How to become a Real Estate Agent
Getting a real estate license is the easy part. The hard part is the stretch after it, when you've paid your fees, joined a brokerage, and nobody has called you yet. This guide covers both, and it's honest about which routes give you the best shot at a first closing.
What the license actually lets you do
A real estate agent helps people buy, sell, or rent property, and gets paid a commission when a deal closes. You can't practice on your own right away. States require a license for this work, often called a salesperson license, and you usually have to hang it with a supervising broker who's responsible for your work.
The usual steps are a pre-licensing course, a state exam, a background check, and an application to the state real estate commission. Course hours, exam content, and fingerprinting rules vary by state, so check your state's real estate commission before you sign up for anything. Some states also want a short post-licensing course soon after you pass.
The exam itself has a national section on contracts, agency, financing, and fair housing, plus a state section on local law. People who fail usually fail the state part. Take the practice tests your course offers until the state questions stop surprising you.
Four ways new agents get their start
Join a team inside a big brokerage
A team lead hands you leads, a script, and a CRM like Follow Up Boss, and takes a bigger cut of your commission in return. You'll spend your first months calling online inquiries and showing homes for the lead's buyers. It's the fastest way to get real reps with contracts, and it's where a lot of agents who last got their footing.
Go solo at a traditional brokerage
You keep more of each commission, but you bring your own business. That means working your sphere: friends, old coworkers, your kid's soccer parents, your dentist. Pick an office with a managing broker who actually answers the phone, runs weekly sales meetings, and reviews your first contracts line by line.
Start as a licensed assistant or showing agent
Some agents hire licensed assistants to handle paperwork, schedule showings, run open houses, and chase lender updates. The pay is steadier than straight commission, and you'll see plenty of transactions from the inside before you run one yourself. The catch is that you're building someone else's database, not yours.
Move over from a related job
Leasing agents, loan officer assistants, title processors, and home builders' sales staff already know the vocabulary and usually know people who'll buy soon. If that's you, your contacts are the head start. Tell every past client you've switched sides, and do it the week your license is active.
Words brokerages put in their postings
Brokerages scan applications for the same terms they use in their ads, so match their wording where it's true for you.
Turning a résumé line into a real estate pitch
Helped customers find apartments and answered questions about the building.
Leased 64 units in a 220-unit building over 11 months, ran 30+ tours a week, and kept renewal rates at 81% by following up with every tenant 90 days before move-out.
The stretch that makes people quit
Nobody warns you how long it takes for the first check to show up. You find a buyer, spend weeks showing homes, write offers that lose, and finally go under contract. Then you wait for inspection, appraisal, and the lender's underwriting before closing day. All that time you're paying MLS dues, association fees, and gas out of pocket.
That's why the agents who stick usually have savings or another income for their first stretch in the business. The job also eats evenings and weekends, because that's when buyers are free. If you hate the idea of your phone buzzing during dinner, think hard before paying for the course.
The upside is real. You're running a small business, you set your own schedule most days, and a good referral base keeps feeding you deals for as long as you stay in touch with past clients. The agents who do well treat follow-up like a job: a monthly market email, a call on the anniversary of a closing, a handwritten note after a referral.
What Real Estate Agent postings ask for
Hiring the most
- Rocket231
- Mark Spain Real Estate23
- Orchard15
- AlphabeInsightInc7
- NorthropRealty7
Remote
1% of openings are fully remote.
Posted pay
$25,000 – $665,000
Typical range in the 35 of the newest 60 postings that list pay.
Questions people ask
How long does it take to get a real estate license?
It depends on your state's course requirements and how fast you study. Some people finish the pre-licensing course in a few weeks of evenings, while others take a couple of months. Add time for exam scheduling, the background check, and the commission processing your application. Your state's real estate commission lists the exact steps.
Do I need a college degree to be a real estate agent?
No. States generally ask for a high school diploma or equivalent, a completed pre-licensing course, and a passed exam. Brokerages care much more about whether you'll pick up the phone and follow up than about where you went to school.
Can I sell real estate part time?
Yes, and plenty of new agents start that way to keep a steady paycheck. The tradeoff is speed. Buyers expect quick replies and showings on short notice, so a part-time agent needs a flexible day job or a team that can cover showings. Some brokerages don't take part-timers at all, so ask before you join.
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