How to Become a Licensed North Carolina Real Estate Agent  

Are you searching for a career with the ultimate flexibility and the potential for livable income? One where your soft skills become invaluable to helping people achieve one of the biggest milestones of their lives? Then, you’re a candidate to become a licensed North Carolina real estate agent. Enjoy a career path where you control your business, from hours invested to how much it grows. Get the breakdown of what you must do to open the door to your new career path. 

Pre-qualifications

You must meet two basic qualifications before beginning the North Carolina real estate licensing process. First, you must be at least 18 years of age. Next, you must be a US citizen, a noncitizen national, or a qualified alien under federal law. Simply put, you need a Social Security number. North Carolina has no basic educational requirements for a real estate license, like a high school diploma or equivalent.

Licensing Categories

States often use different terms to describe real estate agents. In North Carolina, your license starts with the provisional broker status. This means that you have to work under a broker-in-charge while finishing some licensing requirements. Once you meet those, you’ll become a real estate broker. North Carolina doesn’t use the term “salesperson” like in neighboring South Carolina.

Pre-license Education

Before starting work as a licensed North Carolina real estate broker, first learn about the industry and the regulations. The North Carolina Real Estate Commission (NCREC) requires all prospective brokers to take a 75-hour North Carolina broker pre-licensing course. This course must be taken with a certified education provider, but you decide whether to head to a classroom or work self-paced online. You’ll take and need to pass a comprehensive course-ending exam to earn your Certificate of Completion.

There are some options for waiving this pre-license education. 

• You have taken a pre-license education course in another state equivalent to North Carolina’s requirements.
• You earned a baccalaureate degree majoring in real estate or law from an accredited college or university.
• You currently hold a license in another state and are seeking some reciprocity.

Submit Licensing Application

Once you have completed your pre-license course, submit the broker license application to the NCREC. The fee for this application is non-refundable. 

The application is now online and is accessible through the Commission website. First, create an account to save and process your application. Next, the online portal requires two steps. Start with applying for your background check. This is in addition to your application fee and varies based on where you’ve lived in the last seven years. The background ground check report must be finalized and uploaded with the NCREC before you can complete the application.

The second step is filling out the application, which you can begin while waiting on your background check or finishing the pre-licensure course. The system will only let you submit your application and pay the fee once your pre-licensing course provider sends your electronically certified completion of the pre-license course and the NCREC has the background check report. 

The application requires you to have a Social Security number, to list all the places you have lived in the past seven years, and all your places of employment in the past three years, even if you were an independent contractor. If you have had any professional license disciplinary actions, unpaid judgments, or criminal offenses, you may be required to upload copies of additional documentation.

When it’s time to pay your application fee, you owe $100 to the Commission payable by credit card only.

About the Background Check

North Carolina requires real estate agents to undergo a criminal record report. This background check must be pulled within six months before finalizing your license application. In addition, the check must be run by the Commission’s approved agency, Criminal Record Check. 

The cost of a criminal record search can add up if you have lived in different places over the last seven years. That’s because the state requires a report from every state and county you have resided within that time frame. That includes if you lived abroad.

The good news is usually these reports are processed rather quickly. If you’ve only lived in North Carolina, the typical time frame is two to four business days after the order is received. Out-of-state reports run about five to seven days, although some states do take more time. International reports can take two to three weeks, although some countries are known to have longer processing times.

Once your report is done, the CRC will attach it to your broker license application electronically. You’ll also receive it as an e-mail.

About the Real Estate Broker Licensing Exam

As soon as the North Carolina Real Estate Commission receives your complete application, paid with your $100 fee, it will review the report and approve you for the broker exam. Exam eligibility is only good from 180 days starting when NCREC issues approval. The expiration date will be on your notice of exam eligibility. You will receive this in an e-mail, usually within two to three days after your application has been approved.

The good news is North Carolina is a broker-only licensed state, so this is the only time you’ll have to take a real estate licensing exam.

PSI Services is the state’s professional testing proctor. They handle scheduling and administering the exam, including publishing a brochure with information about the test, sample questions, and disability accommodations. The exam fee is $56.

The NC broker exam has a national and a state section. The only way to be waved from the exam is if you have a real estate license in another state. Usually, that will only waive you from taking the national portion of the exam. You still need to take the state-specific licensing exam.

Note that if you do not pass one or both comprehensive license exam sections, you must pay the $56 exam fee and the $100 license application each time you retake it. And you still must retake the exam within your 180-day eligibility window.

Receiving Your North Carolina Broker License

It can take the NCREC up to 10 days to mail you your North Carolina real estate broker license. That’s because the examination results need to be uploaded by PSI, and the Commission will verify you passed the exam within your testing window, have no character concerns, and have met all the licensing requirements.

The very first license is called an inactive provisional broker license. Inactive means you must still be approved to transact real estate in North Carolina. Activating your license requires a broker-in-charge to supervise your work. Together, submit a License Activation/Affiliation form online to put your license on active status.

The broker-in-charge will supervise all your work in real estate brokerage activities while you are a provisional broker. Picking the right real estate brokerage is key to setting up your real estate career for success. 

Provisional brokers must meet the state’s post-licensing education requirements within 18 months of initial licensure. You’ll take 90 hours of education, which is divided into three 30-hour post-licensing courses:

• Broker Relationships and Responsibilities 
• Contracts and Closing 
• North Carolina Law, Rules, and Legal Concepts

These courses must be completed with a Commission-certified education provider. You have the flexibility to take them in a self-paced online format or through an in-person course. 

Once you submit your post-licensing certificates of completion, the North Carolina Real Estate Commission will automatically switch your license from provisional to a fully established North Carolina Broker.

Maintaining Your License

Be aware that post-licensing education is not the same as continuing education. The post-licensing education is a one-time requirement that must be finished within 18 months of licensure. 

Continuing education is a recurring requirement to maintain your active license. All licenses expire on June 30 every year. The NCREC requires eight hours, including a four-hour General Update course and another elective Commission-approved four-hour course. You have until June 10 of each licensing period to take your courses.

Start work as a North Carolina Real Estate Agent

Have more questions about earning a North Carolina Real Estate Broker license? The NCREC details the ins and outs of their process with their licensing guide. Best of luck with your licensing process!