Where to take the 90-hour Washington broker course
Washington splits the requirement into a 60-hour Real Estate Fundamentals course and a 30-hour Real Estate Practices course. All three national schools sell both.
AceableAgent
- Publishes the 60-hour Fundamentals and 30-hour Practices split explicitly, so you can see you are buying both halves rather than discovering the second one later
- Uses the correct licence names throughout — broker for the entry credential, managing broker for the senior one — which is more than one competitor manages in this state
- Self-paced online with no live-session requirement, which Washington permits in full
- Appears in DOL's own quarterly school pass-rate reports, so its results are checkable against a state source rather than its own marketing
The CE Shop
- Sells the 90 hours in three tiers, and separately sells the 30-hour Practices course on its own — useful if you have already done Fundamentals elsewhere
- Correctly catalogued under the broker track rather than a salesperson track that does not exist in Washington
- Also sells the managing broker course, which is the upgrade you would need after three years' experience
- Self-paced online with a free trial before you commit
Colibri Real Estate
- Four packages covering the 90 hours, with an entry tier that skips exam prep
- States the 90-hour requirement correctly on its Washington licensing page
- ⚠️ Read its exam description with care: the page refers to a Washington "salesperson license" and a 140-question salesperson exam. Washington has neither — the entry credential is broker, and DOL's exam is 100 national plus 30 state questions
- Does not publish the 60 / 30 course split on its licensing page, so confirm both courses are included before you pay
How to get your Washington broker licence
Six steps, governed by three separate expiry clocks that run at the same time and catch people out independently.
Complete 60 hours of Real Estate Fundamentals
Including three hours on fair housing and consumer protection. A clock hour here is 50 minutes of actual instruction, so this is 50 real hours.
Complete 30 hours of Real Estate Practices
Each course must be completed within two years before you apply for the exam. The two-year clock runs on each course separately, so finishing Fundamentals long before Practices quietly burns most of its validity.
Have your school send your records to PSI
You cannot register yourself. DOL is explicit: your school submits your completion records to PSI first, and only then do you get an email with a registration link. How responsive your school is here is a real cost.
Pass both portions
100 national questions in 150 minutes and 30 state questions in 90 minutes, each needing a scaled score of 70. Pass one and you have six months to pass the other, or you retake both at $210 each.
Get fingerprinted
Through IdentoGO, $18 for prints plus a $33 background check fee. Results can take up to 14 business days and must be on file before you apply, which is why the ordering matters — see the FAQ.
Apply within a year of passing
The $233 original licence fee includes a mandatory $20 research fee. Then plan for the 90 hours due at your first renewal, all of which must be started after you are licensed.
From the Washington State Department of Licensing, RCW 18.85.101, RCW 18.85.191, WAC 308-124A-710, -760, -785 and -790, WAC 308-124H-820 and -830, DOL form RE-620-005, and the PSI Washington candidate bulletin, verified August 2026. DOL publishes quarterly pass-rate reports by school; the most recent edition we could open covers October to December 2024, so we do not claim the series is current — check with DOL before relying on it. A fee rulemaking covering real estate was in progress as of July 2026, so confirm the $210 and $233 figures before you budget.
Washington FAQs
Does Washington have a salesperson licence?
No. Washington abolished the salesperson credential — the entry-level licence is a broker licence, and the senior credential is managing broker, which needs three years of full-time experience plus a further 90 hours. This matters when you are shopping, because at least one national school still describes a Washington "salesperson license" and a salesperson exam on its Washington page. Neither exists.
How many hours does Washington really require?
Ninety to get licensed, and another ninety to keep the licence past your first renewal. The first 90 is 60 hours of Real Estate Fundamentals plus 30 hours of Real Estate Practices. The second 90, due at the two-year mark, is a 30-hour Advanced Practices course, a 30-hour Real Estate Law course, the 3-hour Core curriculum and 27 more CE hours. New licensees carry three times the education burden of everyone else, and packages sold as complete rarely mention it.
Can I take courses now and count them toward my first renewal?
No, and this is the trap. The rule requires the first-renewal 90 hours be "started after the date first licensed." Anything you study before your licence is issued counts toward the initial 90 only. Buying a large bundle up front on the assumption it covers both stages does not work in Washington.
When exactly do I get fingerprinted?
Washington's own guidance says two different things and we are reporting both rather than choosing. DOL's web page says "You must pass your test before submitting your fingerprints for background checks." DOL's own PDF guide to applying lists getting fingerprints taken as step 2, before scheduling the exam. Both agree the results must be on record before you apply for the licence, and results can take up to 14 business days — so the earlier you go, the less likely the wait delays your application.
Does Washington require errors and omissions insurance?
No. The phrase does not appear anywhere in chapter 18.85 RCW or in the licensing rules, and neither the application form nor the renewal form carries a carrier or policy field. The only insurance mentioned in the whole chapter concerns title insurance kickbacks. Insurance-industry lists that name Washington are wrong.
Does Washington publish exam pass rates by school?
It has. DOL produces quarterly reports listing each school by name with candidates tested, passed and failed, broken out for first-time and repeat takers — a far better signal than any comparison we could write. The most recent edition we were able to open covers October to December 2024, and the reports are not linked from DOL's main education pages, so we cannot confirm the series is still running. Worth asking DOL directly before you lean on it.