Florida

Florida’s official entry title is sales associate, not salesperson. The Florida Real Estate Commission (FREC), staffed through DBPR, requires the 63-hour FREC I pre-license course. That course is valid for two years; sit too late and you retake it. You may apply before you exam. Pearson VUE seats a 100-question, 3.5-hour test with a 75 percent cut score. The current published Pearson salesperson exam fee is $36.75; DBPR’s RE 1 application fee is listed at $62.75 at checkout (older PDFs still show $83.75; pay the amount shown at checkout).

The rule that makes Florida stand out is post-license education. A sales associate who does not complete the 45-hour post-license course before the first renewal has a license that is null and void — not inactive, not late, void. Brokers face a 60-hour post-license course with the same penalty. After that first renewal, CE is 14 hours biennially. North Carolina’s 90-hour postlicensing in 18 months is the closest cousin; Texas SAE is heavier in hours but does not use the words “null and void.”

Activation requires a broker. Completing FREC I and passing Pearson does not let you hang a shingle. You file to go active (RE 11 for sales associates, RE 13 for brokers) under a Florida broker. LiveScan through FDLE is the fingerprint path.

Mutual recognition is the mobility product people confuse with reciprocity. It is available to nonresidents from a published list that currently includes Georgia and Illinois among the states on this site, plus several states we do not cover. Recognized applicants sit a 40-question Florida law exam and need 30 correct. California, Texas, New York, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina are not on that list. Residents of a mutual-recognition state do not get the deal; the statute is written for nonresidents. Broker licensure requires 24 months of active licensure during the preceding five years (out-of-state history is evaluated on FREC’s current instructions, including a 30-day documentation clock in recent packets) plus the 72-hour FREC II course.