FAQ: What are the continuing education requirements in Texas?

There are two different types of continuing education requirements in Texas.

First, there are Sales Apprentice Education (SAE) requirements, which only apply if you are renewing your Texas real estate license for the first time. You must complete 90 hours of SAE credits before your first renewal date. SAE courses are 30 hours each.

Then there are Continuing Education (CE) requirements, which applies to anyone who has renewed their license more than once. TREC requires 18 hours of CE credits for each 2 year renewal period. Also, please note that you will not be granted credit for a CE course you completed if you previously completed a substantially similar course within a two year period.

CE courses may cover topics such as:

• Real estate appraisal
• Real estate law
• Real estate marketing
• Real estate math
• Property management
• Real estate investments
• Residential inspection for real estate agents

In addition to the SAE and CE requirements, all licensees must take a 4-hour Legal Update 1, and a 4-hour Legal Update 2 course (8 hours in total). If you are required to take the SAE courses, the 8 hours of Legal Update credits must be taken in addition to the 90 hours of SAE credits.

If you are required to take CE credits, the 8 hours of Legal Update credits may be counted towards the required 18 hours of CE. This means you will only be required to take 10 hours of elective CE credits in addition to the 8 hours of Legal Updates.

Finally, if your broker has made you a supervisor for more than 6 months, you must take the 6-hour Broker Responsibility course, prior to your renewal date.

If you are taking SAE credits, the 6-hour Broker Responsibility course must be taken in addition to the 90 SAE credits and 8 Legal Update credits.
If you are taking CE credits, the 6-hour Broker Responsibility course may count towards your required 18 hours of CE credits. Since CE candidates must take 8 hours of Legal Update courses, you will only be required to take 4 hours of elective CE credits (6-hour Broker Responsibility course, 8-hours of Legal Update courses, and 4-hours of elective CE courses).