diploma or equivalent (e.g. a GED),
• Be honest, trustworthy, and of good character, and
• Have a good reputation for fair dealing

Certain types of (but not all) criminal histories will be taken as evidence that an applicant is not honest, trustworthy, of good character, or that they do not have a good reputation for fair dealing. In order to be licensed, applicants must also be fingerprinted and subjected to a criminal background check. If an applicant lies about their criminal history, that is grounds for immediate denial of a real estate license.

Additionally, the following events are almost always grounds for disqualification (although the Florida Real Estate Commission may choose to overlook them in certain situations after enough time has passed):

• The applicant was previously denied a real estate license in Florida or another state,
• The applicant was previously disbarred in Florida or another state,
• The applicant’s registration or license to practice any regulated profession, business, or vocation was previously revoked or suspended in Florida or another state,
• The applicant has acted, attempted to act, or held themself out as entitled to act as a real estate broker or sales associate in Florida, despite not having a license, within the 1 year before applying for a license. This is disqualifying even if no compensation was collected for these acts.

NOTE: If you hold a 4-year degree (or graduate degree) in real estate, you may be exempt from the pre-license course requirement.

What Disqualifies You From Being a Real Estate Agent in Florida?

Below is a (non-exhaustive) list of actions that can disqualify you from obtaining a real estate license:

• You have previously been convicted of any type of fraud, misrepresentation, dishonest dealing, culpable negligence, breach of trust, or operating under false business pretenses in any business transaction in any state, nation, or territory.
• You failed to deliver money, personal property, or documents after being ordered to do so by a court or after being required to do so by law. If you were previously involved in divorce proceedings and did not turn over required documents, money, or property on time, you might be disqualified from becoming a real estate agent.
• You have been convicted of, found guilty of, or entered a plea of nolo contendere to any crime in any jurisdiction which directly relates to the activities of a licensed real estate broker or real estate sales associate, or which involves moral turpitude or dishonest dealing. Crimes likely to evidence moral turpitude include spousal abuse, domestic violence, rape, incest, failure to register as a sex offender, aggravated assault, drug-related crimes, animal cruelty, animal fighting, robbery & theft, felony hit and run, arson, prostitution, perjury, bribery, embezzlement, and driving while intoxicated without a license.

References

[1] Florida Department of Business & Professional Regulation (DBPR) – links to all forms and applications for real estate licenses

[2] F.S. 475.17 Qualifications for the practice of real estate

Appendix A: Excerpts from F.S. 475.17 relevant to initial licensure as a Florida real estate sales associate

• (1)
  • (a) An applicant for licensure who is a natural person must be at least 18 years of age; hold a high school diploma or its equivalent; be honest, truthful, trustworthy, and of good character; and have a good reputation for fair dealing.
  • An applicant for an active sales associate’s license must be competent and qualified to make real estate transactions and conduct negotiations therefor with safety to investors and to those with whom the applicant may undertake a relationship of trust and confidence.
  • If the applicant has been denied registration or a license or has been disbarred, or the applicant’s registration or license to practice or conduct any regulated profession, business, or vocation has been revoked or suspended, by this or any other state, any nation, or any possession or district of the United States, or any court or lawful agency thereof, because of any conduct or practices which would have warranted a like result under [F.S. chapter 475], or if the applicant has been guilty of conduct or practices in this state or elsewhere which would have been grounds for revoking or suspending her or his license under [F.S. chapter 475] had the applicant then been registered, the applicant shall be deemed not to be qualified unless, because of lapse of time and subsequent good conduct and reputation, or other reason deemed sufficient, it appears to the Florida Real Estate Commission that the interest of the public and investors will not likely be endangered by the granting of registration.
  • The Commission may adopt rules requiring an applicant for licensure to provide written information to the Commission regarding the applicant’s good character.
  • (b) An application may be disapproved if the applicant has acted or attempted to act, or has held herself or himself out as entitled to act, during the period of 1 year next prior to the filing of the application, as a real estate broker or sales associate in Florida in violation of [F.S. chapter 475]. This paragraph may be deemed to bar any person from licensure who has performed any of the acts or services described in s. 475.01(3), unless exempt pursuant to s. 475.011, during a period of 1 year next preceding the filing of the application, or during the pendency of the application, and until a valid current license has been duly issued to the person, regardless of whether the performance of the act or service was done for compensation or valuable consideration.
• (2)
  • (a)
    • 1. In addition to other requirements under this part, the Commission may require the satisfactory completion of one or more of the educational courses or equivalent courses conducted, offered, sponsored, prescribed, or approved pursuant to s. 475.04, taken at an accredited college, university, or community college, at a career center, or at a registered real estate school, as a condition precedent for any person to become licensed or to renew her or his license as a sales associate. The course or courses required for one to become initially licensed shall not exceed a total of 63 classroom hours of 50 minutes each, inclusive of examination, for a sales associate… The satisfactory completion of an examination administered by the accredited college, university, or community college, by a career center, or by the registered real estate school shall be the basis for determining satisfactory completion of the course. However, notice of satisfactory completion shall not be issued if the student has absences in excess of 8 classroom hours.
    • 2. A distance learning course or courses shall be approved by the Commission as an option to classroom hours as satisfactory completion of the course or courses as required by this section. The schools authorized by this section have the option of providing classroom courses, distance learning courses, or both. However, satisfactory completion of a distance learning course requires the satisfactory completion of a timed distance learning course examination. Such examination shall not be required to be monitored or given at a centralized location.
    • 3. Such required course or courses must be made available by correspondence or other suitable means to any person who, by reason of hardship, as defined by rule, cannot attend the place or places where the course or courses are regularly conducted or does not have access to the distance learning course or courses.
• (6) The education course requirements for one to become initially licensed do not apply to any applicant who has received a 4-year degree, or higher, in real estate from an accredited institution of higher education.

Appendix B: Definition of a real estate broker under Florida law

“Broker” means a person who, for another, and for a compensation or valuable consideration directly or indirectly paid or promised, expressly or impliedly, or with an intent to collect or receive a compensation or valuable consideration therefor, appraises, auctions, sells, exchanges, buys, rents, or offers, attempts or agrees to appraise, auction, or negotiate the sale, exchange, purchase, or rental of business enterprises or business opportunities or any real property or any interest in or concerning the same, including mineral rights or leases, or who advertises or holds out to the public by any oral or printed solicitation or representation that she or he is engaged in the business of appraising, auctioning, buying, selling, exchanging, leasing, or renting business enterprises or business opportunities or real property of others or interests therein, including mineral rights, or who takes any part in the procuring of sellers, purchasers, lessors, or lessees of business enterprises or business opportunities or the real property of another, or leases, or interest therein, including mineral rights, or who directs or assists in the procuring of prospects or in the negotiation or closing of any transaction which does, or is calculated to, result in a sale, exchange, or leasing thereof, and who receives, expects, or is promised any compensation or valuable consideration, directly or indirectly therefor; and all persons who advertise rental property information or lists. A broker renders a professional service and is a professional within the meaning of s. 95.11(4)(b). Where the term “appraise” or “appraising” appears in the definition of the term “broker,” it specifically excludes those appraisal services which must be performed only by a state-licensed or state-certified appraiser, and those appraisal services which may be performed by a registered trainee appraiser as defined in part II. The term “broker” also includes any person who is a general partner, officer, or director of a partnership or corporation which acts as a broker. The term “broker” also includes any person or entity who undertakes to list or sell one or more timeshare periods per year in one or more timeshare plans on behalf of any number of persons, except as provided in ss. 475.011 and 721.20.

Appendix C: Definition of a real estate sales associate under Florida law?

“Sales associate” means any person who performs any act specified in Appendix B in the definition of “broker”, but who performs such act under the direction, control, or management of another person.