Texas real estate license · verified against TREC
How to Become a Real Estate Agent
Six 30-hour courses. A background check. The state exam. And then a broker who agrees to sponsor you — the one part of this the state can't do for you.
Here is the whole sequence, what each part costs, and the renewal deadline that quietly expires licenses.
Written by the brokerage side of 6th Avenue Homes in Fort Worth. Every figure on this page was read off trec.texas.gov, September 2026.
What Texas requires
- 180
- classroom hours
- 6
- named courses
- $286
- in fixed fees
- 1 yr
- to finish it all
Coursework is extra and priced by your school.
Before anything else
Whether you're eligible is the short part
18
Years old, at minimum.
A US citizen, or lawfully admitted
No Texas residency requirement to hold the license.
Honesty, trustworthiness, integrity
TREC's own standard. It’s a judgment, not a checklist of offenses.
If something in your history worries you, ask TREC first. A Fitness Determination costs $54 and gets you an answer before the coursework, not after.
The sequence
Six things have to happen, in roughly this order
Five of them are paperwork with the state or a vendor. The sixth is a person deciding about you.
Filing your application starts a one-year clock. Everything below has to be finished inside it.
-
01
TRECFile your application
Submitted online through TREC’s REALM portal. Filing starts a clock: you have one year from this date to finish everything below.
$206 $150 Application + $6 Texas.gov + $40 Texas A&M Real Estate Research Center + $10 Real Estate Recovery Trust Account
-
02
DPS + IDEMIAGet fingerprinted and pass the background check
Texas law requires your fingerprints on file with the Department of Public Safety. No license is issued until the background check clears.
$37 Paid to IDEMIA, if you have not previously been fingerprinted for TREC
Fingerprints already on file with another agency are not accepted. Everyone gets printed again for TREC.
-
03
Your schoolFinish 180 hours of qualifying education
Six 30-hour courses, named in statute. You upload your completion certificates with your application. College credit for the same coursework can be submitted as a transcript instead.
-
04
Pearson VUEPass the state exam
TREC sends scheduling instructions and the candidate handbook once your application and education are in.
$43 Paid to the exam provider
Fail three times and TREC requires additional education before you can sit it again.
-
05
TRECMeet TREC’s honesty and fitness standard
You must be 18 or older, a US citizen or lawfully admitted alien, and meet TREC’s standard for honesty, trustworthiness and integrity. If anything in your history gives you pause, you can request a Fitness Determination first — it costs $54 and gets you an answer before you spend on coursework.
-
06
A Texas brokerFind a broker to sponsor you
Clear everything above and Texas issues you an inactive license. It stays inactive until an active Texas broker sponsors you — you request it through the portal, they accept, and your license goes active.
The coursework
180 classroom hours of qualifying education
classroom hours — 6 courses, 30 hours each
These are not electives you choose between. Texas names all six in statute, and you submit a completion certificate for every one.
30 hrs
Principles of Real Estate I
The vocabulary, and how property ownership actually works in Texas.
30 hrs
Principles of Real Estate II
The second half — appraisal, finance basics, and the job itself.
30 hrs
Law of Agency
Who you represent, what you owe them, and where that duty ends.
30 hrs
Law of Contracts
What makes an agreement binding, and what quietly does not.
30 hrs
Promulgated Contract Forms
The state forms you will fill in for the rest of your career.
30 hrs
Real Estate Finance
How buyers actually pay for houses, and what can stop them.
The money
What it costs, and the part nobody can quote you
Filed with TREC
- Application
- $150
- Texas.gov
- $6
- Texas A&M Real Estate Research Center
- $40
- Real Estate Recovery Trust Account
- $10
- Total
- $206
The exam · $43
Paid to Pearson VUE, not to TREC.
Fingerprints · $37
Paid to IDEMIA, if you've never been printed for TREC.
Your 180 hours of coursework. This is the one number we won't make up — it varies by provider, and anyone quoting you a single figure is quoting their own school.
So the honest total is $286 in fixed state and vendor fees, plus whatever you pay to learn.
Step six, on its own
Texas will license you. Texas will not let you work.
Pass everything and you're issued an inactive license. It stays that way until an active Texas broker sponsors you. That is the only step on this page where somebody has to choose you back.
Which means the brokerage question isn't something to sort out after you pass — it's worth understanding while you're still deciding whether to start.
At 6th Ave Homes
What happens after step six, if you sponsor with us
6th Ave Homes is a Fort Worth brokerage that takes on brand-new agents when the fit is right: TREC's three-transaction mentorship, a new-agent training program, and a broker who is not competing with you for leads.
For brand-new agents only
TREC's three-transaction mentorship
Your first three transactions, walked through with an agent who has already done them. This is the answer to the question the six steps above don't cover: what happens the first time a real client is counting on you and the contract has a deadline on it. It runs alongside a real new-agent training program.
A broker who isn't your competition
The owners here aren't agents, so the broker cannot take a lead from you. Worth asking any brokerage you talk to.
Also on day one: E&O insurance covered, business cards, a Canva Pro account with 200+ templates, 6th Ave brand assets, and access to the in-house designers, drafters and builders when a client needs them. Everything that comes with the desk →
The company behind the desk
- Top Agents & Producers
- Fort Worth Magazine, Real Producers & 360 West, five years running
- Best Home Builder & Remodeler
- Fort Worth Magazine, four years running
- Small Business of the Year
- Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce
Training, with a length attached
The state teaches you the law. These are about the job.
12 weeks
Small Steps, Big Results
Lead generation, follow-up, and building a pipeline that isn't luck.
5 weeks
Your Guide to Texas Real Estate
Transaction management — representation, deadlines, inspections, negotiation.
6 sessions
Irreplaceable Agent
Differentiation and a personal operating system, built around AI.
Training runs every single week — optional, in person or virtual — and sitting in on one doesn't require a license — or any intention of joining.
The part nobody warns you about
Getting the license isn’t the same as keeping it
Two years in, at your first renewal
Sales Apprentice Education
Sales Apprentice Education, on top of your original 180: the 30-hour Real Estate Brokerage course, 60 more hours of qualifying education (two 30-hour courses from TREC’s list), and 8 hours of Legal Update I and II. That takes you to 270 qualifying hours, with the Legal Update hours on top.
These hours cannot be deferred. Miss them and your license expires — there is no extension for SAE.
Every two years after that
18
hours of continuing education
- Legal Update I
- 4
- Legal Update II
- 4
- contract-related coursework
- 3
- elective coursework
- 7
Straight answers
The questions that come next
How many hours of classes do you need to get a Texas real estate license?
Texas requires 180 classroom hours of qualifying real estate education, made up of six 30-hour courses: Principles of Real Estate I, Principles of Real Estate II, Law of Agency, Law of Contracts, Promulgated Contract Forms, Real Estate Finance. If you took equivalent coursework at an accredited college or university for academic credit, you can submit a transcript for evaluation instead.
How much does it cost to get a real estate license in Texas?
The fixed fees come to $286: $206 filed with TREC ($150 Application, $6 Texas.gov, $40 Texas A&M Real Estate Research Center, $10 Real Estate Recovery Trust Account), $43 for the exam, and $37 for fingerprinting. Your 180 hours of coursework are on top of that and the price varies by school.
Do I need a broker before I can take the real estate exam?
No. You take the exam first. Once you pass and clear your background check, Texas issues you an inactive license, and it stays inactive until an active Texas broker sponsors you. You can start talking to brokerages long before that point, and it’s worth doing. Ask whether you can sit in on a training session — an hour in the room tells you more than an interview will.
How long do you have to finish the Texas real estate license requirements?
One year from the date you file your application. Everything has to be done inside that window: education, fingerprints, background check, and the exam.
What happens if you fail the Texas real estate exam?
You can retake it. If you fail three times, TREC requires additional education before you’re allowed to sit it again.
What do you have to do to keep a Texas real estate license?
At your first renewal, two years in, you need Sales Apprentice Education, on top of your original 180: the 30-hour Real Estate Brokerage course, 60 more hours of qualifying education (two 30-hour courses from TREC’s list), and 8 hours of Legal Update I and II. That takes you to 270 qualifying hours, with the Legal Update hours on top. These hours cannot be deferred. Miss them and your license expires — there is no extension for SAE. After that, every two-year period needs 18 hours of continuing education: 4 hours of Legal Update I, 4 hours of Legal Update II, 3 hours of contract-related coursework, 7 hours of elective coursework.
Can you get a Texas real estate license with something on your record?
Possibly. TREC applies a standard of honesty, trustworthiness and integrity rather than a simple list of disqualifying offenses. If you’re unsure, you can request a Fitness Determination from TREC before you apply. It costs $54, and it gets you an answer before you spend on coursework rather than after.
Requirements and fees verified against TREC's sales agent requirements and its published fee schedule (effective December 15, 2025), and its renewal requirements — checked September 2026. TREC sets these, not us — check them before you rely on them.
Wherever you are in the six steps
Come see the room before you need it
You don't need a license to sit in on a training session, and you don't have to be looking. Most of what decides whether a brokerage is right for you is visible in an hour in the room, and invisible in an interview.