Determine Your Career Path
Here are the 7 steps to success you'll follow to obtain your provisional Broker license and
become a Broker.
1. Complete our 80-Hour Broker Pre-Licensing Course
HPW Real Estate School’s 80-Hour Broker Pre-Licensing course is approved by the
North Carolina Real Estate Commission (NCREC) and satisfies "Option 1" of the License Qualification
Options stated by the NCREC. To pass the class, you must attend at least 90% of the class,
which means that you cannot miss more than 8 hours of the class. You also must pass the class
test that is administered on the last day of class by scoring at least a 80%.
2. Begin the NCREC's Application for Real Estate License
When you begin your class, we provide you with the pamphlet, Real Estate Licensing in North Carolina.
This includes information on the licensing process and website where you will complete the actual application
to send in to the NCREC. Begin filling out this information and gathering the specified "Application Enclosures" required.
3. Obtain your "Criminal Record Report"
One of the required "Application Enclosures" is a background check. The NCREC requires you to
obtain a criminal record report prepared by CriminalRecordCheck.com (CRC). This report must include
results from each place that you’ve lived in over the past seven years. A report involving only a
search of NC records will typically be provided in 2-4 business days, and reports involving a search
of out of state records will typically be provided in 5-7 business days. Searches of records in a
few different states will require more time. It is recommended that you begin this process to allow
enough time to obtain your report.
4. Send in your completed application to the NC Real Estate Commission
When you successfully pass the class test, it is time to send your online application to the NCREC.
Be sure to include your: Application, Course Completion Certificate, $100 Application Fee, Criminal Record Report,
and any other applicable information requested in the pamphlet. Please carefully follow
the directions listed on the application to ensure prompt processing.
5. Receive Notice of Eligibility and Schedule Exam
Upon approving your application, the NCREC will notify you via email that you are eligible to take the exam.
The state exam consists of 120 questions which are divided into a national section (80 questions) and a state section (40 questions).
6. Choose Your Real Estate Firm or Broker-in-Charge
If you want to actively work in real estate, you will need to associate with a real estate firm or
Broker-In-Charge and pay your annual renewal fee to the NCREC every year before June 30th.
Consider joining the power of Coldwell Banker Howard Perry and Walston.
Click here
to learn more about the most successful real estate company in the Central North Carolina area.
If you do not want to actively work in real estate, you must pay your annual renewal fee to the NCREC
every year before June 30th. Consider joining HPW Referrals Plus where you can refer and earn without
actively working in real estate.
7. Complete your Post-Licensing and Continuing Education Requirements
Once licensed, a Provisional Broker must complete a Post-Licensing Education Program in order to terminate
the “Provisional” status of their license and to avoid license inactivation. You have 18 months from that
date to complete all 3 courses. There is no requirement or limitation on how many you can take at a time.
To pass the class you must attend at least 90% of the class, which means that you cannot miss more than
3 hours of the class. You also must pass the class exam by scoring at least a 75%. After completing each
of the three 30-hour Broker Post-Licensing courses, your "provisional" status is removed, and you are a
"Broker". In addition you are required to take 8 hours of Continuing Education before the second renewal
of your real estate license. These CE credits are required every year and are made up of 4 hours of a Mandatory
Update course and 4 hours of an approved elective. There is a slight exception for those who receive their license
in June. Please check with us for details if this applies to you.
HPW Real Estate School offers a reliable, convenient schedule of Broker Pre-Licensing, Broker Post-Licensing and
Continuing Education classes in a variety of formats: classroom, vitual and self-paced.