The core costs
| Item | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 75-hour pre-license course | $125 to $1,050 | Observed public-price span in the August 22, 2026 provider sample. Verify checkout price, access, proctoring, refunds, and included prep. |
| GCIC criminal history report | Varies | Must be obtained no more than 60 days before the license application. Confirm the fee with the issuing agency. |
| PSI exam fee | $175 | Per attempt. A retake costs the same again. |
| License fee (within 3 months of passing) | $170 | Covers the first 4-year license term. Payable at the test center. |
Researched planning range: $470 to $1,395. The course is the line with the largest variation. The exam and license fees are fixed, so the gap between a $470 and a $1,395 total comes down mostly to which school you choose.
The hidden costs nobody budgets for
| Item | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Late license application (3 to 12 months) | $340 | Double the standard fee. After 12 months the exam result expires entirely. |
| Exam retake | $175 each | The single most avoidable cost on this page. |
| 25-hour post-license course | About $25 to $200 | Due within one year of your license date, and a course finished in the year before you were licensed also counts. Easy to forget when budgeting. Prices seen at approved schools in September 2026. |
| Broker and association fees | varies | Desk fees, MLS access, and REALTOR® association dues are set by the firm and local board. |
Where the money is genuinely wasted
Two costs above are entirely avoidable. A retake adds $175, and applying for the license more than three months after you pass adds another $170. Hit both and you have spent $345 that bought you nothing.
Retakes. At $175 each, another attempt is the largest fixed source of unplanned spend on the journey. GREC publishes no official pass rate, so we do not turn an unofficial estimate into a budgeting assumption.
Applying late. Waiting more than three months after passing doubles the application charge under Rule 520-1-.04. Same-day licensing is no longer available, so prepare the documents and return after 24 hours rather than waiting for the three-month deadline. If you have not chosen a broker yet, an inactive application still meets that deadline. What to do right after passing.
How Georgia compares
The fixed Georgia figures are clear, but cross-state comparisons change too often to be a useful budget. Treat the 75-hour course as a researched market purchase, then add the current PSI exam fee and license fee exactly as published.
Budgeting realistically
Plan for $470 to $1,395, and treat the upper end as your real number rather than the lower one. Then add the 25-hour post-license course in year one, which is mandatory and reliably forgotten. The full licensing path sets out where each cost falls in the sequence.
What is official and what is estimated?
The $175 examination fee and $170 license fee come from the current PSI bulletin. The higher charge after three months and the twelve-month result deadline come from GREC Rule 520-1-.04. Course, background report, notary, post-license course, broker, MLS, and association figures vary by provider or local agency and are estimates, not state fees.