How to Become a Real Estate Broker in Georgia

To become a real estate broker in Georgia, you must be at least 21, have held an active salesperson license for three of the last five years, finish a 60-hour broker pre-license course, pass the state broker exam, and pay $291 in combined exam and license fees to the Georgia Real Estate Commission. The Commission runs the entire process, from checking your experience to printing your license at the testing center the same day you pass.

Baseline Qualifications

Georgia law sets a short list of gates you have to clear before anything else matters. You must be at least 21 years old and hold a high school diploma or its equivalent.¹

The experience requirement is the real hurdle. You need an active Georgia salesperson license for at least three of the five years immediately before you file your broker application.¹ If you already hold a broker license from another state, the alternate path asks for five years of active broker experience. The Commission confirms your history from its own records or from a certified license history issued by the other state.

Choose Your Role: Associate Broker or Qualifying Broker

Georgia recognizes two broker roles, and the one you pick shapes your application and your liability.

An associate broker holds the broker credential but works under the supervision of a qualifying broker at a firm. Many newly licensed brokers start here before taking on firm management.

A qualifying broker runs a firm and is responsible for supervising all brokerage activity in it. The statute assigns broad duties to this role, including reviewing all advertising, auditing trust account practices, examining listing contracts and sales agreements within 30 days, and giving every affiliated licensee written policies. A qualifying broker can be held personally liable for violations by any affiliated licensee unless the broker shows they had reasonable supervisory procedures in place, did not participate in the violation, and did not approve it afterward.²

Associate broker applicants need a sponsoring broker to endorse the application. Qualifying brokers who are opening their own firm do not.

Criminal History and Prior Discipline

You will need a Georgia Crime Information Center (GCIC) criminal history report dated no more than 60 days before you submit your application.³ If you live outside Georgia, a comparable report from your home state works instead.

A felony conviction or a conviction for a crime of moral turpitude disqualifies you unless you have fully completed every term of your sentence. With more than one such conviction, at least five years must have passed since you finished the terms of the most recent one. A guilty plea, a nolo contendere plea, or first offender treatment all count as a conviction for licensing.⁴

The application also asks you to disclose any prior discipline from the Georgia Real Estate Commission, the Georgia Real Estate Appraisers Board, or any other state or federal licensing agency. Reportable actions include reprimands, suspensions, revocations, fines, and any license restriction.³

Lawful Presence Verification

Under Georgia’s Illegal Immigration Reform and Enforcement Act, every license applicant must submit a secure and verifiable identity document together with a signed, notarized affidavit of lawful presence in the United States.⁵ Both the ID and the notary’s commission have to be unexpired on the day you submit. You will need to repeat this step at every license renewal.

The 60-Hour Broker Pre-License Course

Every candidate completes a 60-hour Broker Pre-License Course approved by the Georgia Real Estate Commission.⁶ The curriculum goes beyond salesperson material into office management, trust account oversight, and advanced real estate law. You have to pass a final exam given by the school to get credit.

When you finish, the school issues a completion code that links your course record to your file at the Commission. Keep it. You will need it for the application and to register for the state exam.

What to Gather Before You Apply

Pulling everything together before you start the application cuts down on delays:

Your 60-hour course completion code from the school.
A GCIC (or out-of-state equivalent) criminal history report dated within 60 days.
Your signed, notarized lawful presence affidavit and a current identity document.
If you will be an associate broker, your sponsoring firm’s legal name and license number, plus the sponsoring broker’s endorsement (electronic or written).
Certified license histories from any other states where you have held real estate credentials, showing dates, status, and any disciplinary actions.

Scheduling and Taking the Broker Exam

The state broker exam is administered by PSI, the Commission’s testing vendor, at locations across Georgia. You can register online or by phone. The exam fee is $121.⁷

The computer-based test covers both national real estate principles and Georgia-specific law and practice. Results come up immediately, so you know whether you passed before you leave the center. A passing score stays valid for 12 months. If you do not file your license application within that window, the result expires and you have to retake the exam.

License Fee and Same-Day Issuance

Georgia lets you walk out of the testing center already licensed. After you pass, you pay the $170 license fee at the PSI center and staff print your wall certificate and pocket card on the spot. The license runs for four years from the date of issuance. The license fee must be paid by cashier’s check or money order made payable to the Georgia Real Estate Commission.⁷

Full cost picture:

Exam fee: $121, paid to PSI at scheduling.
License fee: $170, paid at the testing center after passing.
60-hour pre-license course: varies by school, typically $300 to $500.
GCIC background report: a nominal fee set by the reporting agency.

If You Already Hold a License in Another State

Georgia offers a reciprocal path that skips the 60-hour course and the Georgia exam for most out-of-state licensees. Your current license has to be in good standing (not lapsed or expired) and must have been obtained by exam.⁸ You submit a reciprocal application with a certified license history from your current state, lawful presence verification, a criminal background report, and the $170 license fee.

One boundary to note: Florida residents still have to pass a supplemental exam on Georgia law and practice before the license is issued.⁸ Applicants from all other states can skip the Georgia exam if the rest of the requirements are met.

Keeping the License: Continuing Education and Renewal

Your broker license runs for four years. To renew, you have to complete 36 hours of continuing education during each renewal period, broken down as 18 hours of broker-specific education, 3 hours of license law, and 15 hours on any approved CE topic.⁹

Online renewal opens up to 120 days before your renewal date. The fee is $125 by standard methods or $100 online.¹⁰ Miss the deadline and the license lapses, which can mean late fees and additional reinstatement steps. You will also resubmit your lawful presence verification, with a current ID and a fresh notarized affidavit, at every renewal.⁵

1
Justia. Georgia Code 43-40-8 – Qualifications of Licensees
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Justia. Georgia Code 43-40-18 – Management of Firm and Licensed Affiliates
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Georgia Real Estate Commission. Background Clearance Requirements for Real Estate License Applicants
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Justia. Georgia Code 43-40-15 – Grant of Licenses
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Georgia Real Estate Commission. GREAB Verification – Lawful Presence Requirements
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Georgia College & State University. Georgia 60-Hour Broker Pre-Licensing Course
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Georgia Real Estate Commission. GREC Reciprocal Application
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Georgia Real Estate Commission. Reciprocity for Real Estate Licensees
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Georgia Real Estate Commission. 2025 Broker Continuing Education Rule Changes
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Georgia Real Estate Commission. Renewing Your Individual Real Estate License