New York Real Estate License Requirements

Learn about the New York education requirements for real estate licensing and renewal.

Licensing Board/Commission: Department of State Division of Licensing Services – Real Estate Professionals

New York Real Estate Requirements:

  • Seat Time:  The New York Department of Real Estate requires that all students spend a minimum amount of seat time engaged in the course content.  The online course delivery system manages this requirement for you.
  • Final Exams:
    • must be proctored for qualifying education
    • must be physically taken within the state of New York at a location approved by the school
    • may only be taken twice

Many students take advantage of exam prep tailored for their state, to give them a higher chance of passing.

New York State Reciprocity:

Real estate commissions and boards across the country are adopting policies for a real estate agent in one state to more easily become licensed in another state.

Several states share real estate reciprocity with New York State:

  • Arkansas (for current brokers licensed for at least two years whose business and residence are in Arkansas)
  • Colorado (for brokers and associate brokers with current licenses whose businesses and residences are in Colorado)
  • Connecticut (for brokers and salespersons with current licenses whose businesses and residences are in Connecticut)
  • Georgia (for brokers and salespersons with current licenses whose businesses and residences  are in Georgia)
  • Massachusetts (for current brokers licensed for at least two years whose businesses and residences are in Massachusetts)
  • Mississippi (for current brokers licensed for at least two years whose businesses and residences are in Mississippi)
  • Oklahoma (for current brokers and salespersons licensed for at least two years whose businesses and residences are in Oklahoma)
  • Pennsylvania (for current brokers and salespersons licensed for at least two years whose businesses and residences are in Pennsylvania)
  • West Virginia (for current brokers and salespersons whose businesses and residences are in West Virginia)

All of these applicants need current certification (dated within six months, from the Real Estate Commission where the license was obtained), a completed application, an irrevocable consent form and the appropriate fee.

Applicants seeking a reciprocal real estate salesperson’s license must be sponsored by their home-state broker who must hold a current New York State broker’s license.

Applicants seeking a corporate real estate broker’s license must file said corporation in the New York State Corporations Bureau as a foreign corporation.

For more information on reciprocity, view our complete guide.

Continuing Education (CE) and License Renewal Requirements:

  • Real estate professionals in New York need to renew their licenses every two years from the date their license was issued
  • Licensees must take 22.5 hours of real estate CE, which includes 3 hours on fair housing and 1 hour on agency
  • Effective 9/21/2022: 22.5 hours must include at least two hours on the subject of cultural competency, at least two hours on the subject of implicit bias, at least two and a half hours on the subject of ethical business practices, at least one hour of recent legal matters, at least three hours of instruction pertaining to fair housing and/or discrimination in the sale or rental of real property or an interest in real property and at least one hour of instruction pertaining to the law of agency except in the case of the initial two-year licensing term for real estate salespersons, two hours of agency related instruction must be completed within the two-year period immediately preceding a renewal.