How much does it cost to get a real estate licence in Massachusetts?

$85 to the state and its vendors ($31 application, $54 exam), plus tuition for the pre-licence course, the prorated licence fee shown in eLIPSE after you pass, and tuition for the 40-hour course, which the schools set.

Does Massachusetts have real estate licence reciprocity?

Partly. Massachusetts has a reciprocity policy and a separate Reciprocal Licensure application on the Board's site; a licensee from a non-reciprocal state can still sit the exam with a letter of good standing and a waiver of the 40-hour course.

How to become a real estate agent in Massachusetts (2026)

This page is independent of any school or brokerage. Requirements change (the bulletin read is the Board's June 12, 2025 update, the first written for its eLIPSE application portal; mass.gov itself could not be read when this page was built, so the Board's site should be checked for later fee changes), so each section names the official page it was read from and the date. If a figure below disagrees with the Board's page today, the board is right and this page is stale: the date tells you how stale.

1Massachusetts real estate licence requirements

Age: at least eighteen years of age.
Course: 40 hours of pre-licensure salesperson education, with a completed Massachusetts Board of Real Estate Educational Certificate from a Board-approved school.
Endorsements: three complete candidate endorsements from people unrelated to you; they need not be Massachusetts residents, but classmates known only from the real estate course may not sign.
Exam: apply for and pass the licensure examination within two years of completing the 40 hours; the education certificate expires after that.
Character and taxes: good moral character under the Board's published policy, with a yes to any discipline question reviewed, and a declaration that all state tax returns are filed and taxes paid under M.G.L. c. 62C, section 49A.
Identification: a valid Social Security number or tax identification number.

Source: Massachusetts Board of Registration of Real Estate Brokers and Salespersons with PSI, Real Estate Candidate Information Bulletin (updated June 12, 2025; Internet Archive capture of October 24, 2025 of the mass.gov download), read September 9, 2026.

2Steps to get your Massachusetts real estate licence, in order

Complete the 40 hours at a Board-approved school
The school issues the Educational Certificate the application relies on; it is valid for two years, and the Board advises against waiting until it is about to expire before booking the exam.
Apply in the eLIPSE portal and pay the $31 application fee
The application carries the certificate, the three endorsements, the tax declaration and the discipline questions; once approved, you are eligible for the two-part exam.
Book and pass the PSI exam for $54
The general portion is 80 questions in 150 minutes and the state portion 40 questions in 90 minutes; 70% passes, and a candidate who fails one portion retakes only that portion for $54.
Pay the prorated licence fee in eLIPSE
After passing both portions you pay the licence fee in the portal and receive a digital licence 24 hours later; the fee is prorated under M.G.L. c. 112, sections 87XX and 87ZZ because the first licence runs from the pass date to your birthday two to three years on.

3How much a Massachusetts real estate licence costs

The Board's bulletin gives the application and exam fees; the licence fee itself is prorated to your birthday and is shown in the eLIPSE portal after you pass, so it is not a fixed figure; tuition for the 40 hours is set by the schools.

Item	Amount
Application fee paid in the eLIPSE portal	$31
Salesperson exam paid to PSI at scheduling; valid for one year from payment; each retake is $54	$54
Licence fee set under M.G.L. c. 112, sections 87XX and 87ZZ; the bulletin gives no figure	prorated to your birthday; shown in eLIPSE after the exam
Paid to the Board and PSI the application and one exam sitting, before the prorated licence fee and tuition	$85

4How long it takes to become a real estate agent in Massachusetts

The fixed parts are 40 course hours, the Board's approval of the eLIPSE application, one PSI sitting of up to four hours, and a digital licence 24 hours after passing; the exam must be passed within two years of the course, and the Board publishes no typical application review time in the bulletin read for this guide. Those parts come from the Board's own bulletin, not a school's marketing:

Course: 40 hours at a Board-approved school, at its pace; the certificate lasts two years.
Application: filed in eLIPSE with the endorsements; the Board approves it before you can schedule, with no published review time.
Exam: 150 minutes for the general portion and 90 for the state portion at a PSI centre or by remote proctor.
Licence: digital licence in eLIPSE 24 hours after passing and paying the prorated fee.

5The Massachusetts real estate exam

The salesperson exam is 120 questions in 4 hours, two portions, general (150 minutes) and Massachusetts state (90 minutes), multiple choice at a PSI test centre or by remote proctor. You need a minimum of 70% on each portion to pass. The score shows on screen at the end and a score report is emailed; a fail comes with a diagnostic report by topic. Retakes: only the failed portion is retaken, for $54, and it must be passed within the two-year life of the Educational Certificate; if the certificate expires the partial pass expires with it and both portions are retaken after a new certificate.

Content area	Share of questions
General portion	about 67%
Massachusetts state portion	about 33%

Pass rate

Neither the Board nor PSI publishes a pass rate for the Massachusetts salesperson exam in the bulletin read for this guide, so none is shown here.

6Reciprocity: already licensed in another state?

By Board policy. The bulletin points licensees of other states to the Board's reciprocity policy and its Reciprocal Licensure application on mass.gov, which could not be read for this guide; a licensee from a state the Board has no reciprocity with may apply for the exam with a letter of good standing and a waiver of the 40-hour Massachusetts education, provided the other licence is current.

7Renewal and continuing education

The licence runs two years, expiring on your birthday; the first licence runs from the exam pass date for between two and three years. To renew you complete 12 clock hours of approved continuing education within the licence period.

First renewal: 12 hours of continuing education before the first renewal, completed before the licence can be renewed as active; without it the licence renews inactive and you cannot practise.

Later renewals: 12 hours of continuing education in each two-year term; the renewal fee is set by statute and was not in the bulletin read for this guide.

8How much real estate agents make in Massachusetts

The only independent, dated wage figure for agents is the Bureau of Labor Statistics' occupational survey. For Massachusetts, release May 2025:

Massachusetts, real estate sales agents	Annual wage
25th percentile	not published
Median	not published
75th percentile	not published
Agents counted by BLS in the state	4,530

BLS counts agents paid as employees and reports wages, not the commissions of self-employed agents, so these are a floor for the occupation rather than what a typical commissioned agent takes home. BLS suppressed the Massachusetts wage figures for this occupation in the May 2025 release and published only the employment count.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS May 2025, Real Estate Sales Agents (41-9022), Massachusetts, read September 8, 2026.

9After the licence: choosing a brokerage in Massachusetts

A new salesperson licence is only usable under a broker, so the next decision is which brokerage. On September 5, 2026, 9,918 Massachusetts agents had a published brokerage profile; the largest single company was Coldwell Banker Realty with 2,487 of them, and the largest brand was Coldwell Banker with 2,542. Realty Census, which counts those profiles, also compares the brokerages a new Massachusetts agent can join, including which ones publish their commission split: see which Massachusetts brokerages publish their pay plan.

Source: Realty Census, Massachusetts count and brokerage ranking, September 5, 2026 (realtycensus.com/massachusetts/), read September 9, 2026.

10Pre-licence schools in Massachusetts

The Board approves the real estate schools under 254 CMR 4.00 and publishes the list of education providers on its website; the 40-hour Educational Certificate must come from an approved school. The list is at the Board's page on mass.gov.

This page carries no affiliate links. If a schools page for Massachusetts is added with affiliate links, it will say so at the top, and schools will be ordered by what the state publishes or alphabetically, never by commission.

Questions people ask about becoming an agent in Massachusetts

How long does it take to become a real estate agent in Massachusetts?: The fixed parts are 40 course hours, the Board's approval of the eLIPSE application, one PSI sitting of up to four hours, and a digital licence 24 hours after passing; the exam must be passed within two years of the course, and the Board publishes no typical application review time in the bulletin read for this guide. The course is 40 hours at the school's pace; the eLIPSE application must be approved before you can book; the exam is one PSI sitting of 150 plus 90 minutes; and the digital licence arrives 24 hours after you pass and pay. The Board publishes no typical approval time.
How much does it cost to get a real estate licence in Massachusetts?: $85 to the state and its vendors ($31 application, $54 exam), plus tuition for the pre-licence course, the prorated licence fee shown in eLIPSE after you pass, and tuition for the 40-hour course, which the schools set.
What is the pass rate for the Massachusetts real estate exam?: Neither the Board nor PSI publishes a pass rate for the Massachusetts salesperson exam in the bulletin read for this guide, so none is shown here.
How much do real estate agents make in Massachusetts?: BLS did not publish a wage figure for real estate sales agents in Massachusetts in its May 2025 release. BLS counts agents paid as employees and reports wages, not the commissions of self-employed agents, so these are a floor for the occupation rather than what a typical commissioned agent takes home. BLS suppressed the Massachusetts wage figures for this occupation in the May 2025 release and published only the employment count.
Does Massachusetts have real estate licence reciprocity?: Partly. Massachusetts has a reciprocity policy and a separate Reciprocal Licensure application on the Board's site; a licensee from a non-reciprocal state can still sit the exam with a letter of good standing and a waiver of the 40-hour course.

Sources and dates

Every figure above links to one of these. Dotted underlines mark sourced figures.

Massachusetts Board of Registration of Real Estate Brokers and Salespersons with PSI, Real Estate Candidate Information Bulletin (updated June 12, 2025; Internet Archive capture of October 24, 2025 of the mass.gov download), read September 9, 2026
254 CMR 2.00, Licensure (Cornell LII; regulatory authority M.G.L. c. 112, sections 87RR, 87SS and 87TT), read September 9, 2026
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS May 2025, Real Estate Sales Agents (41-9022), Massachusetts, read September 8, 2026
Realty Census, Massachusetts count and brokerage ranking, September 5, 2026 (realtycensus.com/massachusetts/), read September 9, 2026

How to become a real estate agent in Massachusetts