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How do I get a real estate license in Florida?

A Florida sales associate must be at least 18. You also need a high school diploma or its equivalent. The law lets the commission require a course of up to 63 classroom hours. A 4-year or higher real estate degree from an accredited college excuses you from it. Then you apply and pass the state exam.

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The rule, fact by fact

Minimum age
At least 18, with a high school diploma or its equivalentThe law also asks for good character.
Verified. Florida Statutes (2025) · Section 475.17, Qualifications for practice (opens state website) · checked Nov 13, 2026
Course hours
Sales associate: up to 63 classroom hours of 50 minutes each, exam included, if requiredThe law sets a ceiling, not a course length. It says the course may be required.
Same source and date as above
Who needs it
A 4-year or higher real estate degree from an accredited school excuses the initial courseThat degree also excuses you from the classes after your first license.
Same source and date as above
Valid for
2 years to pass: from finishing the course, and from the date the application is receivedTwo deadlines to pass the exam run at once. Both are 2 years.
Verified. Florida Statutes (2025) · Section 475.181, Licensure (opens state website) · checked Nov 13, 2026
Broker license
Broker: at least 24 months in the preceding 5 years with a qualifying licenseThat means a sales associate license in a broker's office or at a governmental agency, or a broker license elsewhere. The steps on this page are for a sales associate.
Same source and date as above

How to get it done

  1. Step 1. See if you can skip the course. The law says the initial course rules do not apply to someone with a 4-year degree, or higher, in real estate from an accredited institution of higher education.

  2. Step 2. Licensed in another state? The law lets the commission make written agreements with licensing agencies in other states. Ask the commission whether your state has one.

  3. Step 3. Don't do a broker's or sales associate's work before you hold the license. The law can bar you from getting a license if you did acts it describes as that work in the year before you file, or while your paperwork is pending. Pay does not matter.

  4. Step 4. Pick a course. If it is required, the law caps it for a sales associate at 63 classroom hours of 50 minutes each, exam included.

  5. Step 5. Apply for the exam. Send the Department of Business and Professional Regulation your paperwork and the fee. Add digital fingerprint data. The fingerprints are processed to see if you have a criminal history record. Ask the Department for the current fee before you send it.

  6. Step 6. Take the exam. Bring proof of ID and the letter that lets you in to the exam. Bring the certificate the law names, too. Each school must give one to each person who satisfactorily completes the course.

  7. Step 7. Get your license. The department licenses an applicant who is certified as qualified to practice as a broker or sales associate.

Before you pay

Check who teaches the course. The law lists the places a required course may be taken: an accredited college, university, or community college, a career center, or a registered real estate school. Ask any seller which it is. We haven't confirmed a course price, the exam fee, which schools offer distance learning, which states have a written agreement with Florida or how else a sales associate and a broker differ.

A distance learning course ends with a timed exam. The law bars correspondence methods for these courses, except in cases of hardship.

If you miss more than 8 classroom hours, the school can't issue a notice that you completed it. A finished course also expires. If you don't pass the exam within 2 years after finishing it, the course no longer counts toward a license.

If you hold a 4-year degree, or higher, in real estate, see the first step. It can mean you need no course, so you would not pay for one.

Questions

How do a sales associate and a broker differ in Florida?

A sales associate does any act the law lists for a broker, but under the direction, control, or management of another person.

Can I take the Florida real estate course online?

The law speaks of distance learning, not online courses. It lets a school teach in a classroom or remotely, or both.

I'm licensed in another state. Can I get a Florida license?

Maybe. The law lets the commission make written agreements with other states' licensing agencies. If another state does not offer Florida licensees substantially comparable nonresident licensure, the commission must hold that state's licensees who apply for it to requirements substantially comparable to what that state asks of Florida licensees, capped at §§ 475.17(2) and (6) and 475.175. Ask the commission whether your state has an agreement or offers Florida licensees less, and whether this applies if you move to Florida.

Can I work in real estate before I'm licensed?

The law can bar you from a license. Paperwork may be disapproved if, in the year before you file, you acted or tried to act as a broker or sales associate in Florida in breach of the chapter, or held out as entitled to act. Unless exempt, anyone who did acts or services described in § 475.01(3) in that year, or while the paperwork is pending until a valid current license is issued, may also be barred, paid or not.

What happens after I'm licensed?

The commission may require classes before your first renewal. Ask the commission whether it does. If a sales associate doesn't finish them by then, the license is null and void, with two exceptions. The commission may allow 6 more months after the first renewal if individual physical hardship, as defined by rule, keeps you from finishing. Anyone with a 4-year degree, or higher, in real estate from an accredited institution of higher education is exempt from them.

What to do next

Read the rules for practice on the Florida Senate site. Then look for the Department of Business and Professional Regulation's licensing pages before you apply.

www.flsenate.gov

Sources we read