Ohio Real Estate License Reciprocity
How to transfer your real estate license from another state to Ohio.
What is real estate license reciprocity? One may obtain a real estate license by reciprocity or mutual recognition if the person has a current license in another state. It basically means you would transfer your license without having to take some or all of the state’s pre-licensing requirements. Requirements for an of-state-real estate license vary by state.
Does Ohio have real estate reciprocity with other states?
Ohio has new guidelines for Out-of-State Applicants.
In most cases, Ohio lets you take only the state portion of the Ohio real estate exam. A person who is licensed in a state with a substantialy similiar license. The license must have been held for at least a year, although the OH real estate commission might waive that requirement. In this case, one would only need to take the Ohio portion of the real estate exam by PSI. The pre-license course and National portion of the exam would not be required.
Note: Ohio changed its laws in 2023 and created four (4) different options for persons out of state to obtain an Ohio license. Their new options are very confusing, so we will provide appropriate links, but you will likely need to contact the Commission for your situation. But all 4 options allow you to take only the state portion of the license exam, not the national portion.
Requirements to get a real estate license in Ohio for persons licensed out-of-state:
- You must have a current license in another state. The license must have been held for at least one year. Contact the Ohio Commission about waiving the one year requirement.
- You may review the four (4) options provided by the Ohio Real Estate Commission before moving forward with this process.
- Pass the Ohio portion of the real estate license exam with Pearson VUE.
- Provide a certificate of licensure from the out-of-state license.
- Submit fingerprinting for background check.
- Apply for your license with the Ohio Real Estate Commission.
References for real estate license by reciprocity in Kentucky:
Links for quick reference.
- PSI website link for Ohio real estate exam
- PSI website link for creating an account, checking potential exam dates and scheduling an exam.
- Exam Prep for Ohio Real Estate – State portion only
- Ohio Salesperson License Examination Application
- Ohio Broker License Examination Application