How to Get a Virginia Real Estate License
While the housing market across the country is on the verge of its turnaround, there are extraordinary opportunities for licensed real estate professionals. The real estate market in Virginia is showing all of the same indicators of recovery as the rest of the country. Take out your binoculars and look out just a little bit into the future and you’ll see that this recovery is creating some incredible opportunities for successful careers in Virginia. The need for qualified individuals to handle the real estate transactions that are being generated by the increased availability of tax incentive programs, rock-bottom interest rates and low housing prices is greater than it has been in decades. Becoming licensed by the Virginia Real Estate Board is not as complicated as you might think. In fact you could have your real estate license in hand and be enjoying a well-paying career in real estate in less than a month.
Richmond, Virginia
Qualifications are simple for the real estate examination in Virginia. There are 60 hours of mandatory courses in real estate practices to complete the pre-licensing educational requirements. Upon completion of the class work you can submit the application to take the real estate exam. Once the application is received and processed you will be given a test date at an approved third party testing facility. You must be at least age 18 or older to take the test. In order to become a licensed real estate agent in Virginia you will need a passing grade on both the state and national examinations.
When you have received your real estate license there are 30 hours of requisite post-licensing education to keep your license active in the renewal period. The state of Virginia mandates that licensed real estate agents choose a specific area of real estate to concentrate in. There are three available tracks to choose from. Newly licensed agents can choose the residential real estate, the commercial real estate or the property management track to focus on in post-licensing education. In the event that you wish to change your mind, the path you choose can be changed mid-track by notifying the Education Administrator in writing with either a notarized or an original track change request form.
Fifteen of the necessary 30 hours of post-licensing education must be in courses that are mandatory for the track that you have chosen and the additional 15 hours can be in elective courses approved by the Virginia Real Estate Board. Post-licensing education is separate from the continuing education that you will need to complete between the two year renewal cycles. After the initial post-licensing education needed for the first license renewal, eight hours of continuing education per year will be required for a total of 16 hours to be submitted before the expiration of your license every other year. The 16 hours of continuing education will not be necessary at the first renewal, just the successful completion of the post-licensing classes.
Now that the housing market has begun to make its comeback, the need for qualified professionals to handle the transactions will be greater than it has been in many years. In a matter of a few short weeks, you can be licensed and ready to take advantage of the lucrative opportunities that are about to become available in the Virginia real estate market. Start out the New Year with a brand new career. You can give yourself and your family the gift of financial security in an unsettled economy.
We’ve made taking and passing the courses required by the state of Virginia fast, easy and affordable. To learn more about our fast-track program visit our Virginia real estate license page.
David Goldstein
Tags: career, how to, qualifications, real estate license, requirements, virginia
