Real estate offers a career path with the opportunity to earn and to grow in the state of Iowa. When starting in your career or working part-time, a person can expect to earn just over $19,000 per year, but this number quickly rises and one can make as much as $70,000 as their career progresses with experience in the field. On average, however, the median yearly salary for an Iowa real estate salesperson is around $34,000, making it no wonder why obtaining an Iowa real estate license is something that is attractive to those looking to begin their first career or current working professionals throughout the state.
Each state within the United States holds its own requirements for obtaining a real estate salesperson license, and Iowa is no exception. Iowa real estate license requirements are on par with requirements typically found throughout the country, but while the requirements are fairly typical, they should be paid close attention to.
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Real Estate License Requirements
Before going through the pre-licensure course, it’s important to make sure you meet all of the various Iowa real estate license requirements. The requirements for becoming a real estate salesperson in Iowa include:
- Must be 18 years of age or older – Like most states, Iowa real estate license requirements state that a person must be 18 years of age or older in order to apply for their exam. Now, that doesn’t mean that you must be 18 years of age or older to begin your courses. For young people looking to embark on a lucrative career path without going to a 2 or 4-year institution, this could be a great path to take. Within 6 months of passing the real estate licensure exam, one must apply for their license, and in order to apply for that license, that person must also be at least 18 years of age.
- Take your pre-licensure course – Iowa real estate license requirements state that a person must complete a 60-hour pre-licensure course before taking their exam to make them eligible for licensure. This 60-hour pre-licensure course may be taken in person or online with an accredited and approved program, allowing you options in how you wish to go about your education. For working professionals or busy people, these online courses provide just the flexible option to work with your schedule rather than against it.
- Complete a background check – After completing your 60 course credit hours, Iowa real estate license requirements then require a full background check to be completed before you take your exam. Once the background check has been reviewed, one has just 210 days to take and pass their licensure exam. If your background check is taking some time to be reviewed, you can send in your licensure application beforehand, but it won’t be approved until your background check has cleared.
- Taking the exam – After passing the background check, it’s time to take the exam. The pre-licensure exam actually consists of 2 exams, a national and state, each with a different passing score and time limit. The state portion of the exam must be completed within 60 minutes with a passing score of 28 out of 40 or higher. The national portion of the exam is a bit longer and must be completed within 120 minutes. For the national exam, a passing score is considered to be 56 out of 80 or higher. Exam prep courses like those offered at The CE Shop or Colibri Real Estate can be taken in your own time, and they leave you with a confident and comfortable test experience. Using the exam prep courses, you can review information as often and as much as you’d like until you’ve confidently mastered the material before test time. Upon completion of the test, you’ll be provided with a licensure application.
- Complete additional courses – After taking the exam, you’re not quite finished with your courses just yet. Iowa real estate license requirements state that one must then complete 12 hours of buying practices courses, 12 hours of listing practices courses, and 12 hours of developing professional and ethical practices in addition to the initial 60 course credit hours taken before the exam. These courses may be taken online as well, allowing you to start your real estate career right away without worry about how you’re going to make it into class.
- Having your application approved – If all the requirements have been met, you should be ready to have your application approved. However, if you have had an application in Iowa or another state rejected recently, you must wait at least 12 months before being approved in Iowa.
- Working under a broker – As a real estate salesperson, Iowa real estate license requirements state that you must work under a broker or firm and cannot conduct your business independently in the state of Iowa. In order to work independently, one may decide to pursue an Iowa real estate broker license after obtaining a real estate salesperson license and experience in the field.
Keeping Your License In Good Standing
All states within the US have their own requirements for pre-licensure, and for post-licensure as well. In Iowa, according to Iowa real estate license requirements, one must complete 36 continuing education hours every 3 years in order to keep their real estate salesperson license in good standing. These continuing education hours are comprised of 12 mandatory course hours and 24 elective course hours, and these elective courses allow you to pursue specialty fields in order to better serve your client base. The 12 mandatory course hours must be comprised of 8 hours of law and 4 hours of ethics courses.
The CE Shop courses are interactive and easy to understand. Each chapter is broken down into smaller sections, which allows you to digest and retain information better.
You can also track your progress and know how much time you spent studying. This is helpful because each state requires a certain amount of hours in a course.
What’s more, each section is integrated with useful unit resources, providing students with more value and information.
