Getting licensed

The Hawaii real estate salesperson checklist

Updated 29 August 2026 · every step in the order that avoids paying twice

Fees and rules below come from the Hawaii Real Estate Commission's published fee schedule, its FY2025 annual report, the PSI candidate bulletin, and the statutes cited at the end. The State changes them — confirm anything financial at cca.hawaii.gov/reb before you act on it.

Step 0 — Check you are eligible before you spend anything

HRS § 467-8 requires that you are 18 or older, a US citizen, US national, or an alien authorised to work in the US, and the holder of a high school diploma or equivalent.

If you have prior criminal history, professional discipline, or unresolved tax compliance issues, do this first: the Commission accepts an Application for Preliminary Decision, which gets you an eligibility determination before you pay for a course or an exam. Nobody should discover a disqualification after spending $600.

The three clocks that expire

Almost every expensive mistake in Hawaii licensing is one of these running out. Write your dates down now.

If you are near the exam-score deadline and still have no broker, see Step 4: applying for an inactive license preserves the score rather than forfeiting it.

Step 0.5 — Check whether you can skip the course entirely

Before paying for 60 hours, ask the Commission for an Education Equivalency Certificate. A law degree, a real estate degree, or an active out-of-state license can waive the pre-licensing requirement, and an Exam Equivalency may apply too. That is $377–$600 some people never need to spend, and it has to be requested before you book with PSI.

Equivalency decisions are made by the Hawaii Real Estate Commission on the facts of your application. Start at the Commission's examination and license applicant page and confirm anything here before you spend money on it.

Step 1 — 60 hours of pre-licensing education

The course must be Hawaii Real Estate Commission-approved; the approved prelicense school list is published at pvl.ehawaii.gov. Budget $377–$600 — online at the low end, Honolulu classroom at the high end. Keep the completion certificate: it expires two years from issue.

The Hawaii portion is not filler, and it is exactly where out-of-state study material fails you: leasehold versus fee simple, Land Court registration, HARPTA withholding on sales by non-residents, Hawaiian Home Lands, the condominium statutes, and HRS 467 itself.

On the pass rate: 33.1% of salesperson attempts passed in FY2025 — 4,518 tested, 1,497 passed. That is per attempt, not per person; retakes are permitted and some of those sittings are repeats. Budget as though you will sit twice.

Compare the approved Hawaii schools, side by side →

Step 2 — Pass the PSI exam

$61 per sitting, whether you sit one portion or both.

The two portions are scored separately, and you retake only the one you failed. That single fact changes how you prepare: if the state portion is what beats you, more national-principles study is wasted money.

Each portion also carries a handful of unscored experimental questions, so the count on screen may exceed the numbers above.

The application form is handed to you at the test centre. It is not a download — PSI issues the hard-copy salesperson application on site when you pass. Do not go looking for it online beforehand.

Step 3 — Disclosures

There is no routine fingerprint or FBI background check in the Commission's salesperson process. If someone has told you to book one, they are describing another state.

What does apply is disclosure of criminal history, professional discipline, and tax compliance. If any of those apply to you, the Application for Preliminary Decision in Step 0 is the mechanism — before the money, not after.

Step 4 — Line up your sponsoring broker BEFORE you file

This is the step order that saves money, and it is the opposite of what most guides imply. Section B of the salesperson application requires the signature and license number of your Principal Broker at the time you submit. So:

• Broker secured, then file → an active license, one fee, done.
• File first → you may only apply for an inactive license, and activating it later means a Change Form and a $25 fee.

Start broker conversations while you are studying. You also negotiate better before you are the one waiting.

Step 5 — Application and fee

What must be in the envelope:

• the original PSI score report showing both portions passed
• the original pre-licensing completion certificate, or your Education Equivalency Certificate
• your Social Security Number (required for PVL processing, HRS § 436B-10)
• payment made out exactly to “Commerce and Consumer Affairs” — cash is not accepted by mail

Processing runs about 15–20 business days from receipt.

Hawaii Administrative Rules, Chapter 53, effective 10/10/2016.

No broker yet and the exam-score clock running out? File for an inactive license. It preserves the score; $25 and a Change Form activate it once you have a brokerage.

After the license

• Continuing education: 20 hours per two-year cycle (6 core, 14 elective), due by 30 November of the even-numbered year. The first cycle depends on when you were licensed: licensed in an even year and your first renewal is fee-only with no CE; licensed in an odd year and all 20 hours are due before that even-year renewal. Full CE rules →
• Brokerage split and desk fees, which vary widely — ask before you sign.
• MLS and association dues. REALTOR® membership is an association choice, separate from being a licensee; the MLS you need depends on the island you work.
• Your own marketing. Most brokerages expect you to generate your own business and provide little toward being findable.

What the whole thing costs