How to become a real estate agent in South Carolina

This page is independent of any school or brokerage. Requirements change (the Commission's own site could not be read when this page was built, so its application instructions (version 1.9, June 2024), reciprocity alert and CE sheet come from Internet Archive captures; PSI's bulletin is its August 27, 2026 update), so each section names the official page it was read from and the date. If a figure below disagrees with the Commission's page today, the board is right and this page is stale: the date tells you how stale.

1South Carolina real estate licence requirements

• Age: at least 18 years of age.
• Education: graduation from high school, or a certificate of equivalency recognised by the U.S. Department of Education.
• Courses: 60 hours of classroom education in Unit I, Fundamentals of Real Estate, and 30 hours in Unit II, Advanced Real Estate Principles; Unit II may be finished after the exam but before the licence issues. A law degree or a bachelor's degree with a major in real estate exempts you.
• Background: a fingerprint-based check and a Social Security number check, started only after the Commission emails instructions; the application cannot be approved until both reports are in.
• Exam: a pass on the national and state portions of the PSI exam; an applicant with an active licence elsewhere, or one expired less than six months, sits the state portion only.
• Application life: the application is good for one year from receipt; if anything is still missing after that, the process restarts with a new fee.

Source: South Carolina Real Estate Commission, Associate Licensure Requirements and Application Process, version 1.9 of June 20, 2024 (Internet Archive capture of July 13, 2025), read September 9, 2026.

2Steps to get your South Carolina real estate licence, in order

1. Complete Unit I, the 60-hour fundamentals course

   Unit I is what makes you eligible for the exam; Unit II, 30 hours of advanced principles, can follow before or after the exam but must be finished before the licence is issued.

2. Apply to the Commission with the $25 fee

   The paper application goes in with identification, a signed Social Security card, proof of residency, the diploma or transcript, a notarised verification of lawful presence, name-change documents and explanations for any personal history answers; college transcripts and licence certifications must come directly from the issuer.

3. Complete both background checks when instructed

   Once the application is on file the Commission emails instructions for the fingerprint and Social Security number checks; do not start them earlier.

4. Pass both portions of the PSI exam for $67

   After approval PSI notifies you that you can register; eligibility lasts one year with unlimited retests. The national portion is 80 questions in 120 minutes and the state portion 40 in 80 minutes, and PSI sends the score directly to the Commission.

5. Pay the $50 licence fee and file the supervision form

   On receipt of the pass the Commission asks for the initial licence fee, a Supervision Attestation Form signed by your broker-in-charge, and the Unit II certificate if not already filed.

Source: South Carolina Real Estate Commission, Associate Licensure Requirements and Application Process, version 1.9 of June 20, 2024 (Internet Archive capture of July 13, 2025), read September 9, 2026; PSI, South Carolina Real Estate Candidate Information Bulletin (updated August 27, 2026), read September 9, 2026.

3How much a South Carolina real estate licence costs

The Commission's application instructions give its two fees and PSI's bulletin the exam fee; the background-check vendors and the schools set the rest.

Source: South Carolina Real Estate Commission, Associate Licensure Requirements and Application Process, version 1.9 of June 20, 2024 (Internet Archive capture of July 13, 2025), read September 9, 2026; PSI, South Carolina Real Estate Candidate Information Bulletin (updated August 27, 2026), read September 9, 2026.

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

The fixed parts are 90 course hours in two units, the Commission's approval of the application after both background reports arrive, and one PSI sitting of 200 minutes; the application lives for one year and exam eligibility for one year, and the Commission publishes no typical review time in the documents read for this guide. Those parts come from the Commission's own instructions and the exam vendor's bulletin, not a school's marketing:

• Unit I: 60 hours of fundamentals at the school's pace, before the exam.
• Application and checks: application on file, then the fingerprint and Social Security checks on the Commission's instructions; no review time is published.
• Exam: 120 minutes for the national portion and 80 for the state portion at a PSI centre; a failed exam can be rebooked two days later.
• Unit II and licence: 30 hours of advanced principles before or after the exam, then the licence fee and supervision form.

Source: South Carolina Real Estate Commission, Associate Licensure Requirements and Application Process, version 1.9 of June 20, 2024 (Internet Archive capture of July 13, 2025), read September 9, 2026; PSI, South Carolina Real Estate Candidate Information Bulletin (updated August 27, 2026), read September 9, 2026.

5The South Carolina real estate exam

The associate exam is 120 questions in 3.3333333333333335 hours, two portions, national (120 minutes) and South Carolina state (80 minutes), multiple choice at a PSI test centre. You need 56 of 80 national and 28 of 40 state questions correct, which is 70% of each portion to pass. The score is given immediately after the exam and reported only to you and the Commission; PSI sends the score report to the Commission directly. Retakes: unlimited retests within the one-year eligibility; a candidate who fails on a Wednesday can retest as soon as Friday, subject to space, at $59 for one portion or $67 for both.

Pass rate

Neither the Commission nor PSI publishes a pass rate for the South Carolina associate exam in the documents read for this guide, so none is shown here.

Source: PSI, South Carolina Real Estate Candidate Information Bulletin (updated August 27, 2026), read September 9, 2026.

6Reciprocity: already licensed in another state?

Only with Georgia and North Carolina. Under section 40-57-120(A) the Commission can waive education, experience or exams only through a signed reciprocal agreement, and it has two: Georgia (a licensee by written exam who is a current Georgia resident takes no exam and no courses) and North Carolina, effective January 26, 2024 (a North Carolina broker, or a provisional broker with 90 hours of post-licensing education, sits the South Carolina state exam). Any other active licensee applies as a new candidate but sits the state portion only, and pays the full $50 licence fee rather than the $25 reciprocity fee.

Source: South Carolina Real Estate Commission, Reciprocity alert of March 4, 2024 (Internet Archive capture of February 11, 2026), read September 9, 2026; South Carolina Real Estate Commission, Associate Licensure Requirements and Application Process, version 1.9 of June 20, 2024 (Internet Archive capture of July 13, 2025), read September 9, 2026.

7Renewal and continuing education

The licence runs two years; the exact expiry date is not stated in the documents read for this guide. To renew you complete 10 clock hours of approved continuing education within the licence period.

First renewal: the same 10 hours as every renewal; the 30-hour sales post-licensing course counted as CE at the first renewal only for those who took it before January 1, 2017.

Later renewals: 10 hours of continuing education per biennial cycle for an active salesperson: the 4-hour mandatory core course plus 6 elective hours, tracked through CE Broker; licensees renewing inactive owe none until they reactivate, and the renewal fee was not in the documents read for this guide.

Source: South Carolina Real Estate Commission, CE Requirements and Exemptions (Internet Archive capture of February 24, 2025), read September 9, 2026.

8How much real estate agents make in South Carolina

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

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.

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

9After the licence: choosing a brokerage in South Carolina

A new salesperson licence is only usable under a broker, so the next decision is which brokerage. On September 5, 2026, 6,244 South Carolina agents had a published brokerage profile; the largest single company was Keller Williams with 1,511 of them, and the largest brand was Keller Williams with 1,511. Realty Census, which counts those profiles, also compares the brokerages a new South Carolina agent can join, including which ones publish their commission split: see which South Carolina brokerages publish their pay plan.

Source: Realty Census, South Carolina count and brokerage ranking, September 5, 2026 (realtycensus.com/south-carolina/), read September 9, 2026.

10Pre-licence schools in South Carolina

The Commission approves the schools that teach Unit I and Unit II and the continuing education providers, and tracks CE through CE Broker; approved courses are listed on its website. The list is at the Commission's website at LLR.

This page carries no affiliate links. If a schools page for South Carolina 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.

Source: South Carolina Real Estate Commission, CE Requirements and Exemptions (Internet Archive capture of February 24, 2025), read September 9, 2026.

Questions people ask about becoming an agent in South Carolina

How long does it take to become a real estate agent in South Carolina?

The fixed parts are 90 course hours in two units, the Commission's approval of the application after both background reports arrive, and one PSI sitting of 200 minutes; the application lives for one year and exam eligibility for one year, and the Commission publishes no typical review time in the documents read for this guide. Unit I is 60 hours at the school's pace; the Commission approves the application once the two background reports are in; the exam is one PSI sitting of 120 plus 80 minutes, repeatable for a year; and Unit II's 30 hours must be done before the licence issues. The Commission publishes no typical review time.

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

$142 to the state and its vendors ($25 application, $67 exam, $50 licence), plus tuition for the pre-licence course, the fingerprint and Social Security check fees, and tuition for the 90 hours, which the schools set.

What is the pass rate for the South Carolina real estate exam?

Neither the Commission nor PSI publishes a pass rate for the South Carolina associate exam in the documents read for this guide, so none is shown here.

How much do real estate agents make in South Carolina?

The BLS May 2025 median for real estate sales agents in South Carolina is $56,580 a year, with the middle half earning between $39,990 and $97,470. 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.

Does South Carolina have real estate licence reciprocity?

Only with Georgia and North Carolina. Georgia licensees skip the courses and the exam; North Carolina brokers sit the state exam; every other state's active licensee completes the application and sits the state portion of the exam.

Sources and dates