Yes. Washington requires anyone working as a real estate agent to be licensed by the Washington Department of Licensing (WDOL). This includes listing properties, showing properties, and negotiating real estate transactions on behalf of clients. Persons working strictly as office assistants do not need to be licensed.

About $600-800 total. The cost breaks down as follows: $200-400 for pre-license education depending on the school. $210 for the licensing exam. $223 for the license application fee. For more information, visit the Department of Licensing's fees page. Getting your education online is a great way to save money.

2-3 months. Your pre-license education will take about 4-8 weeks. A background check will take up to 14 days to process. You will need to schedule and pass a licensing exam before applying for the license itself. Students taking online courses can work at their own pace and take the material as fast or as slow as they wish.

In Washington, "real estate broker" is the legal term for a real estate agent that works under supervision. A "managing broker" runs an independent real estate office and may supervise employees as brokers. If you are looking to get into the real estate industry, you will be applying for a broker license.

A "real estate agent" is a person who conducts real estate business under the supervision of a managing broker as part of a real estate brokerage. A "Realtor" is a member of the National Association of REALTORS trade organization. Being a Realtor is not required to be a real estate agent.

Real estate brokers must work under the supervision of a managing broker and must have their license associated with a brokerage. To work independently, you must be licensed as a managing broker and establish your own licensed business. This requires additional experience and training.

Yes. However, you do not need to take Washington-specific pre-license education if you already have a valid license from another state. You must still take the Washington real estate exam and apply for a Washington real estate license.

Yes! You may qualify if you had an active real estate license in another state within the last 6 months that is in good standing. You will need to submit a License History document from the state that holds your license before you can take your Washington real estate exam.

No. Instead you must take state-required real estate pre-license courses and pass a licensing exam. An unrelated college degree will not count towards your real estate education. However, a similar college course may count towards your pre-license course credit.

Yes! Credit checks are not used when applying for a license or when taking pre-license courses. A criminal background check is still required before a license can be issued.

Possibly. You can still apply for a real estate license, but must submit to a background check and disclose the nature of any convictions or legal actions in the last 10 years. The Department of Licensing will ask for supporting documents and review your situation. Generally speaking, they will be looking for persons who have learned from past mistakes and that do not pose an active threat to the community.

The state average pass rate is 58% for first-time applicants. This means that a solid pre-license education along with strong study tools and habits are needed to pass the exam. All of the topics tested over are contained in the pre-license education, but it is up to students to make the best use of the material. If you need help studying, consider OnlineEd's free exam prep course and test simulator.

The licensing exam has a national portion and a separate portion for Washington-specific law. You must know both. If you need help studying, OnlineEd offers a free exam-prep course.

You must take the exam within 2 years of completing your pre-license education. If it has been more than two years, you will need to complete the education again.

You can retake exams. You will receive instructions from the exam provider after testing. If you fail part of the exam, you will need to retake only the part you failed. You must pass both the state and national portions within 6 months of each other.

4-8 weeks. Washington requires 90 credit hours of pre-license education. Students taking courses online are free to complete their course work at whatever pace that fits their schedule. You are allowed up to one year to complete the courses.

Yes! Both pre-license and continuing education courses can be taken entirely online.