Texas real estate license renewal: SAE and CE

Passing the exam gets you licensed, but a Texas real estate sales agent license has to be renewed every 24 months, and the first renewal is different from the ones after it. The rules below come from the Texas Occupations Code chapter 1101 and TREC rules, as recorded in Encodr's verified Texas real estate fact files. Fees change, so this post leaves them out and you should check TREC's current schedule.

The renewal term

TREC issues and renews licenses for a 24-month period. It sends a renewal notice 90 days before expiration, but not receiving it does not excuse you from renewing. An individual's renewal is timely if received or postmarked on or before the expiration date.

The first renewal: Sales Agent Apprentice Education (SAE)

For your first renewal, a sales agent must complete at least 18 semester hours of qualifying courses (called Sales Agent Apprentice Education), including the legal-topic CE hours. TREC's renewal page breaks it down this way:

• two 30-hour qualifying electives (topics such as finance, appraisal, law, marketing, math, investment, residential inspection or property management), for 60 hours, plus
• the legal-topic hours, including the 4-hour Legal Update I and the 4-hour Legal Update II.

The 3-hour contract course is not required at the first renewal. TREC may not waive the first-renewal education requirement, and you must finish it before you file the renewal application.

Later renewals: 18 hours of CE

After the first renewal, TREC rule requires 18 hours of continuing education for each renewal. They must include:

• a 4-hour Legal Update I (laws, rules and forms),
• a 4-hour Legal Update II (agency, ethics and hot topics), and
• 3 hours on real estate contracts.

That leaves about 7 elective hours. At least 8 hours must cover legal topics such as commission rules, fair housing, agency, disclosures and promulgated forms. Taking the same course twice in a license period earns no extra credit. Brokers and delegated supervisors have an additional 6-hour Broker Responsibility Course starting January 1, 2026.

If you cannot finish CE

You may renew on inactive status without CE, but you must complete it before returning to active status. TREC also allows a CE deferral, in which you renew active by paying a deferral fee and complete the CE within 60 days after expiration, or the license goes inactive.

Late renewal windows

• Expired 90 days or less: renew for one and a half times the renewal fee.
• Expired more than 90 days but under six months: renew for two times the renewal fee.
• Expired six months or longer: you cannot renew and must obtain a new license.

A late renewal is processed on inactive status, and no one may do brokerage while inactive. A license also becomes inactive when a sponsoring broker's relationship with the agent ends.

Connect it to the exam

These renewal rules sit in the licensing part of the exam, the highest-scoring state section for first-time candidates but still worth a few cards. How to get a Texas real estate sales agent license covers the steps before renewal, and the exam breakdown shows where licensing fits. The commission and closing math on the exam is separate: try the property tax proration calculator. Encodr's free Texas real estate course has a unit on TREC and licensing, and the exam prep hub lists all courses.