The Quickest Way to Get Your Real Estate Sales License in New York

You have decided you want your real estate salesperson's license, and you want it now.

Only problem is, you now have to face a bureaucratic gauntlet that makes an American Ninja course look like your neighborhood park's jungle gym.

Have no fear: below I have outlined the quickest way to get your real estate sales license in New York -- including all the steps, plus tricks you can use to expedite this process.

1.  Take Advantage Of The Waiver Process If You Are a College Student

Before you even get to take the license exam, you are required to take a secretary of state approved 75 hour education course.  Wouldn't it be great if you could just, well... skip that?

As It turns out, you can: you just need to have taken real estate related coursework in college and/or graduate school.

In New York, as well as a number of other states, students -- or former students -- in these categories merely need to make a written request (there is no waiver form) to the Department of State including the following

1. A transcript and a description detailing the relevant courses you have taken
2. The topics they covered and the hours they required

If approved, you are exempt from this requirement of getting your salesperson license -- and even broker's license, if you are a real hotshot -- saving you a lot of money, and more importantly, time.

This lends itself naturally to students concentrating on real estate: in effect, their college coursework does double duty.  That being said, the waiver process is not limited to students with real estate related degrees, and anyone with an entrepreneurial streak would be wise to take advantage of the waiver system.

For official information, see:
Official New York License Application
Offical New York Licensing FAQ  

No relevant coursework you can use to take advantage of the waiver program?  Do not worry, you can always...

2.  Find A Fast Track Real Estate Education Course

If you are eligible to waive your education requirement, then feel free to ignore this section.

However, if that avenue is not available to you, then the fastest way you can get your real estate salesperson license in NY state is to find a expedited course you can take.

Fast track courses have a number of advantages over a more drawn out schedule of classes:

• Less studying is necessary as the entirety of the material you learn will be fresh in your head when you take the exam
• The class material can be far from exciting -- especially if your instructor is uninspiring -- so you might as well rip the band-aid off in one quick motion
• Instructors tend to let you out early due to the long session times -- making it shorter hour-wise
• Commuting to your class might be a pain, so less classes means less time you waste overall
  
   

3.  Pass The Exam Your First Time Around

Once you have successfully filed your waiver, or attended your education course, you will simply need to pass your exam in order to obtain your real estate agent's license.

1. Find the optimal location to take your exam here
   
2. Register for your salesperson's license exam (do not wait to complete this step -- sites in high demand locations will fill quickly)
3. Ideally you will want to take your exam soon after you complete your course work to make sure the material is fresh in your mind 
4. Prepare for your exam.  While it is not a particularly difficult test, going in having done zero studying is bad idea -- and each time you fail you will have to pay the 15$ fee to retake it.  There are a variety of online courses focused on the exam which can cost as little as $100 if you need extra help 
5. Answer, at bare minimum, 70% of the questions correctly on your exam day

Get this far?  Congrats!  You are officially licensed as a salesperson to profit from real estate transactions in New York -- and you did it in the fastest way possible.  Now, your last step is to find a brokerage where you can hang your license and spread your wings as a bonafide agent.

Have any tips to share that we did not mention?  Think this is the best way to get your real estate license?  If so, share below!