How Long Does It Take to Become a Licensed Real Estate Agent in South Carolina?

How long does it take to get a real estate license in South Carolina

So you’re interested in becoming a real estate agent? That’s great! With a little planning and some hustle, you could get a real estate license in South Carolina in around two to four months!

Here are the steps for getting your real estate license in South Carolina:

Take the Unit I course (3 to 6 weeks)
Study for and pass the exam. (1 to 4 weeks)
Take the Unit II course (2 to 3 weeks)
Submit your real estate license application and do a background check (2 to 3 weeks)
Choose a sponsoring broker (time varies)

Let’s take a closer look at how this process works, starting with how long real estate school is.

Completing Your Pre-licensing Courses (About 5 to 9 Weeks)

Before you sign up for real estate school, you first need to make sure you are eligible to be a real estate agent. The South Carolina Real Estate Commission (SCREC) requires you to be 18 years old and have a high school diploma or GED. You must also have legal authorization to live and work in the U.S. Do you check all of those boxes? Great! Now, you can sign up for real estate school!

How Long Is Real Estate School in South Carolina?

South Carolina requires you to complete two real estate classes before getting your real estate license:

Unit I: Sales course (60 hours)
Unit II: Advanced Real Estate Principles course (30-hours).

So, you can expect to spend 90 hours in real estate school. Not too bad considering the lifetime of earning potential you’ll have as an agent!

Most people who are thinking about becoming a real estate agent are looking for pre-licensing courses that fit their budget and help them reach their goal of becoming an agent as quickly as possible. AceableAgent is an online real estate school that allows you to work at your own pace and move through the course quickly. With Aceable Agent, investing three hours per day would allow you to complete the Unit I course in about three weeks! If you wanted to take things at a slower pace, you could absolutely do that. Working at a more part-time pace of 10 hours a week would enable you to finish Unit I in six weeks.

Similarly, Unit II (which you’ll take after you pass your state licensing exam), will take you anywhere from two to three weeks to complete depending on how many hours you can dedicate to the course each week.

Studying for and Taking Your Real Estate License Exam (1 to 4 Weeks)

Once you complete the Unit I course, you can apply to take your exam. Everyone loves taking tests, so get ready for this part to be awesome!

Haha just kidding. The exam is typically no one’s favorite thing, but it is a necessary part of achieving your big goal of becoming an agent. This is where your choice of real estate school really matters! You want to choose a school that gives you a high likelihood of passing the exam on the first try because that will save you time and money.

Everyone learns differently, so make sure you do your exam prep in a way that works for your schedule and your learning style. As long as there aren’t any delays with scheduling your exam, you’ll need anywhere from a week to a month to study and take the exam.

Submit your real estate license application and do a background check (2 to 3 weeks)

Once you pass your exam, the Commission will send you instructions on how to get fingerprinted for your background checks. Getting a background check is required in order to be an agent. However, you can still get your South Carolina real estate license if you have a criminal record. Expect this step to take approximately two to three weeks.

Choosing a Sponsoring Broker (Time Varies)

South Carolina requires that all real estate sales agents operate under a supervising broker. You can start looking for a broker at any point during this process, so it doesn’t need to add days or weeks to your timeline. Choosing a broker is an important step, so invest time in interviewing several brokers to find the best fit for you.