New York Real Estate License

In order to qualify for licensure as a real estate salesperson in the State of New York you will need to meet a number of both pre and post-license requirements as well as pass a state issued real estate examination.

This page has been designed to serve as a guide for obtaining your real estate license in New York as well as offers help to those of you renewing your currently active license.  Please read the information below thoroughly, to prevent any problems throughout the course of the licensing process.

New York Real Estate Pre-License Requirements

The New York Division of Licensing Services has set forth some requirements and criteria that must be met all applicants before being granted a New York real estate license.  Those requirements are listed below:

• Applicants must be at least eighteen years of age or older and,
• Must have satisfactorily completed a forty-five hour real estate salesperson qualifying education course in real estate approved by the Secretary of State and,
• Must have passed a real estate exam administered by the state of New York.

You can use our website to locate a real estate school and complete your pre-license education.

New York Real Estate Exam Information

Once you have met all of the above real estate pre-license requirements, you will need to successfully complete your real estate exam before being issued a license by the state.  All exam applicants are required to schedule their real estate salesperson license exam through the state Occupational Licensing Management System or eAccessNY.  The online terminal will allow you to apply for the exam, view your scheduled exam details or exam results and also apply for your real estate license online.

The real estate exam is comprised of multiple choice questions that have been based on the 75-hour pre-licensing curriculum.  All applicants will be given one and a half hours to complete the exam.

Applicants will need to correctly answer a minimum of seventy percent of the questions to pass the exam.  Your exam results will be reported simply as either passed or failed, they do not currently provide a numerical score.

New York Real Estate Continuing Education Requirements

Every New York real estate licensee will be required to complete a minimum of twenty-two and a half clock hours of approved continuing education courses over the course of their two year license period. Effective as of July 1, 2008, the 22.5 hours must also include a minimum of three hours of instruction in fair housing and/or discrimination in the sale or rental of real property or an interest in real property.

Real estate brokers with fifteen consecutive years of real estate licensure may be exempt from these continuing education requirements if they are active in real estate at the time of renewal.  Those of you that have successfully completed the New York State Bar exam are also eligible to waive this requirement.

New York Real Estate License Reciprocity Agreements

The State of New York has reciprocal real estate license arrangements with a number of other states.  The following information is provided for those of you that currently reside in a different state but are interested in becoming a real estate agent in New York.

Currently, New York shares reciprocity with the following states:

• Arkansas
• Colorado
• Connecticut
• Georgia
• Massachusetts
• Mississippi
• Nebraska
• Oklahoma
• Pennsylvania
• West Virginia

Each of the above states has license reciprocity restrictions and requirements that you must be aware of.  You can view those restrictions on this page.