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How do I get a real estate license in Iowa?

To become an Iowa salesperson, you must finish a short course of at least thirty hours. The agency must approve it. You must be eighteen or older. Iowa also requires an FBI criminal history check. Brokers have other rules.

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The rule, fact by fact

Course hours
A commission-approved short course of at least thirty hours before the examYou take it in the twelve months before the salesperson exam.
Verified. Iowa Legislature · Iowa Code 543B.15, qualifications (opens state website) · checked Nov 13, 2026
Minimum age
A broker or salesperson must be eighteen years of age or overCitizenship doesn't make you ineligible, though the form may ask about it.
Same source and date as above
Background check
A check older than two hundred ten days gets the application returnedTime the check so it is fresh when the agency gets your form.
Same source and date as above
Criminal record
After a felony or an offense like theft or arson, Iowa won't consider you for five yearsThe wait runs from the end of your sentence.
Same source and date as above
Rule
Iowa Code section 543B.15, qualifications for a broker or salesperson licenseThis is the one statute section this page rests on.
Same source and date as above

How to get it done

  1. Step 1. Check the basics. You must be eighteen years of age or over.

  2. Step 2. Check your history. Unless Iowa Code 543B.20 applies, you can't qualify if another state or Iowa rejected your application in the last twelve months, or revoked your real estate license in the last two years.

  3. Step 3. Know the wait after a conviction. For a felony, or an offense such as forgery, embezzlement or theft, the agency doesn't consider you for a license until five years after you finish your sentence.

  4. Step 4. Finish a short course in real estate of at least thirty hours. The agency must approve it, and you take it in the twelve months before the salesperson exam. Ask the school whether its course is approved before you pay.

  5. Step 5. Expect a national criminal history check through the FBI. If it is older than two hundred ten calendar days when the agency gets your form, the agency rejects and returns your form.

  6. Step 6. Wait for the background check to finish. The agency processes your form but holds delivery of the license until the background check is complete.

Before you pay

This page rests on one Iowa Code section, 543B.15. The statute calls the agency the commission. We haven't confirmed the exam content, the license fees, a course price, an exam fee or whether a course can be taken online.

Before you pay a school, ask whether the agency approves its course. Ask how long your access lasts.

Questions

Who pays for the fingerprints?

You do. You pay the actual cost of the fingerprinting and the criminal history check, if any. The agency requests the check and sends your fingerprints for it.

What about other offenses?

For an offense outside the five-year group that involves moral turpitude, the wait is one year. When the wait ends, the agency can still deny a license on that record.

Can trouble with another license count against me?

Yes. If a professional license of any kind was revoked or suspended, or you faced other discipline in Iowa or anywhere else, the agency can deny you for it.

Are my background check results public?

No. The results of your criminal history check aren't a public record under chapter 22 of the Iowa Code.

What about a broker license?

A broker must finish at least sixty contact hours of approved real estate courses in the twenty-four months before the broker exam. These are in addition to the required salesperson prelicense course. A broker also needs twenty-four months as an active licensed salesperson just before applying, or substantially equal experience.

What to do next

Start with Iowa Code section 543B.15. Then look for the Iowa Real Estate Commission's own pages on courses, the exam and fees.

www.legis.iowa.gov

Sources we read