Do I Need SAE or CE?

Just like drivers licenses, real estate agent licenses need to be renewed every two years to stay fresh. But don’t worry about marking your calendars yet. The Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) will send you a notice 90 days before your license expiration date. Without it, you can’t even get started (we know you’re dying to!).

Once you begin the renewal process, you must complete a certain number of education hours to refresh your skills as a qualified agent. It’s important to complete this process in a timely manner or you’ll miss out on your renewal window. Agents have up to six months past the expiration date to renew (though there will be a fee to defer the expiration date), and failure to do so will require you to apply for a reinstatement of your license and pay the applicable fees. Once two years pass after the expiration date, you’ll have to reapply if you want your license reinstated.

There are two categories of continuing education courses: Sales Apprentice Education (SAE) and Continuing Education (CE). SAE coursework is for agents renewing their license for the very first time, while the standard CE requirement pertain to any subsequent renewals. Good news, Aceable currently offers CE courses and is in the process of adding SAE!

Here are the requirements that come along with each:

SAE

1. You must have a total of 270 qualifying real estate course hours before you can renew for the first time. This number includes the 180 hours of pre-license coursework you've already completed, plus three 30-hour Qualifying Education courses you'll need to complete before your first renewal 2 years after getting licensed. You'll also need 4 hours of TREC’s Legal Update I, and 4 hours of TREC’s Legal Update II.
2. If you’ve been made a supervisor, you may also need to take the 6-hour Broker Responsibility course to renew.
3. Make sure to submit all documents to TREC at least 10 days before renewal, when choosing your courses make sure you do NOT repeat the same one within a 2-year period or it won’t count.

CE

1. You must complete 18 hours of courses including 4 hours of Legal Update I and 4 hours of Legal Update II.
2. You’ll need to take 3 hours of contracts-related coursework as well.
3. The last 7 hours can come from any elective courses approved by TREC.
4. Like the SAE requirements, if you’ve been made a supervisor, you’ll need to take the 6-hour Broker Responsibility course.
5. These requirements must be met every two years after the first renewal.
6. Make sure to submit all documents to TREC at least 10 days in advance to your renewal date.

Renew your license online or by mail and be sure to include all renewal fees.