State of Washington Real Estate License Requirements
Washington Real Estate Requirements
Article Summary: This article will help anyone looking to understand the steps it takes to get a Broker’s real estate license in the state of Washington. (called a salesperson license in some states). General guidelines and helpful insight is provided below on education, examination, renewal and more..
The Real Estate Commission is under the Washington State Department of Licensing (DOL) and their responsibilities include administering the licensing laws and regulations while protecting the public interest which is the licensees and consumers. There are six commission members who are appointed by the Governor for limited terms. All meetings and minutes are listed on the DOL’s website.
The starting requirements for obtaining a real estate license in Washington includes being at least 18 years of age and a US citizen or permanent resident. In addition, proof of high school graduation or equivalency is needed.
When it comes to pre-licensing education, one needs to successfully complete 90 hours of approved real estate education within a two year period before taking the state exam. This includes a 60-hour course in Real Estate Fundamentals and a 30-hour course in Real Estate Practices. If an application is currently licensed in another state, the real estate education requirements will be waived if qualified. The Broker’s exam is made up of both a national (100 questions) and the state portion (30 questions) and has a total completion time of 3.5 hours. The questions for both portions are intermixed. To pass the exam, there is a required scale score of 70.
Applied Measurement Professionals Inc. (AMP) is the exam provider for WA and more information on scheduling can be found here. Fingerprinting and a background check are part of the process for licensure and the steps to obtain can be found online.
License expiration occurs two years after the original issue date and can be renewed up to 120 days before the expiration date. When it comes to the first active renewal, there are at least 90 hours of continuing education required including 30-hour each of Advanced Practices, Real Estate Law, Core Courses and at least 27 hours of other approved CE. At least 30 hours of CE courses are mandated on all subsequent 2 year license renewals.
