Florida Real Estate License Renewal in 5 Steps
Kaylee specializes in real estate, B2B, and SaaS companies. You can find her expertise in sales and real estate content on Fit Small Business.
Allison Potts is an editor and resident technology geek for Fit Small Business. She works with our sales, marketing, and real estate team.
This article is part of a larger series on How to Become a Real Estate Agent.
Florida real estate license renewals are due every two years for agents and brokers. First-time renewals require the completion of post-licensing courses, and all renewals require 14 hours of continuing education (CE) credits. After you choose a real estate school and complete your CE hours, you can submit your renewal application and renewal fee.
These are the four steps to renew your Florida real estate license.
1. Determine Renewal Requirements
After you receive your Florida real estate agent or broker license, you are required to complete a post-licensing course within 18-24 months. Additionally, all Florida real estate license renewals must be completed every two years. This means that the requirements for your first real estate license renewal will be different from the subsequent renewals.
These are two different renewal requirements you may have for your Florida license renewal.
First-Time Florida Real Estate License Renewals
The Florida real estate license renewal deadline is every two years, and the post-licensing courses must be completed within two years of earning your license for the first time. Although the continuing education requirements for agents and brokers are always the same, the first Florida license renewal for real estate agents and brokers will have different requirements than the rest.
For example, Florida real estate agents are required to take 45 hours of post-licensing education, and brokers are required to take 60 hours. The post-licensing courses can be taken online or in person, but they must be completed within 18 – 24 months of receiving your license, and before your first license renewal.
Subsequent Florida Real Estate License Renewals
After your first Florida real estate license renewal, your only requirement for subsequent renewals is to complete 14 hours of continuing education credits. Within these 14 hours, six hours are mandatory courses, and the remaining eight hours can be elective choices. Each Florida real estate agent and broker must take three hours of “Florida Core Law,” and three hours of “Real Estate and Business Ethics.”
2. Choose a Real Estate School
There are plenty of Florida real estate schools that offer courses in a classroom setting. However, online classes are extremely popular because of the affordable cost and the convenience of completing your required credit hours on your own time.
There are numerous online real estate schools that offer continuing education and post-licensing courses for Florida real estate agents and brokers. When you are purchasing courses, consider each school’s course formats, cost, student reviews, and customer support.
Here are the top three online schools for Florida real estate license renewals:
- Real Estate Express: Real Estate Express offers two affordable post-licensing packages for Florida real estate agents, costing between $99-$129. You can find a CE course package from their partner company, McKissock Learning, for only $19.
- Mbition – Learn Real Estate: Mbition offers fully online classes and packages at the most affordable prices. Their Florida post-licensing course for agents is $55, and the cost for brokers is $149. The CE package for agents and brokers is only $18.99.
- The CE Shop: The CE Shop is a nationally recognized online real estate school. Florida real estate agents can choose from two post-licensing courses for $99 each, and the package for brokers is $135. The CE package, which can be taken by agents and brokers, is only $19.
When you are looking for an online school to complete the requirements for your real estate license renewal, make sure you also look at the course topics. You will benefit the most from choosing courses that apply to your real estate business.
3. Complete Post-Licensing Courses
You must complete all post-licensing and continuing education (CE) hours before the renewal deadline, therefore you will need to plan ahead. The post-licensing requirements for agents are different from the requirements for brokers. Also, there are more required hours for a first time renewal, than subsequent renewals. For example, you will only need to complete 14 hours of CE following your first real estate license renewal.
These are the post-licensing requirements for first-time Florida real estate agents and brokers.
Post-Licensing for Florida Real Estate Agents
After you become a licensed Florida real estate agent, you must complete 45 hours of post-licensing courses within 18-24 months. There are no mandatory post-license course topics, but you must purchase them from a school that is approved by the state. Most real estate schools offer a complete 45-hour post-license package which covers many topics.
For example, the post-license course package from Real Estate Express includes these topics:
- Managing Your Business and Your Time
- Prospecting and Listing Appointments
- Brokerage Relationships and Transaction Brokerage Duties
- The Mortgage Process
This package is meant to support new agents by diving deeper into topics that will help them build a successful real estate business. If you do not want to purchase a package, some real estate schools, like the CE shop, allow you to purchase courses individually.
Post-Licensing for Florida Real Estate Brokers
After you pass your broker’s exam and receive your real estate broker license, you are required to complete 60 hours of post-licensing courses within 18-24 months. There are no mandatory course topics, but you will find that the approved real estate schools offer topics centered around the same concepts.
For example, the post-license course package for brokers from the CE Shop covers these topics:
- Real Estate Finance (30 hours)
- Real Estate Brokerage (30 hours)
The cost for this 60-hour package is $135. If you are willing to spend a little bit more money, you can buy 30-hour courses individually for $89. This would give you the option of replacing one of the above course topics with a different course option, “Real Estate Investment.”
4. Complete Continuing Education Coursework
While post-licensing courses are only required in the first two years of having your license, continuing education (CE) courses are required for all Florida real estate license renewals. Whether it is your first renewal or your 10th, you must complete 14 hours of continuing education credit hours every renewal period, which is every two years.
Within the 14 required hours, there will be six total hours of mandatory courses. Three hours will cover “Florida core law,” and three hours will cover “real estate and business ethics.” The remaining eight hours are elective courses, which means you can choose the topics. You can do this by purchasing courses from a real estate school individually, or finding a 14-hour package that covers elective topics applicable to your business.
5. Submit Documents and Complete License Renewal
Once you have completed all your Florida real estate license renewal hours, you can submit your renewal documents. You will need your course completion documents and the renewal fee of $32 for agents and $36 for brokers. If you have not created an online services account with the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR), you will need to create one to submit your renewal.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How much does real estate license renewal cost in Florida?
The Florida real estate license renewal fee is $32 for agents and $36 for brokers. You must pay this fee through online services on the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) website.
How long can a Florida real estate license be inactive?
Florida real estate agents who are not actively participating in real estate transactions can have a license that is either voluntary inactive or involuntary inactive. You can maintain a voluntary inactive license indefinitely, but you must continue paying the renewal fee and completing continuing education (CE) credits every two years. Voluntary inactive real estate agents can activate their license at any time by completing a form.
However, if you miss the Florida real estate renewal deadline, you automatically become involuntarily inactive. Involuntary inactive Florida real estate agents have 12 months to complete CE hours and submit their license renewal fee and late fee to become active again. If it has been more than 12 months, you will have to complete 28 hours of CE to reactivate your license.
Can I renew my Florida real estate license after it expires?
If your license expires, you will be ineligible for license reactivation. An expired license cannot be reinstated. In order to receive another license, you will have to complete all pre-licensing hours again and pass the real estate exam a second time. Your Florida real estate license will only expire if you do not complete your Florida post-license requirements by your first renewal.
However, if you completed your post-licensing courses but did not complete the required CE hours, your license will simply be put on involuntary inactive status. You can submit your CE hours, renewal fee, and a late fee within 12 months to become active again. After 12 months of being an involuntary inactive agent, you will need to submit 28 hours of real estate education to reactivate your license.
Bottom Line: Florida Real Estate License Renewal
Renewing your Florida real estate license as an agent or broker is a very straightforward process. As long as you plan ahead to complete all of your post-license and CE hours, you can complete your Florida license renewal easily online.
If you are looking for a high-quality online school that offers post-licensing and continuing education requirements to renew your Florida real estate license, check out Real Estate Express. Their online courses have been highly rated by thousands of real estate professionals, and you can pay as little as $19 for your CE credits. Click here to see more details.
