Is associate broker a separate exam?

No. Associate broker is a broker licensee who affiliates with another qualifying broker. The exam is the broker exam.

Does the 25-hour salesperson postlicense count as the 60-hour broker course?

No. Postlicense keeps the salesperson license from lapsing. Broker prelicense is a different GREC-approved course.

Georgia Broker License Requirements

Required education: 60-hour GREC broker prelicense
Exam fee: See current GREC/PSI handbook
Published fees: See fee table
Typical timeline: Three years of active salesperson licensure is the binding constraint

What to know first

A Georgia broker license is what lets you qualify a firm and hold salespersons. GREC requires age 21, a high-school diploma or equivalent, a 60-hour broker prelicense course (or 15 quarter / 9 semester hours of college real-estate work, or 60 hours approved by another regulator), and active licensure for at least three of the last five years. If you have been licensed in Georgia and you are sitting in a GREC-approved broker prelicense classroom, the Commission can verify that experience online. Out-of-state experience is a paper certification, not a handshake.

The 60-hour broker prelicense is not Florida FREC II (72 hours) and not New York's 75-hour add-on on top of 77. It is a Georgia course under Rule 520-2-.04. Completing it does not waive the three-of-five-years active-status bar. The exam is the broker form of the same PSI program that seats salespersons; the handbook has long described a national simulation portion plus a Georgia state portion with separate time limits — confirm the live handbook, because simulation exams get revised. GCIC still goes to the test center. The published license fee on the same $170 / $340 timing rule used for salespersons has been applied to brokers in GREC materials; pay whatever the handbook and GREC portal show the day you apply.

A Georgia broker who will serve as qualifying broker of a firm files additional firm paperwork. Associate brokers exist as licensees who hold a broker license but hang it with another qualifying broker. Four-year renewal on the birth month and 36 hours of CE (including 3 hours of license law) still apply; some GREC commentary requires a portion of those hours to be broker-specific. Florida mutual recognition can bring a Georgia broker into Florida as a nonresident after the 40-question law exam; it does not let you skip GREC's 60 hours on the way out of Florida.

Your path to the license

Follow these steps in order. Deadlines and affiliation requirements can make a passed exam unusable if they are missed.

Document three of the last five years active

GREC can verify Georgia files online if you are in an approved broker class.
Complete the 60-hour broker prelicense

Not a recycled salesperson postlicense certificate.
Pass the PSI broker exam with a fresh GCIC

Then apply inside the 3-month $170 window if that split still appears on the handbook.
File firm / qualifying-broker paperwork if you will operate a company

Associate-broker status is the alternative.
Keep 36-hour / 4-year CE including license law

Birth-month renewal.

Education and eligibility

Minimum age: 21 years old
Identification: A Social Security number is required. An ITIN is not confirmed as a substitute.
Residency and identification: Not required. Nonresident brokers remain subject to GREC investigative cooperation.
Qualifying education: GREC-approved 60-hour course, or 15 quarter / 9 semester hours of college real-estate work, or 60 hours approved by another state regulator. This is in addition to the salesperson 75 already completed by most applicants.
Character review: GCIC review at the exam, plus GREC character standards under Chapter 40.
Background process: GCIC report at PSI, same ritual as salesperson candidates unless the handbook currently provides an alternative for already-licensed Georgians.
Experience: licensed on active status for at least three of the last five years
Broker affiliation: A Georgia broker license authorizes qualifying-broker status for a firm and employment of salespersons. An associate broker holds the broker license under another qualifying broker.

Documents to prepare

GREC online verification for Georgia licensees enrolled in an approved broker course
Out-of-state certification of active status
60-hour completion to PSI

The licensing exam

GREC's broker exam, per the candidate handbook, has historically used a national simulation section and a Georgia state section with separate timing (commonly described as 3 hours simulation + 2 hours state). Confirm format, item counts, fees, and passing standard in the live PSI/GREC handbook. State content is BRRETA, trust-account rules, qualifying-broker duties, and Chapter 40 discipline — the same statute the salesperson exam samples, written for people who will hold other people's licenses.

PSI (confirm on grec.state.ga.us) · Fee: See current GREC/PSI handbook

Part	Questions	Minutes	Pass
Broker examination (national simulation + Georgia state; confirm live handbook)	—	—	See GREC/PSI handbook for simulation scoring and state-section passing standard

Through PSI under the live handbook. Twelve-month license-application window after passing still matters.

What to study

GREC broker candidate handbook

GREC / PSI

Simulation versus state-section format and fees.
BRRETA and Chapter 40 qualifying-broker duties

State of Georgia

The statute the state section is written to.

Application costs

These are commission or testing-vendor amounts we can cite. School tuition and optional preparation products are private-market prices.

Fee	Amount
Application	$170
Initial license	$170

Use the live GREC/PSI handbook for exam dollars and confirm whether the $170/$340 salesperson timing rule is the one GREC is still applying to brokers the day you apply.

Commission	Georgia Real Estate Commission O.C.G.A. Title 43, Chapter 40; GREC Rules Chapter 520
Pre-licensing	60-hour GREC broker prelicense GREC-approved 60-hour course, or 15 quarter / 9 semester hours of college real-estate work, or 60 hours approved by another state regulator. This is in addition to the salesperson 75 already completed by most applicants.
Sponsoring broker	A Georgia broker license authorizes qualifying-broker status for a firm and employment of salespersons. An associate broker holds the broker license under another qualifying broker.
Fingerprints	GCIC at the test center per the handbook.
CE / renewal	36 hours per four-year birth-month cycle, including 3 hours of license law. Confirm any broker-specific hour split on the live GREC CE page.
Recovery fund	Same Education, Research, and Recovery Fund as salespersons. Qualifying brokers are the people GREC looks at when a firm's trust account is the problem.

Mistakes that delay applicants

Counting inactive years

GREC wants active status for three of the last five. An inactive salesperson license does not accrue that clock.
Skipping firm paperwork

Passing the broker exam does not, by itself, make you the qualifying broker of a corporation. File the firm forms.

Reciprocity and recognition

Partner / path	Accepted exam	Conditions
Florida	Florida 40-question law exam (30 to pass) into Florida	Nonresident of Florida; active Georgia broker license obtained by education and exam.

GREC education-recognition for 60 hours from another regulator is not a license compact with TREC or DRE.

Renewal and staying active

36 hours per four-year birth-month cycle, including 3 hours of license law. Confirm any broker-specific hour split on the live GREC CE page.

Applicant checklist

Print three-of-five active years
Finish the 60-hour GREC broker course
GCIC + PSI broker exam
Apply before the exam ages out
Decide qualifying-broker versus associate-broker affiliation

How Georgia is different

Georgia's three-of-five-years active experience is longer than Florida's 24 months and Illinois's two-of-three for managing broker, shorter than Texas 2026's four years, and the same length as Pennsylvania's three years (but Pennsylvania also wants 240 hours that cannot recycle salesperson credits). Education at 60 broker hours is lighter than New York's extra 75 and California's eight college courses. North Carolina does not give you a second broker exam; you leave provisional status with postlicensing.

Frequently asked questions

Is associate broker a separate exam?: No. Associate broker is a broker licensee who affiliates with another qualifying broker. The exam is the broker exam.
Does the 25-hour salesperson postlicense count as the 60-hour broker course?: No. Postlicense keeps the salesperson license from lapsing. Broker prelicense is a different GREC-approved course.

Primary Sources

Regulatory requirements on this page are drawn from the official board, statute, and exam-provider materials listed below.

Verified 2026-09-02 · Next scheduled review 2026-12-01