Stack of documents with a paperweight on a leather desk pad, Nevada Real Estate License: Requirements, Fees and Steps

How to Start a Real Estate Business in Nevada

Last verified: November 5, 2026

This page is for someone deciding whether to get a Nevada real estate license and how to build a business on it. Our position: start as a salesperson under an established broker. Nevada does not let you hold a broker license until you have 2 of the last 4 years of full-time licensed experience (NRS 645.330(4)), and that experience can come from a license in another state. The steps below follow the order the Real Estate Division requires them.

Salesperson, Broker-Salesperson or Broker

The Real Estate Division issues three license types for this work. A salesperson license needs 120 hours of pre-licensing education. A broker license and a broker-salesperson license both need the broker education standard: 64 semester units of college-level courses, which include broker management (NRS 645.343). Only the broker license also needs the 2 years of full-time experience, and only a broker can open and run a brokerage.

Acting as a licensee, or advertising yourself as one, without the license is unlawful in Nevada (NRS 645.230). Wait until the Division has issued your license before you do either.

Two nearby licenses are separate. Managing rental property for other owners also needs a property management permit on top of your license (see our property management company guide and the Nevada Real Estate Division: property manager permit). Selling businesses for others needs a business broker permit (NRS 645.863).

What You Need Before You Apply

  • Age: 18 or older (Form 549 (license application and checklist)).
  • Residency: Nevada residency is not required. Non-residents also file a notarized Consent to Service of Process, Form 656 (NRS 645.495).
  • Fingerprints: a verification form from an approved fingerprint vendor, not a card from the Department of Public Safety. The Division keeps the vendor list (Form 619).
  • Education: certified transcripts or school certificates (Nevada Real Estate Division: salesperson initial license requirements).
  • Exam results: original passing results from Pearson VUE dated within the last 12 months.
  • An employing broker (salespeople and broker-salespeople): your broker signs an Acknowledgment of Intent to Employ on the application (Form 549 (license application and checklist)).
  • Background: the Division can deny a license for listed convictions, including forgery, embezzlement and engaging in real estate business without a license, and must wait at least 3 years after the fine, restitution, parole or probation ends (NRS 645.330(2)).

Step-by-Step: Getting Your Nevada Real Estate License

Step 1: Take the 120-Hour Salesperson Course

The course covers real estate principles, Nevada law, contracts and agency. The Division lists the split as 45 hours of principles, 45 hours of law (at least 18 on Nevada law), 15 hours on contracts and 15 hours on agency, with some of these hours waived for applicants already licensed in another state (Nevada Real Estate Division: salesperson initial license requirements; NAC 645.435). Pick a school from the Division's approved schools list (Form 502). Tuition is set by each school, so compare two or three before you pay.

Step 2: Get Fingerprints From an Approved Vendor

Sign the fingerprint background waiver on the application first, then go to a vendor on the Division's list. Fingerprint verification expires after 2 months (Form 549 (license application and checklist)), so time it close to your filing date rather than at the start of your course.

Step 3: Register for the Exam, Then Schedule With Pearson VUE

Since July 29, 2025, you register and pay for the exam on the Division's website first. Pearson VUE then emails an Authorization to Test, usually within 2 to 3 business days, and you book your seat from that email. Exam payments are final and nonrefundable, and you create only one account (Nevada Real Estate Division: exam registration). Applicants take the Nevada state exam, plus the general exam where it applies to them (Form 549 (license application and checklist)).

Step 4: Find an Employing Broker and File Form 549

A salesperson cannot file without a broker's signed acknowledgment, so interview brokerages before you finish the course. Terms such as commission splits, desk fees and training are agreed between you and the broker, so ask for them in writing. File Form 549 (license application and checklist) with your education proof, fingerprint verification and passing exam results. The application fee is $140 for a salesperson and $160 for a broker or broker-salesperson, and fees are nonrefundable. The Division accepts check, cashier's check, money order or exact cash, and credit cards only in person with a 2% convenience fee.

Step 5: Work Under Your Broker and Keep the License Current

Your license is active only while you are associated with a broker. If you leave one, you have 30 days to join another or ask for inactive status, and you cannot do licensed work in the gap (NRS 645.580). If your broker's own license expires, yours is inactivated too (Nevada Real Estate Division: licensing FAQ).

An original license is renewed after the first 12 months and then every 24 months (NRS 645.490). Renewal needs at least 36 hours of continuing education (NRS 645.575), and the Division's salesperson renewal page lists a $195 renewal fee. A license expired for more than a year is closed, and you start over with a new application, new exam results and new fingerprints (Division licensing FAQ).

Opening Your Own Brokerage

This is the part generic guides skip. A brokerage is a licensing project and a business-formation project at once, and the Division reviews both.

  • Experience: 2 of the last 4 years of full-time licensed activity, verified by your employing broker on Form 509 (Nevada Real Estate Division: broker initial license requirements).
  • Education: 64 semester units, including 3 units each in principles, law (with 18 classroom hours of Nevada law) and broker management. Each 2 years of licensed experience in the last 10 years earns 16 units, up to 8 years, but never against broker management or the Nevada law hours (NRS 645.343).
  • Application: $160 plus a credit report dated within 30 days and the financial Form 558. If the firm uses a name other than yours, Form 557 name approval comes before the application (Form 508 (broker license instructions)).
  • Entity: a corporation needs the broker as an officer, an LLC lists the broker as manager, and a sole proprietor files a fictitious name with the county clerk (Form 508 (broker license instructions)). Our Nevada LLC guide, DBA guide and comparison of LLC formation services cover the filing side. Any Nevada business also needs a state business license from the Secretary of State (NRS 76.100).
  • Office: a definite place of business in Nevada with a conspicuous sign, and each city or county may charge a revenue license on it (NRS 645.550 and 645.560). The Division requires the office to be accessible to the public and the broker to be able to visit it at least every 30 days. A home office needs a broker affidavit, Form 508A (Form 508 (broker license instructions)). See our Nevada home-based business rules before you sign a lease or use a spare room.
  • Trust account: client money goes into a separate checking account at a Nevada bank or credit union designated as a trust account, never mixed with your own funds (NRS 645.310). Transaction and trust records stay in Nevada and are open to Division audit (NAC 645.655); the Division's checklist gives 5 years for transaction records.

The Division's broker checklist does not list errors and omissions insurance among the attachments. Whether your firm needs it depends on your own risk and on any brokerage or MLS rules, so confirm with the Division and an insurance agent before you assume it is or is not required.

Costs and Timeline

Item Cost Source
Salesperson application $140 Form 549 (license application and checklist)
Broker or broker-salesperson application $160 Form 549 (license application and checklist)
Pre-licensing course Set by each school Form 502 school list
Fingerprints Set by each approved vendor Form 619 vendor list
Exam Shown when you register with the Division Division exam registration
Renewal $195 Division renewal page

The Division does not publish a processing time, so this page gives no total timeline. What the rules do fix are the clocks that can run out on you: fingerprints expire after 2 months and exam results after 12 months. File before either lapses.

Mistakes That Cost Applicants Time

These are practical conclusions from the Division's requirements above, not Division statistics.

  • Fingerprinting at the start of the course and letting the 2-month window close before you file.
  • Passing the exam but having no employing broker to sign the application.
  • Looking for a Department of Public Safety clearance card or Nevada residency proof. Neither appears on the Division's checklist.
  • Starting to show or list property before the license is issued, or after your broker's license lapses.
  • Planning to open a brokerage as your first license. Without the 2 years of full-time experience, the broker route is closed unless a license from another state gives you that experience.

Disclaimer

This article is informational and does not constitute legal, tax, or professional advice. Fees and requirements change, so confirm them with the Nevada Real Estate Division before you apply. If you are opening a brokerage, consult a Nevada real estate attorney and a tax professional.

Sources

Keep exploring: related Nevada guides