Transfer a Real Estate License to Oregon

Verified July 2026 · 38 official sources

Start over, $436.25 in fees, not even national exam credit

Oregon gives arriving licensees less credit than almost any state. The Real Estate Agency says flatly that there are no waivers of education or license examinations (ORS 696.022(7)), so you repeat the full 150-hour curriculum through an Oregon-approved school and retake both exam portions, without even the national-portion pass nearly every other state honors. Know the titles first; a salesperson elsewhere becomes an Oregon broker (the entry tier, which cannot supervise anyone), while a supervising broker aims at principal broker, where 3 years of active licensed experience count from any state by statute. The one asterisk is a set of written reciprocal agreements with Alabama, Alberta, Georgia, Nebraska, and South Dakota, terms published nowhere; if you hold one of those licenses, ask the Agency what it waives before buying 150 hours of school.

First year: $436.25 + coursesRenewal: $300 / 2 yrsWait: 6 weeks to 4 months, set by course paceWork while waiting: No, no temporary permit existsTravel required: Likely 1 OR fingerprint trip, confirming

What carries over to Oregon, and what does not

Comes with you

3 years of licensed experience, any state, toward principal broker (certified history under 1 year old)
Experience shortfalls, by Real Estate Board waiver petition (degree plus licensed years, or equivalent work)
Maybe a license from Alabama, Alberta, Georgia, Nebraska, or South Dakota; agreement terms unpublished, ask the Agency
Military stationed in Oregon (or spouse or partner) skip education and exam entirely; 2-year authorization, $300, not renewable

New for this state

The full 150-hour curriculum at an Oregon-approved school; no review of out-of-state coursework exists
Both PSI exam portions, national and state, $75 per attempt, 75% each
Fresh OSP and FBI fingerprints through PSI, $61.25, currently at Oregon sites only
A managing principal broker to associate with; the license will not issue without one
Oregon CE from the first renewal on; 30 hours per 2 years, out-of-state CE never counts

If you hold a broker license

Principal broker (the supervising tier) takes 3 years of active licensed experience, and out-of-state years count by statute; prove them with a certified license history from your old regulator dated within the past year, or petition the Real Estate Board to waive a shortfall (a real estate degree plus 1 to 2 licensed years, or equivalent experience). Never Oregon licensed before? You still do the entire 150-hour entry curriculum, then add the 40-hour BASS course (brokerage administration and sales supervision) before the principal broker exam, both portions. Fees match the entry path at $436.25; registering your own business name costs $300 more and makes you its managing principal broker, the one principal broker responsible for each registered firm name under the 2026 rules.

Working in Oregon without a Oregon license

On a single deal Only for nonresidential property, and never alone. ORS 696.290(7) lets an Oregon managing principal broker split compensation with you on a deal involving commercial structures or 5 or more dwelling units, if a written agreement is signed before any in-state act and an Oregon licensee physically accompanies every showing and negotiation held in Oregon. Residential (1 to 4 units) allows no in-state acts at all, though a genuine commission share is lawful under 696.290(1)(b) if every compensated act you perform happens outside Oregon and your home state has a law letting its brokers cooperate with Oregon brokers.

Referrals Yes. ORS 696.290(1)(b) lets an Oregon managing principal broker pay a finder's fee, or a real share of the commission on a cooperative sale, to a broker licensed in another state, provided you perform no compensated act inside Oregon and your home state has a cooperation law of its own. Payment runs broker to broker; a salesperson's share flows through their own broker.

Your send-off checklist

YOUCreate an eLicense account and file the broker application with the nonrefundable fee; the Applicant ID arrives by email and your school will need it. Disclose everything asked (convictions, arrests, license discipline, judgments, bankruptcies); incomplete disclosure is the delay the Agency itself warns about. $300 eLicense portal

YOUR SCHOOLComplete the 150-hour curriculum (7 fixed courses, from Real Estate Law to Brokerage) at an Agency-approved Oregon school, online is standard, each course with a proctored final at 75%. The school certifies completion electronically to PSI, which is what unlocks exam scheduling. school sets price

YOURegister with PSI and pass both portions, national (80 questions) and state (50), 75% each, at any PSI center nationwide or by remote proctor. Fail one section and you retake only that section for another $75; a passed section holds 12 months. $75 per attempt PSI Oregon

YOUGet fingerprinted through PSI at one of seven Oregon test sites (Baker City, Bend, Eugene, Independence, Medford, Portland, Wilsonville), walk-in at limited hours. No out-of-state or mail-in route is published; call PSI at (833) 892-5441 before booking a trip either way. $61.25

STATE BOARDSOSP and the FBI run the background check, about 2 to 4 weeks, with results going straight to the Agency; watch status in eLicense in real time. A completed check is good for 12 months.

YOULine up a brokerage; an authorized principal broker files the online transfer attaching you to their registered business name. There is no option to take the license inactive at issuance, so no firm means no license.

STATE BOARDSThe Agency finishes its final review and issues the license. Only then may you perform any professional real estate activity in Oregon (ORS 696.020).

YOUCalendar the quirks; the license expires on the last day of your birth month (first term runs 13 to 24 months), renewal is $300 every 2 years with 30 CE hours, and the first active renewal swaps the electives for a mandatory 26-hour Advanced Practices course ending in a 75% assessment.

The money

Application, broker (entry tier)	$300
PSI exam, both portions (per attempt)	$75
Fingerprints and background check (via PSI)	$61.25
150-hour curriculum, Oregon-approved school	varies
Trip to an Oregon PSI fingerprint site	varies, alternatives confirming
E&O insurance	$0, not required
Recovery fund	$0, none exists
TOTAL First year, typical	$436.25 plus courses
Then: renewal every 2 years	$300

Watch out in Oregon

Licensed in Alabama, Alberta, Georgia, Nebraska, or South Dakota? Oregon holds a written reciprocal agreement with each but publishes the terms nowhere. Call the Agency at (503) 378-4170 and ask exactly what your agreement waives before paying for 150 hours.
Everything is remote (online application, online school, exam anywhere PSI operates or by remote proctor) except fingerprints, which PSI currently takes only at seven Oregon walk-in sites. Whether an out-of-state alternative exists is confirming; ask PSI and the Agency before assuming either answer.
An arriving supervising broker who was never Oregon licensed does the entire 150-hour entry curriculum plus the 40-hour BASS course before the principal broker exam; only a current or former Oregon broker licensee skips straight to BASS.
The 12-month clocks stack; passing scores, a single passed section, and the completed background check each expire in a year, and each lapse means paying to redo that piece. Park the new license inactive for 2 or more years and reactivation adds a 48-question exam.

Official links for Oregon

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