Licensing Requirements

There are four things you must do to meet state broker licensing requirements:

1. Complete an 80-hour Hawaii real estate broker's course. The broker's license curriculum is offered in three separate courses called: (1) Real Estate Basics and Beyond, (2) Hawaii Real Estate Laws and Rules, and (3) Hawaii Real Estate Broker. The courses include reading lessons, quizzes, several practice final exams. You must show evidence of having taken and passed all quizzes and exams with a score of at least 75% OR apply for and obtain a Prelicensing Education Equivalency from the Hawaii Real Estate Commission.
2. Obtain a Broker Experience Certificate. To gain entrance into the state licensing exam, you will need a Broker Experience Certificate. You obtain this from the Real Estate Board by showing them evidence you have been working full-time as a Hawaii real estate salesperson for three of the last five years.
3. Pass the broker's license examination. You must pass a 130-question multiple-choice exam. 80 of the 130 questions focus on national topics. 50 questions focus on Hawaii laws. A score of at least 70% is required for both the national and Hawaii-specific sections. Your passing score report will include an application form for your real estate broker license. You will be required to present a valid and original Hawaii School Completion Certificate or Prelicensing Education Equivalency Certificate at the assessment center before taking the examination.
4. Submit the license application and fee to the Hawaii Real Estate Commission.

SPECIAL NOTE: To avoid delays, you should resolve all outstanding tax obligations with the Hawaii Department of Taxation prior to submission of a Hawaii real estate license application.

If you have additional questions about licensing, we recommend you call the Hawaii Real Estate Branch at (808) 586-3000 or email: hirec@dcca.hawaii.gov.

If you hold a current license from another state, you may be able to forego the broker course requirement and/or the requirement to take the national (uniform) portion of the exam by obtaining an equivalency certificate. You need to:

1. Hold a real estate license that was active within one year immediately prior to applying for a Hawaii real estate license.
2. Apply for and obtain an equivalency to the prelicense education course, using the Application for Prelicensing Education Equivalency-Real Estate application. As part of this process, you must request a “Verification of License” form be completed by the regulatory agency of the state in which you are actively licensed.
3. Apply for and obtain an equivalency to the uniform section of the Hawaii licensing examination, using the form provided by the Real Estate Branch (REB). You may qualify for this if you hold a current license in another state and you passed the uniform section of that state's licensing exam. If granted, you will only have to take the Hawaii section of the exam.
4. Pass the state portion of the broker license exam (50 questions). A passing score is 70% or better.
5. Have received an Experience Certificate for real estate Broker's Examination from the commission before taking the exam. Broker candidates must present a valid and original Experience Certificate for real estate Broker's Examination at the test center.
6. Be at least 18 years old.
7. Be a U.S. citizen/national or alien authorized to work in the United States.
8. Complete a license application and pay the corresponding fee. The license application will be provided to you at the test site upon successfully passing the Hawaii portion of the real estate examination.