What Pre-License Education is Required for Oregon Real Estate Agents?

If you want to become a real estate agent in the state of Oregon, buckle up. The Oregon Real Estate Agency (OREA) requires quite a few steps to ensure that you know the industry and can best serve your clients once you start working as a broker. That includes a set number of hours of Oregon real estate agent pre-license education.

Fortunately, the process, while lengthy, is fairly straightforward. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the steps, including completing the required number of education hours and making sure you take them from a state-approved provider.

But before we get into the specifics of the education requirements, let’s first talk about your overall steps.

Getting an Oregon real estate broker license

In order to start the process toward becoming an Oregon broker, you need to be at least 18 and you need to have a high school diploma, GED, or the international equivalent. If you’ve met those requirements, you can get started with the process.

First, register online and apply

Use OREA’s eLicense tool to register for an account. You can start the process on this registration page.

Once your account is set up, apply for a broker license. You’ll have to pay the $300 application fee at this point. Once OREA processes your application, they email you an Applicant ID number.

Then, complete your pre-license education

Once you have your Applicant ID number, you can sign up for the required pre-license education (you’ll need to give your education provider the ID number). OREA has 27 different approved education providers from which you can choose. You can either pick a class near you or take your hours online.

We’ll talk more about the required hours in just a minute, but let’s keep moving to give a full idea of the process.

Next, pass the broker exam and get fingerprinted

Your pre-license education hours should prepare you for this two-part broker exam, which is administered by the state’s partner, PSI. You can learn more about the test, which costs $75, on the PSI webpage for it. At the bottom, you’ll see a button to “Sign In or Create an Account.” Use that to register yourself for the exam and pay the fee.

When you pass the exam, the PSI personnel at your test site also takes your fingerprints. The state uses these to complete your background check. PSI charges $56.25 for this fingerprinting service. For more info about fingerprinting hours and locations, check out this PSI bulletin.

Get your license

Once your background check clears and your principal broker adds you to their business, OREA gives your application a final review. Assuming everything is in order, they then issue your license. Congrats!

Meeting the Oregon real estate broker pre-license education requirements

Now, let’s get into the details around the education requirements. OREA requires you to take 150 hours of education. Remember, though, that you can take these hours online so you have the flexibility to knock out all 150 at your convenience.

During your hours, you’ll learn about:

Real estate brokerage
Real estate law
Real estate property management
Real estate contracts
Real estate practice
Real estate finance

Your course comes with tests and a final exam to ensure you’re learning what you need to know to pass PSI’s broker exam. If you’re feeling nervous, resources like exam prep courses are also available.

With 150 hours under your belt, you should have all the information you need to breeze through your broker exam. Then, it’s just a waiting game until OREA issues your license and you can start working as a real estate agent in Oregon.