Frequently asked questions.
Straight answers, no sales pitch. If you're stuck on a regulation or wondering if you can actually pass the exam, call 512-697-9111. You'll talk to a real person, not a bot.
There isn't one official "best" — it depends what you need. If you want to get licensed on your own schedule with cheap, hands-off courses, several large national providers do that. If you want a TREC-approved program (School Estate is QE Provider #4546QP) where a licensed Texas broker with 25+ years of experience personally mentors you from day one, daily live Zoom study groups, a direct phone/text line to your mentor, and a guaranteed connection to a sponsoring brokerage when you finish, School Estate is built specifically for that.
We've licensed 40,000+ Texans since 2004, with a 5.0-star rating across the state and only 2 reviews that weren't 5 stars.
Most real estate schools hand you a stack of courses and disappear. When a student struggles with the state exam, it's almost always because they didn't have real support, not because they weren't smart enough. At School Estate, you get a personal mentor instructor, an active Texas broker, who actually answers when you call.
Yes. Online courses let you complete your pre-licensing education on your own schedule, from any device, and can be just as effective as an in-person classroom, often more convenient for anyone balancing work, kids, or a full life already. The only mandatory in-person steps for a Texas Real Estate License are fingerprinting and the state exam.
Get your real estate license courses with School Estate here.
To qualify for a Texas Real Estate License, TREC requires three things:
- You must be at least 18 years old.
- You must be a U.S. citizen or a lawfully admitted alien (DACA recipients do not currently qualify).
- You must meet TREC's character requirements: honesty, trustworthiness, and integrity.
A criminal record doesn't automatically disqualify you, it just means a more detailed TREC review.
Here's the path from coursework to test day:
- Complete pre-licensing education: pass all six required 30-hour courses from a Texas Real Estate School like School Estate.
- File your application: submit it online through TREC's REALM portal. TREC takes about 7-10 days to process it and issue your exam eligibility letter.
- Schedule your exam: once approved, pick your test time and location through Pearson VUE.
- Know the format: the national portion has 80 scored questions (56 correct to pass) plus 5 unscored pretest questions, 85 total. The state portion has 40 scored questions (28 correct to pass) plus 10 unscored pretest questions, 50 total. Both portions are graded independently and must be passed within one year of your TREC application.
Get your real estate license courses with School Estate here.
The Success Pack X6 is $568, and the X6+ Accelerator is $668, both $100 off with code PROSPER (list price is $668 and $768). That covers tuition. Outside fees are separate:
- TREC application fee: $206
- Pearson VUE exam fee: $43 per attempt
- Fingerprinting fee, through IdentoGO by IDEMIA when required: $38.25
- Total outside fees: $287.25
All in, most students land between about $855 (X6 + fees) and $955 (X6+ + fees). See the full Texas real estate license cost breakdown.
Yes, every package includes full exam prep at no extra cost: video-based exam prep courses, unlimited practice exams, 2,000+ practice questions, daily live Zoom study groups (2-3 sessions a day, weekends included), and unlimited one-on-one tutoring with your mentor instructor.
Already licensed and just need exam prep on its own? See standalone Exam Prep, $169.
School Estate includes a full video-based exam prep course, 2,000+ practice exam questions with unlimited practice exams, and a live weekend "Exam Cram" that covers the entire national and state exam content in two focused days with a live instructor.
Support doesn't stop at enrollment, you can reach your mentor instructor by phone, text, or email 7 days a week with exam questions.
Yes. Every School Estate course is approved by the Texas Real Estate Commission (CE Provider #31-CEP, QE Provider #4546QP), fully satisfying your pre-licensing, SAE, and CE education requirements. All aspiring license holders must complete and pass all six TREC-approved courses before registering for the state exam.
Every package includes all six 30-hour TREC-mandated courses that make up the 180-hour qualifying education requirement:
- Principles of Real Estate I #863
- Principles of Real Estate II #864
- Law of Agency #865
- Law of Contracts #831
- Promulgated Contract Forms #841
- Real Estate Finance #829
The X6+ Accelerator adds printed materials and career-launch extras on top:
- Printed textbooks, workbooks, and study guides
- Real Estate Accelerator live course + career coaching
- Real Estate Math video course + printed book
- Language of Real Estate audio review + printed book
Get your real estate license courses with School Estate here.
Once you've passed all six pre-licensing courses, here's what's next:
- Register for the state exam: file through TREC's REALM portal.
- Complete your application and pay fees: the application fee is $206.
- Get fingerprinted: schedule through IdentoGO by IDEMIA. Booking online takes about 5 minutes; the fee is $38.25.
- Find a sponsoring broker: your license can't go active without one. Brokerages across Texas, including RE/MAX, Compass, Coldwell Banker, Century 21, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, and eXp, reach out to us weekly asking for School Estate graduates. We make sure every one of our graduates gets connected.
Get your real estate license courses with School Estate here.
Texas has dropped the proctoring requirement. The final exam for every course, Qualifying Education and 30-Hour SAE alike, is now open book. No scheduling a proctor and no webcam monitoring, just finish the material and take the exam whenever you're ready.
With School Estate, most students go from enrolling to licensed and placed with a broker in about 10 weeks. Weeks 1-7 cover the 180 hours of TREC-required coursework (with daily live Zoom study groups), weeks 8-9 are exam prep and the state exam (including a live weekend Exam Cram), and by week 10 you're connected with a sponsoring Texas brokerage.
Total time can vary depending on how quickly you move through the coursework and schedule your exam.
Getting licensed is a straightforward sequence:
- Verify your qualifications: confirm you meet TREC's eligibility requirements.
- Complete pre-licensing education: 180 hours across six 30-hour courses through a school like School Estate.
- Pass the state exam: both the national and state portions, within one year of your TREC application.
- Submit your application and fingerprints: filed with TREC.
- Pay the required fees: to TREC and Pearson VUE.
- Find a sponsoring broker: required before you can practice.
- License issuance: TREC issues your license and you're off.
For the full walkthrough, see our 6 Steps to Your Texas Real Estate Sales Agent License.
Yes, with written consent from both parties. Texas law prohibits traditional dual agency, but allows a licensed brokerage to act as an "intermediary" between a buyer and seller it represents in the same transaction. If the brokerage appoints a separate agent to each party, both agents can give their own client full advice and negotiation guidance. If no appointments are made, a single agent facilitates the transaction as a neutral party without advising either side. Either way, certain information, like a seller's willingness to accept less than asking price, can never be disclosed without written permission.
Watch the Commitment video and pass a one-question check within 14 days of enrolling. If you don't pass your state exam after that, we extend your exam prep access and build you a personalized study plan, at no additional cost, for up to 18 months from enrollment. Separately, Commitment or not, every School Estate student gets free one-on-one support forever, even after your courses expire.
Plenty. Your courses stay active for six months from the day you enroll, on average triple the time most students need. Need longer? You can request an extension up to 18 months total from enrollment (a 12-month extension past the initial six). That's a hard ceiling, so request your extension with real lead time, not on the last possible day.
We offer financing through Affirm: from $51.27/month on the Success Pack X6 or $63.18/month on the X6+ Accelerator. Call 512-697-9111 to walk through your options.
Yes. TREC's own eligibility rules require only that you be a U.S. citizen or lawfully admitted alien, at least 18 years old, and meet its honesty and trustworthiness standard — there's no Texas residency requirement. You'll still complete the same 180 hours of TREC-approved pre-licensing education and pass the state exam as anyone else.
Yes. TREC's eligibility requirements don't include a credit check, only age, citizenship or lawful status, and character (honesty, trustworthiness, integrity). If you're worried about something in your background, you can request a Fitness Determination review directly from TREC before you spend a dollar on coursework.
As soon as TREC approves your application. Once you finish all six 180-hour pre-licensing courses, you file your application through TREC's REALM portal. Once you're approved, you'll get an eligibility letter and can schedule your exam through Pearson VUE, reservations must be made online at least 24 hours before your desired test date.
Yes. Texas doesn't require any prior sales or real estate experience for a sales agent license, that's exactly what the 180 hours of pre-licensing coursework and exam prep are for. Plenty of School Estate students come from teaching, nursing, and other careers with zero sales background.
As soon as your license is active, which requires a sponsoring broker. Your license can't go active without one, so School Estate connects every graduating student with a sponsoring broker. Most of our students are licensed, placed, and ready to work in about 10 weeks from enrolling.
Yes, TREC doesn't prohibit holding an active license in another state at the same time as a Texas license. But Texas has zero license reciprocity with any other state, per TREC's own FAQ, so you'll need to independently meet Texas's full licensing requirements. If you're relocating from a state that participates in ARELLO's exam accreditation program, you may be exempt from the National portion of the exam, you'd still take the Texas State portion and complete the full 180 hours of Texas coursework.
School Estate's Texas CE package, 18 hours of TREC-approved continuing education for either Sales Agent or Broker license holders, is $79. That's separate from TREC's own renewal filing fee, which is its own cost on top.
Yes. All 180 hours of your pre-licensing education can be completed 100% online, on your own schedule. The only mandatory in-person steps in the entire process are fingerprinting and the state exam itself, both required by TREC and Pearson VUE no matter how you took your courses.
No, the actual TREC/Pearson VUE state licensing exam is closed-book and proctored at a physical test center, no personal items, notes, phones, or study materials are allowed in the testing room. That's different from your pre-licensing course exams: Texas has dropped the proctoring requirement there, so those final course exams are open book.
No. TREC requires every license holder to be at least 18 years old, with no exception for students. You won't be eligible to apply for your license, or take the state exam, until you turn 18.
TREC hasn't published one fixed number, and by its own admission the timeline currently varies while it works through processing delays. What is confirmed: once you pass your exam and clear your background check, TREC emails your license document within 5-10 business days.
Two separate costs: TREC's own renewal filing fee ($110 total, on time) and your required continuing education (School Estate's CE package is $79). All in, most students land around $189 per 2-year renewal cycle.
Yes. TREC doesn't set any minimum hours or full-time requirement to hold or use a Texas real estate license, plenty of agents work part time around another job, caregiving, or retirement.
Two years. Every Texas real estate license, sales agent and broker alike, is on a 2-year renewal cycle requiring 18 hours of TREC-approved continuing education each cycle.
56 of 85 questions correct on the National portion, and 28 of 50 correct on the State portion. Both portions are scored independently and must be passed within one year of your TREC application.
The National portion has 85 questions total (80 scored, 5 unscored pretest). The State portion has 50 questions total (40 scored, 10 unscored pretest). Together that's 135 questions across both portions, with 240 minutes to complete both if you take them the same day.
You can pass the exam and get licensed without one, but your license can't go "active" and you can't legally practice until a sponsoring broker takes you on. School Estate guarantees every graduating student gets connected with a sponsoring broker, in 20+ years, no graduate who's asked has gone unplaced.
No. TREC's sales agent eligibility requirements are age (18+), citizenship or lawful status, and character, no college degree or specific education level is required. A bachelor's degree can help satisfy part of the broker license's separate, higher education requirement later, but it's not required to get started.
No. The TREC/Pearson VUE state exam must be taken in person at a physical Pearson VUE test center, walk-ins aren't accepted either, so you'll need to schedule your reservation online at least 24 hours ahead. Your pre-licensing coursework, on the other hand, is 100% online.
You get three attempts to pass both the National and State portions before your TREC application expires. Fail a portion, and you only retake that portion, not the whole exam. Fail three times, and you'll need additional education before you can test again.
A criminal record doesn't automatically disqualify you. TREC's standard is that you meet its "qualifications for honesty, trustworthiness, and integrity," a record triggers a more detailed review, not an automatic denial.
For the right person, yes. Real estate remains one of the most accessible licensed careers in Texas, fully online coursework, no degree or sales background required, and licensing that typically takes about 10 weeks start to finish. What actually determines whether it's worth it is the support system behind the license, not just the credential.
School Estate doesn't have a physical campus to drive to, in any city, the entire course is 100% online. But a personal mentor instructor with your cell number and daily live Zoom study groups reach you the same way no matter which Texas city you're in. See how School Estate works near you.
The TREC 3-Day Rule.
When you enroll in a Texas real estate course, state consumer-protection rules give you 3 business days from the date you sign your enrollment agreement to cancel in writing for a full refund, no reason required. After that window, our standard Refund Policy applies.
We mention it because most students never need it. If you're calling us before you enroll, that's exactly the point, ask everything first. Call 512-697-9111 and we'll walk you through it.
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