Completing the Required Real Estate Courses - 7.5+ Weeks
The DRE requires that all applicants take three college-level real estate courses. You can speed things up a little bit by taking the courses at a DRE-approved private real estate school like AceableAgent. Online courses, like AceableAgent, are the quickest path, but the DRE has still mandated timeframes for completion. Courses must be 45 hours each working at your own pace. But (and this is a big but) the DRE mandates that a single course can’t be completed in less than 2.5 weeks.
Courses taken at an institution of higher learning are either three semester-units or four quarter-units. This means each course is either three hours a week for a semester unit (15-16 weeks) or about four hours a week for a quarter unit (10-11 weeks).
The class time invested is basically the same, but the timeframe at an institution of higher learning is typically spaced out over a longer period of time. If you plan to focus most of your time on completing the education 7.5 weeks is the fastest timeframe for completing correspondence courses.
Wait Time for Application Processing - 6+ Weeks
As soon as you complete the required real estate courses, it’s a good idea to get your Exam Application submitted. You’ll need to gather together certifications or transcripts that prove you fulfilled the education requirement. Applicants must also submit fingerprints from a live scan service provider when applying for a license.
Give yourself a few days to gather together all the documents you need to provide along with the application. If anything is missed your application approval will be delayed. It typically takes the DRE at least 6-8 weeks to process applications. If there are any discrepancies that will slow things down even more.
If you want to speed things up, submit the Combination Exam and License Application. You’ll have to pay both the exam and license fee at once, but you won’t have to submit a separate license application after taking the exam. You’ll also need to have a sponsoring broker lined up, which you can do while completing the courses.
