HOW TO GET A REAL ESTATE LICENSE IN Georgia
Step by Step Guide How To Become a Georgia Real Estate Agent in 2024
By: Ciprian MorariuUpdated: 6 January 2023
In a nutshell, here’s how to get your Georgia Real Estate Broker License!
Prerequisites
- Be at least 18 years old
- Be a legal citizen of the United States.
Step #1
You must complete any ONE of the Georgia Real Estate pre-license education.
Step #2
Next, you need to schedule your Georgia Real Estate Licensing State Exam.
Step #3
The next step is to pass your Georgia Real Estate Licensing State Exam.
Step #4
You can now apply for your Georgia Real Estate license online.
Step #5
You need to find a Georgia Real Estate SponsoringBroker to work under after you get your Georgia Real Estate License.
Step #6
Complete your Georgia Real Estate post-licensing education.
Now, let’s cover each of these steps in detail!
CHAPTER INTRO:
How To Get A Real Estate License in Georgia: Introduction
Welcome to this comprehensive guide on how to get your real estate license in Georgia!
Are you looking to build a career in the real estate industry in Georgia? This guide will help you find answers to:
- Who needs a real estate license in Georgia?
- What basic qualifications must you meet before you can apply for a real estate license in Georgia?
- What are the education requirements you need to complete?
- What should you expect in terms of costs?
- How much time would you need to get your real estate license?
- and more…
If you’re looking to save time and money while studying to become a real estate agent in Georgia, you will love this updated guide!
CHAPTER 1:
How To Get A Real Estate License in Georgia: The Basics
In this chapter, you will learn about the basics of real estate licensing in Georgia.
First, you will learn why you need a real estate broker license in Georgia. You will also understand why it is useful to have one!
Next, you will learn how you can have a successful career in real estate in Georgia.
Who Needs a Real Estate License in Georgia?
You need a real estate license in Georgia if you represent a real estate buyer or seller and earn commission from these activities.
You don't need a real estate license if you want to sell or buy your own home.
So, if you want to buy or sell real estate in Georgia on behalf of others (your customers), you must be a licensed real estate agent (also called a real estate salesperson).
The Georgia Real Estate Commission and Appraisers Board (GREC) protects public interest by regulating the professional qualifications of real estate licensees.
Keep reading to learn about the requirements on how to get a real estate license in Georgia.
How Much Can a Real Estate Agent Earn in Georgia?
A licensed real estate salesperson in Georgia can earn an average base salary of
$104,917 per year. This information is regularly updated and you can access it on Indeed.com.
Access Indeed.com website using your web browser and type “real estate agent” in the What box.
Then type “Georgia” in the Where box and click Search.
The real estate market in Georgia has been growing over the last ten years.
In Atlanta, for example, a real estate agent could potentially earn an average of $112,118 per year. This makes becoming a real estate salesperson in Georgia an excellent choice if you are looking to change careers.
You can also find information on the highest paying cities for Georgia for real estate salespersons.
Here is an example of how much real estate agents can earn in Athens, Alpharetta, Columbus, Marietta, Suwanee, Savannah, Atlanta, Roswell and Augusta.
Now, let us look at how you can get your Georgia real estate license.
What are the Types of Real Estate Licenses in Georgia?
If you’re wondering what real estate license is best for you, then you need to know the types of real estate licenses offered in Georgia.
The state of Georgia offers three types of real estate licenses:
- Community Association Manager license
- Salesperson license
- Broker license
Let’s look at these licenses in detail.
- Community Association Manager License
If you have a community association manager license, you are responsible for:
- Controlling the association account
- Collecting association dues
- Disbursing funds from the account
- Coordinating the maintenance needed for the property along with managing its daily operations.
2. Salesperson License (this is most probably the one you are interested in)
With a Salesperson license you can provide professional real estate services and earn a commission for these services. As a real estate agent, you can also help in leasing out a property by screening potential clients and collecting rent.
Salespersons cannot operate independently. They must be employed by a broker for at least 3 years. After that a salesperson can study and apply for a Broker license of their own.
3. Broker License
The Broker license allows you to perform the same tasks as that of a salesperson. However, as a Broker, you can own and operate your own brokerage. Brokers can hire multiple salespersons to work in their brokerage.
We will focus mainly on the salesperson license because it is the starting point for anyone looking to begin a career in real estate in the state of Georgia.
If you would like to know more about the Community Association Manager and Broker licenses please take a look at the GREC website.
CHAPTER 2:
How To Get A Real Estate License in Georgia: Becoming Licensed
To become a licensed real estate salesperson in Georgia, you will need to follow six steps.
In this chapter, you will learn exactly what these six steps are.
Let’s dive right in!
Step #1:
Meet the GA Real Estate Pre-Licensing Education Requirements
If you want to get a real estate license in Georgia, you must complete ONE of the following educational requirements.
A. Complete the Georgia 75-hour real estate license course. This course must be approved by the Georgia Real Estate Commission (GREC).
On the GREC website, you can view a list of such courses provided by approved real estate schools.
Successfully completing the 75-hour course also requires passing the Course Exam.
NOTE:
The 75-hour Course Exam is different from the Georgia State Exam. You will learn more about the State Exam in Step 3.
For now, just keep in mind that passing the Course Exam makes you eligible to apply for the Salesperson license, while passing the State Exam actually gets you your license.
So, don’t confuse the two!
B. Successfully complete either ONE of the following:
- At least 6 semester hours or 10 quarter hours of coursework that qualifies you for a real estate major from an accredited U.S. or Canadian university, OR
- A course in real property, contracts, or agency from an accredited U.S. or Canadian university.
You must submit the university’s official transcript along with your examination application to PSI—the testing authority that conducts the State Examinations— and not to the GREC. You’ll find more information about the PSI in Step 3.
C. If you are not a resident of Georgia, you must provide proof that you have completed at least 75 hours of pre-license coursework that is approved by a real estate regulatory agency.
This agency should be of another U.S. state or Canadian province. You must also have a letter from that agency, stating that the coursework is approved in that state or province.
Step #2:
Apply for the Georgia Real Estate State Exam
After you complete your pre-licensing educational requirements, you can take your State Exam.
You can apply for and schedule your State Exam online, via the telephone, or via mail.
You can take your test at any PSI testing center in Georgia located in Duluth, Macon, Marietta, and Savannah.
You must complete a background check after finishing the Georgia 75-hour real estate license course.
You must have a criminal history report or a Georgia Crime Information Report before submitting your license application. The GREC uses the report to carry out a background check of each applicant.
Note:
You should also bring this report to the testing center before receiving your license. If the report contains any crime report or sanctions the Commission will investigate the matter and then decide if they should issue the license or not.
Now, let us look at how you can schedule your exam.
Scheduling Your Exam Online
1. You can schedule the Georgia State licensing exam after completing your background check.
You will schedule the GA state exam using the PSI website.
2. Once you are on the page, click Begin Scheduling. You will be taken to the PSI/AMP Candidate Services page.
Dropdown 1: choose “Real Estate”
Dropdown 2: select “Georgia Examination Program”
Dropdown 3: choose “Salesperson Examination”
You will be immediately redirected to the next page
3. After choosing the examination program, click Register for this exam at the bottom right hand side of the page.
4. Next, you will be asked to enter your username and password.
5. If you do not have an account, click the New User? option. You will be taken to the new user page where you can enter the required information.
6. After filling out the information and creating a new account, you must pay the examination fee using a credit card, cashier’s check or money order.
Scheduling Your Exam Via Telephone
You can also schedule your exam offline. You can do this by scheduling an exam appointment through telephone scheduling by calling PSI at 888-818-5834.
Scheduling Your Exam Via Mail
You can also mail your registration form. You can do this in two steps:
- First, you must complete all the sections of the registration form as mentioned on pages 17 and 18 of the Georgia Real Estate Examination Program Candidate Handbook. After that, you must mail the form to PSI along with a check or money order for the examination fee. The address is mentioned on the form. The form will not be processed and will be returned if it is incomplete, illegible or submitted along with the incorrect fee.
- Second, you need to schedule an examination by calling PSI at 888-818-5834 at least 7 to 10 business days after mailing the registration form and fee. After the call, you should be prepared to confirm the date and location of the exam and provide your name and social security number.
Note:
You can refer to the Candidate Handbook for more details. The Handbook is a great reference for additional details on all steps in the process.
Step #3:
Pass the State Exam
You must pass the GA real estate exam to get your license.
The Georgia Real Estate Salesperson Examination has 152 multiple choice questions. The questions are split randomly across the national and state portions.
There are 100 questions in the National portion and 52 questions in the State portion.
The questions in the National portion of the exam are split across seven topics:
- 28 questions from agency relationships and contracts
- 13 questions from real property ownership
- 13 questions from real estate calculations
- 14 questions from finance
- 14 questions from real property
- 10 questions from marketing regulations
- 8 questions froom property management
The State portion of the exam covers Georgia-specific real estate license laws and regulations.
You have 4 hours to complete the exam.
You need to score 70% or higher to pass the GA real estate exam.
When you pass the exam, you will receive a Certification of Accuracy Statement. You need this certificate to apply for your real estate salesperson license.
Pro Tip:
Do not sign your Certification of Accuracy Statement immediately. You will be required to sign it in front of the Test Center staff. You must do this to verify your application information.
You can find the details of the process in the Candidate Handbook.
If you fail the Georgia Salesperson Examination, you may register to retake only the failed portion of the exam. You also have to pay a $95 fee.
Please remember that you must pass both the national and state portions within 90 days of passing the first portion.
The Candidate Handbook is a great source of information if you want to learn:
- how to prepare for your exams,
- the Do’s and Don’ts to remember before, during, and after your exam, and
- how your test will be scored
Step #4:
Apply for your Georgia Real Estate License
You can apply for your real estate Salesperson license after successfully passing your State Exam. You can apply for the license at any one of the four PSI Test Centers in Georgia. If you appeared for your exam in the morning and passed, you may get your license on the same day!
When applying for your license, you need to present some information and documents. These include the following:
A. A valid photo ID and your unsigned Certification of Accuracy Statement, complete with photograph.
B. The documents to be presented include the following:
- A driver’s license or identification card, issued by a state, commonwealth or territory of the United States
- A United States passport or passport card
- A United States military identification card
- A United States Permanent Resident Card or Alien Registration Receipt Card
You can see the complete list of valid documents in the Candidate Handbook.
C. A Sponsoring Broker Statement Form signed by your employing broker.
You don’t necessarily need to be employed by a Broker at the time of applying for your license. If you don’t want to work at a brokerage firm right away, you can also apply for an inactive license. In this case you do not need to provide the completed Sponsoring Broker Statement form. You can always activate your license later when you find a sponsoring broker.
However, if you have already found a sponsoring broker, then the Sponsoring Broker Statement Form will verify that you work for that brokerage firm.
Make sure that the brokerage firm number (not the broker’s personal license number) is mentioned in the form.
Pro Tip
You can get an active license the same day you pass the exam if you find a sponsoring broker before applying for your license!
We’ve presented information about finding a sponsoring broker in Step 5.
D. The non-refundable license fee of $170.00.
You can pay by cashier’s check or money order (payable to the Georgia Real Estate Commission) or even pay by debit or credit card (MasterCard, VISA).
- You have a period of one year to apply for a license after making the payment. This license fee covers the period from the date your license is assigned to the last day of your birth month in four years after issuing the license.
E. Criminal History Report issued by the Georgia Crime Information Center (GCIC).
You should also provide a Criminal History Report. This report should not be more than 60 days old at the time of applying for your license.
You can get this at most sheriff’s offices or police stations in Georgia. You also have to pay for this report yourself. If the report states that you have a criminal record outside your resident state, then the Commission/Board might ask you to get a National Crime Information Center (NCIC) report at your own expense from the FBI.
F. Lastly, a signed and notarised lawful presence affidavit.
Note
Until you are officially licensed, you must NOT conduct, advertise, or engage in any real estate business, or act as a real estate licensee in Georgia.
Step #5:
Find a Sponsoring Broker
After passing your exam, you will get an active salesperson license right away IF you already are employed by a sponsoring broker at the time of applying for your license.
Your sponsoring broker in Georgia will hold your real estate license.
If you do not have a sponsoring broker, you will be given an inactive license.
Most sponsoring brokers will be happy to have you work for them. They will train you and help you grow your skills.
Here’s how you can go about finding a sponsoring broker:
- Make a list of 8 to 10 brokers that you would like to work with. You can Google brokers in your area to make this list.
- Phone or email those brokers. Explain that you want to work for a sponsoring broker to activate your license.
- You can then schedule an interview with 4 to 5 sponsoring brokers.
- In the interview, you should ask them about commission splits, the kind of training they offer, and whether they provide you clients right away.
- Then you can decide who you want to be your sponsoring broker.
Pro Tip:
While selecting a sponsoring broker, it is better to prioritize training and gaining experience over the commission you can earn.
Step #6:
Complete the Post-License Education
As a licensed salesperson, you must complete the 25-hour Salespersons post-license course in your first year of licensure. The course you take must be approved by GREC.
Your license will lapse if you do not complete your post-license course in your first year of being licensed!
Reciprocity
Licensees from all states are offered licensing by reciprocity in Georgia.
Reciprocity means that if you already hold an active real estate license in one US state, then you may also apply for a license in Georgia without taking all the state required pre-licensing courses.
Just remember that your license should not have lapsed or expired!
If you fulfill these requirements, you can complete the Real Estate Reciprocal Application.
Note
Licensed Florida residents are required to pass the state portion of the Georgia exam. You can apply for this supplement exam by contacting PSI/ Applied Measurement Professionals (AMP) at 800-345-6559. You can find the details of the examination and process in the candidate handbook.
CHAPTER 3:
How To Get A Real Estate License in Georgia: The Costs
Getting your Georgia real estate license will cost money. This Chapter will help you understand how much you would be looking to spend.
There are fixed and variable costs. Fixed costs are what you will spend for the application fee, the examination fee, and the fee for background checks.
Variable costs are what you will spend for the education courses you need to take. Online courses are cheaper than in-person classroom courses. Also, the fees you pay will depend on the school you choose.
Ready to learn the details?
What are the Variable Costs?
Georgia Online Real Estate Licensing Courses
There are a number of education providers offering courses for Georgia real estate licenses. You have a choice of courses that are entirely online or classroom-based courses.
On average, the online courses cost between $125 and $500 and in-person courses between $399 and $550.
Online courses typically cost less than classroom courses.
The costs also vary across education providers depending on the packages offered by the education provider.
For example, some education providers offer Livestream Packages. These courses have instructors who conduct the sessions live on an online platform. Hence, these courses are priced higher than courses that are entirely on demand.
If you choose an online course over a physical classroom course, you will have an advantage in terms of saving time and money.
Below, you will find the details of online and in-person courses for real estate licensing in Georgia. These courses largely follow a similar state provided curriculum. These will help you study as per your plan and schedule.
NOTE:
It is important to note that prices may change after the publication of the page. You should do your own research to find the most current prices and programs that work for you.
RealEstateU® offers the full 75-hour Georgia Real Estate License Course for $125. We believe this is the most affordable real estate licensing course in Georgia.
TheCEShop offers the 75-Hour Georgia Salesperson Real Estate License Packages for $209.25.
Real Estate Express offers Real Estate Online Packages ranging from $195.30 to $363.30.
Some of the higher priced courses are livestream packages. RealEstateExpress offers Real Estate Livestream Packages starting at $329.40. The lower priced online courses are generally entirely eLearning, while Livestream courses have a live instructor conducting the session online.
Aceable Agent offers the GREC approved 75-hour real estate course Georgia Real Estate School And Classes Online for $251.
Physical Classroom Licensing Courses
Apart from online courses, you can also enroll in in-person classes.
Let us look at some available options.
America’s Real Estate Academy offers in-person classes for the Real Estate Sales 75-hour Pre-license Program for $475.
Real Estate School of Georgia offers Salesperson Prelicense and Post-license in-person classes for $450.
NOTE
Please note that the prices between online and in-person classes can differ. Online classes however provide you with the flexibility to work at your own pace and schedule.
Now that we know of the variable costs for a real estate license in Georgia, let us look at the fixed costs.
What are the Fixed Costs to Get A Georgia Real Estate License?
In addition to the cost of online and in-person courses, licensees are required to pay the following fixed costs:
| Sr. No | Details | Cost | Notes |
| 1 | License Fee | $170 | The fee will cover for four years of licensure |
| 2 | Examination Fee | $121 | To be paid each time the exam is taken |
| 3 | Background Check | $30 | The report has only 6 months validity. |
| 4 | Original Licensure Activation Fee for an individual broker, associate broker, salesperson, and community association manager | $45 | This includes $20 for Real Estate education, research, and recovery fund |
| 5 | Original Licensure Activation Fee for a firm, approved school or instructor | $75 | This includes $20 for Real Estate education, research, and recovery fund |
Now that we are aware of both the variable and fixed costs of the real estate license, we can calculate the total cost of acquiring a Georgia Real Estate Salesperson license.
| No. | Details | Cost |
| 1 | Online Course at RealEstateU | $125 |
| 2 | License Fee | $170 |
| 3 | Examination Fee | $121 |
| 4 | Background Check | $30 |
| Total | $446 |
CHAPTER 4:
How To Get A Real Estate License in Georgia: Time Needed
The last few pieces of information you’re probably wondering about are:
- How much time would I need to study for the Georgia license?
- How long would the application process take?
- When can I expect to receive the state exam results?
That’s what this Chapter will focus on.
Let’s jump right in!
The estimated overall time needed to complete the entire process of getting your Salesperson license is between 4-5 months.
Estimated Time for Completing the Education Requirements
2-6 weeks (depends on you)
If you take the Georgia 75-hour real estate pre-licensing course online, the estimated time for its completion is anywhere between 2-6 weeks.
You can finish it sooner or later depending on how much time in a day you are able to commit to studying.
For example, if you can study for 3 hours in a day then you could complete the 75-hour real estate pre-licensing course within 25 days .
Application Process, State Exam, and Background Checks
After you successfully complete the 75-hour Georgia Prelicensing Course, you can schedule your State examination. Depending on the availability of the centers, this step can take anywhere between 1-3 weeks.
Although the scheduling process might take a bit longer than expected, you can obtain your real estate license at the PSI training center itself after passing the examination.
You just need to have a completed license application along with the required documents.
During the process you would also have to submit your Background Clearance Application.
Once submitted, the investigation is usually completed in a month. Then it is passed to the Commission for its final decision.
You are then notified with a Clearance Letter if you are deemed eligible.