Illinois Real Estate License Requirements

Learn about the Illinois education requirements for real estate licensing and renewal in your state.

Licensing Board/Commission: IDFPR Division of Real Estate (DRE)

  • Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation requires that your final course exam be proctored for pre-license and continuing education.

Illinois Real Estate Education Requirements:

In Illinois, the initial salesperson license for real estate is called a “broker”, it is essentially the same thing as a real estate agent.

  • Illinois real estate broker license: 75 hours of pre-licensing education, which includes 60 hours of Real Estate Topics (parts 1 and 2) and 15 hours of Applied Real Estate Principles (part 3).
  • 45 hours of post-license education for brokers is required, which consists of three 15-hour post-license courses.
  • Final Exams:  Your final course exam must be proctored

Many students use exam prep specifically tailored for Illinois, to give them a greater initial chance of passing their real estate exam.

Illinois State Reciprocity:

Real estate commissions and boards across the country are adopting policies for a real estate agent in one state to more easily become licensed in another state.

Currently Illinois has reciprocity with the following states under the Real Estate License Act of 2000: Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies, Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection, Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Georgia Real Estate Commission, Indiana Real Estate Commission (Broker reciprocity only), Nebraska Real Estate Commission, and Wisconsin Department of Regulation and Licensing.

To qualify for an Illinois Real Estate Broker license under Category D, applicants must:

  1. Be at least 21 years old
  2. Hold an active broker’s license, or equivalent by examination in a state that has a reciprocal agreement with the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation

For more details, visit our full guide on reciprocity.

Illinois Real Estate Continuing Education (CE) and License Renewal Requirements:

  • Real estate brokers in Illinois must renew their real estate licenses by April 30 of even-numbered years
  • Managing brokers in Illinois must renew their real estate licenses by April 30 of odd-numbered years
  • Illinois continuing education requirements: 12 hours of continuing education, which includes 4 hours of CORE CE and 8 hours of elective CE. One of the 8 hours of Elective must include a Sexual Harassment Prevention Training course.

Click here for more information from Illinois Division of Real Estate-2022 Broker Renewal FAQs