How to Renew an Arkansas Real Estate License

When people choose you as their real estate agent, they’re asking you to embark on one of the most important journeys of their life. For most people, a home purchase or sale is one of the biggest financial transactions they’ll ever make — if not the biggest. A lot of their hopes hinge on this major move they’re making.

That means you need them to see you as knowledgeable and trustworthy. Fortunately, you can put the continuing education required during your license renewal process to work for you here. While the annual renewal process required by the Arkansas Real Estate Commission (AREC) can feel like a hassle, it can also be a useful tool in keeping you updated on industry best practices.

Plus, if you know what’s required to renew, things get a lot easier.

When to renew

The Commission requires renewals every year. You should get renewal info from them in the middle of July.

Your renewal deadline is September 30. If you renew by that date, your renewal costs:

$60 for salespeople
$80 for brokers

If you miss that deadline, you can still renew by the end of December, but it will cost:

$80 for salespeople
$110 for brokers

If you don’t submit your renewal by December 31, your license expires.

Assuming you get everything in on time, the Commission should get your new license in the mail by the end of December.

How to renew

To complete the renewal process, you need to do two things:

Get continuing education

All AREC licensees need seven hours (such as what this training offers here) of continuing education (CE) each year. That includes one hour on safety, leaving you with six elective hours. You need to have these hours done before you can submit your renewal.

All seven hours need to come from a Commission-approved education provider.

Fortunately, you can take your AREC-approved CE online at any time from any internet-connected device that works for you.

Submit the form and fee

You have two options here:

Renew online. Click here to head to the renewal site. As part of the submittal, you’ll need to pay the renewal fee. You can use Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express, or an eCheck.
Renew via mail. This means sending in an envelope with the current year’s renewal form (here’s 2022’s as an example because the 2023 version isn’t out yet) and a money order, cashier’s check, or personal or company check for your renewal fee. The Commission should link the 2023 renewal form on their existing agent webpage once it’s released. Mail your form and fee to:

AREC License Dept Renewals

612 South Summit

Little Rock, AR 72201-4740

Confirming your renewal

To make sure everything went through with your renewal, you can look yourself up in the AREC online roster. If your expiration date still shows December 31 of this year, your renewal hasn’t been processed yet. You’ll know you’ve renewed when it shows December 31 of next year as your expiration date.

If you run into any issues, here’s the contact info for the Commission.