On average, it takes two to three months to become a licensed real estate agent in Massachusetts. This might be shorter or longer depending on a few extra factors.
You might have to allot irregular days to complete a prerequisite course, or you could face real-life emergencies that throw off your schedule.
Here’s a run-through of your journey to becoming a licensed real estate agent in Massachusetts, with timestamps to give you an idea of how long each stage might take:
Massachusetts Real Estate Licensure Requirements
Pre-Licensure Requirements: 2 Weeks
When answering the question, “how long does it take to become a real estate agent in Mass?”, there are two basic requirements to consider to begin with. Your legal age and social security number. You need to be at least 18 years old to apply for a license and you need to have an assigned social security number. Normally, it takes the SSA (Social Security Administration) about two weeks to assign a social security number.
Massachusetts Real Estate Course: 40 Hours
Aside from the two prequalification requirements, you need to take a 40-hour Massachusetts real estate course. Ideally, you can finish this in a week. Think of it as a regular 9-to-5 workweek. You can take this pre-licensing course online or in-person, with most real estate schools offering flexible class schedules.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has a list of authorized real estate schools for you to consider. You might finish the 40-hour course faster if you take online classes because you’ll be taking them on your own time. Traditional classroom settings might take longer because you’ll have to travel.
After our course, you take the course’s final exam (not yet the actual real estate licensing exam). We feel that a simulated exam helps students get a little closure after studying all that theory, we present a 150-question final exam and give you approx. 2 hours to complete. We give you less time than the actual, and more questions so you can “feel” the time and understand a little more aggressive pace.
Apply for the Massachusetts Real Estate License Test: 15-25 Business Days
Once you finish the 40-hour course and take the final course exam, you can apply to take the real final exam. You will need approval from the Massachusetts Board of Registration of Real Estate Brokers and Salespersons. They have a list of application forms on their website.
Processing applications take anywhere between 15 and 25 business days upon receipt of complete applications. Once you get approval, you can call PSI Exams, who will administer your final exam, to schedule your test.
Massachusetts Real Estate License Test: 4 Hours
Once you get approved for the real estate licensing exam, you need to take it and pass. You will have four hours to complete the exam, which contains 120 items split into two sections.
The two sections of the Massachusetts real estate license test are the Massachusetts law section and the national section. The law section has 40 questions and the national section has 80 questions. You need to pass 70% of each section to pass the final exam.
After passing the exam, all you need is to pay the licensing fee of $150 (at most) at your nearest testing center. If you took the test online, you need to visit a test center to get your photo taken for your license. This shouldn’t take more than a day.
Conclusion
Based on this short guide, becoming a licensed real estate agent in Massachusetts takes at least six weeks, if everything goes smoothly. On average, it can take two months.
You will have to do some extra studying outside of the 40-hour course to ensure that you pass, and of course, you have a life to live. So, you might not have the time to complete this 40-hour course in a week.
Still, if you think of the course as a regular work week with eight hours a day, you’ll find that it won’t take that long to complete the entire course. You just need to budget your time and make a schedule that works for you.
