Transfer a Real Estate License to New Hampshire

Verified July 2026 · 49 official sources

Any state, no list, one 90-minute exam, about $279

The five-state list everyone quotes (Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont, Tennessee, Georgia) is dead law, deleted by the legislature effective August 1, 2022. What replaced it is RSA 331-A:11-a, Recognition for Licensure, an any-jurisdiction rule with no state list, no agreement requirement and no residency test. Hold an active US license in good standing earned by passing a national and a state exam, and you may apply for the equivalent New Hampshire license by sitting only the New Hampshire state portion, 40 items in 90 minutes with 28 right to pass. The PSI bulletin published with the Commission says it in four words, "NH has reciprocity with all 50 states." A salesperson is out about $279 in 6 to 10 weeks, with no fingerprints and no FBI check. The open item is education, since RSA 331-A:10 still demands 40 approved hours and nothing says whether a recognition applicant owes them, so budget a 6-hour New Hampshire course and ask OPLC before enrolling in anything longer.

First year: About $279 plus any courseRenewal: $99 / 2 yrs from your issue dateWait: 6 to 10 weeks, PSI review up to 1 monthWork while waiting: No, no temporary license for arrivalsTravel required: Exam is in person, out-of-state centers confirming

What carries over to New Hampshire, and what does not

Comes with you

Your active license from any US jurisdiction, no list, no agreement
The national exam portion, waived if you passed one somewhere
Broker experience, one calendar year of out-of-state licensure
Your old prelicense course as 34 hours of national material
Out-of-state criminal record reports, good 6 months

New for this state

New Hampshire state exam, 40 items in 90 minutes, 70 percent
Three sworn character affidavits from unrelated people
$25 New Hampshire conviction check, run before you apply
Nonresident irrevocable consent to be sued in New Hampshire
New Hampshire CE, 3-hour core plus 12 electives, old CE never counts

If you hold a broker license

A broker pays $121, lands near $316 all in, and sits the same 40-item state exam. The gift is Rea 301.03(c), which accepts one calendar year of out-of-state licensure in place of New Hampshire's apprenticeship (a year full time or 2,000 part-time hours as a salesperson here), proven by a certificate of good standing. Two catches. RSA 331-A:10 still wants evidence of 6 separate compensated transactions and nothing waives it for an arriving broker, so gather closing documents early or expect an equivalent-experience appointment before the Commission in Concord. Only principal and managing brokers post the $25,000 bond and keep escrow in a New Hampshire bank. Associate, Managing and Principal Broker are three separate licenses, and no broker owes a post-licensing package.

Working in New Hampshire without a New Hampshire license

On a single deal For COMMERCIAL, yes, a real door. RSA 331-A:22-a and Rea 703.01 let an out-of-state broker perform acts that would otherwise need a New Hampshire license, on a full negotiable commission split rather than a capped referral fee. Commercial means any real estate other than real estate containing one to 4 family dwelling units, so apartment buildings of 5 units and up, retail, office, industrial, land and mixed use are in, while single-family homes, duplexes, triplexes and quadplexes are out. The price is the Commission's written cooperative brokerage agreement, signed before any activity begins, one property per agreement, one year maximum, both brokers on the same side, the New Hampshire broker supervising every showing, listing, advertisement and negotiation and holding all deposits in a New Hampshire escrow account, your ads naming that broker with equal prominence, and your consent to New Hampshire courts. Your own salesperson may work it under your supervision. For RESIDENTIAL, one to 4 family dwellings, there is no door at all, only a referral fee or a license, and unlicensed practice runs through RSA 310:13 at your gain from the violation or up to $10,000 per offense, whichever is greater.

Referrals Yes, and broader than most states. RSA 331-A:26, XXIV lets a New Hampshire licensee share valuable consideration with a licensed broker of another jurisdiction who is doing business regularly and legally in that broker's own jurisdiction, and it says shared, not capped at a referral fee. It reaches residential as well as commercial. Three limits. The recipient must be a broker, not a salesperson, and a dormant license does not count. The money moves broker to broker, because a licensee may take pay only from their own principal broker. And on residential the referral must be your whole contribution, because any licensed act would break RSA 331-A:3 with nothing to shelter you.

Your send-off checklist

YOUAsk two questions at (603) 271-2152 before you spend anything. First, how did you get your current license? RSA 331-A:11-a is written for licenses earned by exam. National plus state exam and you owe the New Hampshire state portion only; state exam only and you owe the state portion plus the national; no exam at all, the way Nebraska and Georgia issue them, and you fit neither sentence and may be treated as an original applicant. Second, does a recognition applicant owe prelicense education? That is a 90-minute exam versus a 40-hour course plus a 240-minute exam. RSA 331-A:11-a

YOURun the New Hampshire conviction check online at the Department of Safety portal. The statute wants the authorization at State Police before you apply, so this really is step one. Real estate is an Option A profession, a New Hampshire record check only, with no fingerprint card, no live scan, no FBI check and no notarization, the same from any state. Separately order a record report from any other state where you have an unannulled conviction, dated within 6 months. $25 OPLC background check

STATE BOARDSOrder a letter or certificate of good standing from every state where you hold a license. The Commission requires a reciprocity applicant to send it with the exam paperwork, and brokers need it again under Rea 301.03(c). No New Hampshire freshness window is published, so order late rather than early. varies

YOURegister online with PSI under your exact legal name as on your photo ID, upload education documentation as PDF, and include the letter of good standing. Paper, mail, fax and email registration ended in March 2025. PSI reviews before it lets you book and says to allow up to one month, the longest wait here. confirming, rule says $155 PSI portal

YOUBook and sit the New Hampshire state portion within 3 months of your registration receipt. It is 40 scored items in 90 minutes and 28 right passes. The outline points first at eligibility (RSA 331-A:10, 11, 11-a) and cooperating agreements (Rea 703.01). Scores are immediate. Test centers only, no online proctoring, and the bulletin lists just three sites, Concord, Nashua and Portsmouth, so call (855) 340-3711 before booking travel to confirm a center near you delivers it.

YOUCollect three character-reference affidavits from people not related to you by blood or marriage; these are sworn and notarized, not casual letters. Budget two weeks. Line up a New Hampshire principal broker at the same time, since a salesperson license does not exist apart from one and that broker signs your application attesting you are trustworthy and supervised.

YOUFile through the OPLC portal, and do not start the paperwork more than 30 days out, since Rea 301.03(t) dates every notarized signature. You need the Universal Application, the Salesperson Application Form, the three affidavits, the original PSI score report, criminal record reports, the Arrest and Conviction Form plus explanation for anything disclosable (annulled offenses included), and, out of state, the irrevocable consent to service of process. Confirming whether the portal takes scans or wants wet-ink originals mailed to 7 Eagle Square, so ask OPLCLicensing2@oplc.nh.gov. $99 OPLC portal

STATE BOARDSWait 10 to 14 business days, then watch for the license by email from nh.licenses@doit.nh.gov. Obtain it within 6 months of passing or you retake the exam, and do no work for pay until it is in hand.

The money

Salesperson application	$99
New Hampshire conviction check, online	$25
Exam fee	$155 by rule, confirming what PSI charges
6-hour New Hampshire state course	confirming, budget for it
Letter of good standing, each old state	varies, set by that state
Fingerprints and FBI check	$0, New Hampshire runs neither
Errors and omissions insurance	$0, required of nobody here
Recovery fund	$0, New Hampshire has none
Surety bond	$0 for a salesperson, binds only principal and managing brokers
TOTAL First year, typical	About $279 plus the letter and any course
Then: renewal every 2 years	$99

Watch out in New Hampshire

Ignore every published New Hampshire reciprocity list. The condition that made such a list operative was deleted on August 1, 2022, and the word reciprocity now appears exactly once in the statute, describing how a license was obtained. New Hampshire also cannot make a list. The powers section that would carry agreement authority, RSA 331-A:7, has five of its seven paragraphs repealed, so the Commission can sign nothing inbound and nothing outbound, and needs neither. Anyone who read an old list and gave up was reading repealed law.
Education is the biggest unresolved question, and getting it wrong voids your exam. Rea 301.03(r) makes a candidate who misses the education requirement before the exam date retake it in full, even after passing every part. The likely answer is light, since Rea 301.03(q)(2) credits 34 hours of national material from another state and asks for 6 hours of New Hampshire material, and Rea 301.03(s) contemplates a nonresident passing the state portion alone. The snag is that the rule wants that package begun within 6 months of the exam, which old coursework cannot meet. Get the answer in writing.
Coming the other way, New Hampshire gets little back. Massachusetts lists 12 reciprocity jurisdictions and New Hampshire is not one, though New Hampshire admits Massachusetts agents on a single exam, and Rhode Island takes only Connecticut and Massachusetts residents. Heading out, everything depends on whether the destination runs an any-state rule.
Renewal runs 2 years from your issue date, not a fixed statewide date. Any salesperson licensed on or after February 1, 2024 owes a 12-hour post-licensing package before first renewal, in four set topics (purchase and sales agreements, ethics, disclosure forms, agency), and those electives must be taken in class or live online, so self-paced platforms will not clear them. Out-of-state CE never counts here. Miss the expiry and it costs $60 plus 9 extra CE hours you cannot reuse; 6 to 12 months late adds a 40-hour prelicense course and a good-cause showing; past 12 months you start over, exam included. Rea 300 and Rea 400 are under active rulemaking, so recheck fees and education later.

Official links for New Hampshire

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