How to Get a Real Estate License in Georgia (2026): Cost & Steps

By StartBusinessByState · Fees and requirements checked October 10, 2026

GEORGIA REAL ESTATE LICENSE

To get a Georgia real estate license you take a 75-hour course, get a Georgia background report, pass a 152-question exam and activate your license under a broker. The required fees come to about $385: $175 for the exam, $170 for the license and about $40 for the background report. The course is extra and priced by the school. Here are the steps in order, with every fee.

Already passed? Go to activation and getting ready for clients.

What a Georgia real estate license costs

State exam, per attempt: $175
License fee: $170
Background report: $39.99
Required fees, total: $384.99

Fee	Amount	Who you pay and when
75-hour prelicense course	Set by the school	The state-approved school. Compare two or three on total price, retake policy and how long you get access.
Background report (fingerprints)	$39.99 for a Georgia check	Georgia’s fingerprint service, IdentoGO, when you book your appointment. The fee schedule lists $54.99 for the Georgia-plus-FBI version, which you only need if the state asks for it. Get it no more than 60 days before you pick up your license.
State exam	$175 per attempt	PSI, when you book. The fee is nonrefundable, and a retake costs another $175. You lose the fee if you don’t test within a year.
License fee	$170	Georgia Real Estate Commission, paid at the PSI test center when you pick up your license. It covers your first renewal period, about four years.
25-hour postlicense course	Set by the school	Due in your first year of licensure. Budget for it now.
Renewal, every four years	$100 online or $125 by mail	Georgia Real Estate Commission. You also need 36 hours of continuing education.
Brokerage, Realtor association and MLS	Set by each office and association	Get every joining and monthly fee in writing before you sign.

Military spouses and transitioning service members can ask for faster processing of a license application; see the Georgia Real Estate Commission website.

Build your Georgia startup budget

Sources: PSI Georgia candidate bulletin (July 1, 2026) ($175 exam, $170 license fee, 24-hour wait, ID and sponsoring-broker form); Georgia Real Estate Commission license requirements (75-hour course, 18 and older, high school diploma, 25-hour postlicense course); Georgia Real Estate Commission renewal page ($125 by mail, $25 less online, 36 hours of continuing education); Georgia rule 520-1-.04 (fee breakdown, 60-day background report rule, three-month application deadline); Georgia Bureau of Investigation background-check fee schedule ($39.99 Georgia check with fingerprinting; IdentoGO lists $54.99 for the Georgia-plus-FBI check from Oct. 1, 2026). Fees and rules checked October 10, 2026. Fingerprint appointment prices can change, so confirm the total when you book.

Who can get a Georgia salesperson license

Most people call it a real estate agent license. In Georgia it is a salesperson license, and it lets you work under a broker. Opening your own brokerage is a separate broker license that needs three years of active experience first.

The Georgia Real Estate Commission says you need to be at least 18 and have a high school diploma or an equivalency certificate. There is no experience requirement. If an application shows a criminal conviction or discipline from another licensing agency, the Commission reviews it before issuing a license. If you have a record, gather the court paperwork before you pay for a course.

Already licensed in another state? Georgia offers licensing without a new exam to people licensed by exam in any state, if the license is in good standing. Florida residents have to pass the Georgia part of the exam. Use the Commission’s reciprocal application instead of the steps below.

The steps, in order

Take the 75-hour prelicense course. Pick a school from the Georgia Real Estate Commission’s approved list, or use qualifying college real estate credit. Approved schools report your completion to the state, so ask yours how long that takes before you book the exam.
Get your Georgia background report. Register with IdentoGO, Georgia’s fingerprint service, and get fingerprinted. The report has to be no more than 60 days old when you pick up your license, so book it after you schedule your exam. If you have lived outside Georgia, the state also wants a matching report from your home state.
Book the exam with PSI and pay $175. Book online at PSI’s Georgia page or call (888) 818-5834. Cancel or reschedule at least two days ahead or you lose the fee.
Pass the exam. It has 152 scored questions, 100 national and 52 on Georgia law, plus a few unscored practice questions. Bring one government photo ID that matches your registration name, and arrive 30 minutes early. PSI supplies an on-screen calculator. You see your score when you finish, and a failed attempt can be retaken for another $175.
Pick up your license at a PSI test center. Wait 24 hours after you pass, then go Monday through Friday between 9:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. or 2:00 p.m. and 4:45 p.m. Bring your ID, the Certification of Accuracy form that comes with your PSI score report, the background report and the $170 license fee. You pay by credit or debit card, cashier’s check or money order, not cash.
Activate under a broker. To get an active license at the test center, bring a Sponsoring Broker Statement signed by your broker with the firm’s license number on it. Or take an inactive license and activate it later. Don’t start any real estate work until your broker has your wall certificate and pocket card from the Commission.

Track your deadlines

Pass the exam, then get your license within three months. The Commission’s rules double the license fee if you wait longer, and PSI’s bulletin says you must get it within 12 months or retake the exam. Your background report has to be less than 60 days old on pickup day. Your 25-hour postlicense course is due within your first year. Check your status in your Georgia Real Estate Commission online account.

What Georgia agents earn

Median pay, Georgia agents on payroll: $46,730
Middle half earns: $36,980–$73,880
Top 10% earn over: $130,460
Georgia agents on payroll: 9,940

The bottom 10% of Georgia payroll agents earn under $30,220. The national median is $52,830. Separate licensing costs from the office's monthly expenses and your postlicense tuition. A written example of one self-generated sale and one office-referred sale will show how different fee arrangements affect what you actually earn.

Source: U.S. Labor Department pay survey, May 2025, Georgia real estate sales agents. Covers agents on a payroll only. Checked October 10, 2026.

Prepare the broker paperwork before license pickup

Interview offices during the 75-hour course so brokerage decisions do not delay the licensing steps after your exam. Ask what training you receive in your first month and how the qualifying broker reviews advertising, contracts and offers. Georgia advertising goes out under the broker’s name and approval, so make that review part of your launch plan.

You work under one broker at a time. Compare each office’s written compensation agreement, including charges on office-generated business, and speak with a recently hired salesperson about day-to-day support. Schedule the 25-hour postlicense course during your first year, including if you initially choose inactive status.

If your license is inactive, file the Commission’s change application to activate it and confirm the status in the state lookup before providing licensed services.

Set up your Georgia agent business

Register the business and organize payments

Agree on your business structure before ordering a website, signs or registration documents. Have the qualifying broker confirm the entity and payment arrangement permitted for your sales work. Use the Georgia LLC guide to plan an LLC setup, and ZenBusiness for filing once the business details are settled.

Arrange errors and omissions (E&O) insurance

Choose your E&O arrangement as you prepare the brokerage paperwork. Request E&O quotes from Simply Business and compare it with the office’s policy, focusing on the real estate services covered, the deductible and who pays it. Keep the coverage contact alongside the broker’s procedure for reviewing client documents.

Keep business records from day one

Save the background-report receipt, license payments and course bills in your business records. Add a first-year training budget for the 25-hour course and ask the office which marketing tools are already included before buying separate subscriptions.

See Georgia business registration and tax requirements for the wider registration and tax checklist.

Launch with broker-approved, useful local information

Pick a few communities your office knows well and build a short guide to the buying process there. Ask the broker to review it before using it in conversations or marketing. Offer to help with a supervised open house, record what visitors ask and follow up with specific property information they requested.

Resources for preparing client conversations

Finish your 25-hour postlicense course in your first year

Georgia salespeople have to take a 25-hour postlicense course during their first year of licensure, and it has to be a course the Georgia Real Estate Commission approved. It applies even if you put your license on inactive status. If you miss it, your license lapses.

After that you renew every four years. Renewal costs $100 online or $125 by mail, and you need 36 hours of continuing education, including 3 hours on Georgia license law. You can renew up to 120 days early. If the courses haven’t been posted to your record by your deadline, the Commission suggests renewing as inactive to avoid a late fee and activating once they post.

Georgia agent questions

How much does it cost to get a Georgia real estate license?

The required fees come to about $385: $175 for the exam, $170 for the license and about $40 for the background report. The 75-hour course is extra and priced by the school.

How long is the Georgia prelicense course?

75 hours, from a school the Georgia Real Estate Commission approves. College real estate credit can substitute if it meets the Commission’s rules.

How many questions are on the Georgia exam?

There are 152 scored questions: 100 national and 52 about Georgia law. You also may see a few unscored practice questions. Each attempt costs $175.

Can I work with clients as soon as I pass?

No. Wait 24 hours, pick up your license at a PSI test center, and have a broker sponsor you. You can’t start brokerage work until your broker receives your wall certificate and pocket card from the Commission.

How long does a Georgia license last?

The first license fee covers about four years, until your birth month in the fourth calendar year after you activate. You also owe a 25-hour postlicense course in your first year.

I’m licensed in another state. Do I retake the exam?

Probably not. Georgia offers licensing without a new exam to people licensed by exam in any state, if the license is in good standing. Florida residents take the Georgia part of the exam only.

Does this cover opening a brokerage?

No. This guide is for a salesperson working under a broker. A broker license needs three years of active licensing, a 60-hour course and a separate exam.

Your first move in Georgia

Start the approved course and use the study period to select a brokerage. Schedule the background report around the exam and license-pickup timing so it stays within its 60-day window. Have the office paperwork ready before the trip to collect your license.

State resource: Georgia licensing and education information.