WV Real Estate License Fees
The short answer: a first-time WV real estate salesperson’s license costs about $218 in state and exam fees — $25 to the West Virginia Real Estate Commission when you apply, $118 to Pearson VUE for the state exam, and $75 back to the WVREC to activate your license once you pass. Your 90-hour pre-licensing course is separate.
That’s it. The rest of this post breaks down each fee, who you pay, when it’s due, and every “gotcha” fee the WVREC charges for name changes, duplicate licenses, and late renewals — so you know exactly what to budget before you enroll.
Total cost to get your WV real estate license
Here’s the full picture at a glance. These are the mandatory fees every WV salesperson candidate pays before they can legally start working under a sponsoring broker.
| Fee | Amount | Paid to | When it’s due |
|---|---|---|---|
| State application fee | $25 | WVREC | With your exam application |
| Pearson VUE exam fee | $118 ($59 × 2 sections) | Pearson VUE | When you schedule the exam |
| Initial salesperson license fee | $75 | WVREC | After you pass, before the 90-day activation deadline |
| Total state + exam fees | $218 | — | — |
| Pre-licensing course (90-hour) | Varies by school | Your school | Before you sit the state exam |
| Annual salesperson renewal | $75 | WVREC | Every fiscal year (by June 30) |
If you want the full step-by-step licensing process from start to finish — not just the fees — walk through our complete guide on how to get a WV real estate license. It covers every step from the pre-licensing course through activating your license with a sponsoring broker.
State application fee — $25
The $25 salesperson exam application fee is your first payment to the West Virginia Real Estate Commission. It’s paid online when you submit your application through the WVREC’s online application system. The Commission no longer accepts paper applications for the exam.
This fee has stayed at $25 since the Commission’s last major fee schedule update — meaning it hasn’t budged despite years of inflation everywhere else in the economy. Not a bad deal.
Pearson VUE exam fee — $118 total
Pearson VUE administers the WV real estate salesperson exam, which is split into two sections: a National portion and a West Virginia state-specific portion. Each section costs $59, so the full exam is $118. You can confirm the current fee anytime in the official Pearson VUE WV Real Estate Candidate Handbook.
This money does not go to the WVREC — Pearson VUE is a third-party testing provider and sets their own fees. West Virginia state rules cap that exam fee at $150 per exam, so any future Pearson VUE increase can’t exceed that ceiling without a rule change.
Failed one section? You only re-pay for the section you’re retaking — not both. That’s a small mercy from Pearson VUE that saves candidates real money on retakes.
Initial license fee — $75
Passing the Pearson VUE exam doesn’t mean you have a license yet. You still owe the WVREC a $75 initial salesperson license fee to actually activate your license and legally start practicing under a sponsoring broker.
You have a hard 90-day deadline to activate your license after passing the exam. Miss it, and you have to retest — losing the $118 you already paid Pearson VUE. If you’re not ready to line up a sponsoring broker inside 90 days, WV also allows you to activate as Inactive status, which still requires the same $75 fee and still resets the 90-day clock, but doesn’t require a broker sponsor. Full details on both routes are in our licensing walkthrough.
Annual license renewal — $75 per year
Once your salesperson license is active, the WVREC charges $75 every fiscal year to renew it. The WV fiscal year runs July 1 through June 30, so renewal is due by June 30 each year — not on your license anniversary date.
If fiscal-year timing trips you up (it trips up most new licensees), we cover the details in our post on WV real estate CE and fiscal-year renewal timing.
Broker and associate broker license fees
Broker and associate broker licenses cost more than salesperson licenses because of the additional responsibility involved. Here’s the current schedule:
- Initial broker or associate broker license fee: $150
- Branch office license fee: $150
- Annual broker or associate broker renewal fee: $150
- Annual branch office renewal fee: $150
These fees apply to real estate professionals stepping up from a salesperson license or opening additional office locations under an existing brokerage. Broker renewals cost double what salesperson renewals cost — worth planning for when you’re deciding whether to upgrade.
Change, duplicate, and administrative fees
The WVREC charges small administrative fees for common license changes. The most common ones you’ll bump into:
- Change of employing broker: $20
- Change of office address: $20
- Certification of Licensure: $20
- Change of company name: $10 for each license changed
- Duplicate license: $5
- Returned check fee: $25 (or the actual charge the Commission incurs, whichever is greater)
The change-of-employing-broker fee comes up most often — if you switch brokerages within your license period, that’s a $20 filing every time you move. Something to weigh when you’re picking a first sponsoring broker.
Heads up on paper filings: the WVREC charges an extra $10 paper processing fee for transactions available online but submitted on paper, and $35 extra for a paper renewal when online renewal is available. Almost always cheaper to file online.
Late renewal fees — the ones that really hurt
Miss the June 30 renewal deadline and the WVREC stacks late fees on top of your normal renewal amount. Here’s the current WVREC late-renewal schedule:
- July 1 – August 31: $50 late fee
- September 1 – October 31: $75 late fee
- November 1 – December 31: $100 late fee
Set a calendar reminder for late June every year. The difference between renewing on time and letting your license lapse is the difference between $75 and starting the entire licensing process over — course, exam, activation fee, and all.
What about the course fee?
Your WV pre-licensing course fee isn’t set by the WVREC — each approved school prices their own 90-hour course. Prices in WV generally range from about $400 to $700 depending on the school, delivery format, and included materials.
Spruce School of Real Estate offers a fully-online 90-hour pre-licensing course built specifically for the WV market — you can see current pricing and what’s included on our online real estate classes page. Since the Pearson VUE state portion is entirely WV-specific, we don’t recommend generic multi-state courses that gloss over West Virginia law.
Do these fees include NAR or Realtor board dues?
No — the fees above cover only your WV real estate license. Becoming a “Realtor” (with the trademark) is a separate step that requires joining the National Association of Realtors and a local WV Realtor board, which adds another $200+ in annual dues on top of your state renewal.
The full breakdown of Realtor membership costs is in our post on the difference between a Realtor and a real estate agent in WV. Short version: you can absolutely work as a licensed real estate agent in West Virginia without ever joining NAR — it just means you can’t call yourself a Realtor.
Have these WVREC fees changed recently?
The core licensing fees — application, initial license, and annual renewal — haven’t been touched in years, which is honestly remarkable given how much everything else has gone up. The current WVREC fee schedule has been in place since January 1, 2023, when several administrative fees and paper-processing charges were adjusted but the big-ticket licensing amounts stayed put.
If you want the complete WVREC fee schedule direct from the source, you can find it on the West Virginia Real Estate Commission’s Schedule of Fees page. Fees can change without much warning, so it’s worth confirming the current amounts anytime you’re actually about to pay.
Where to learn every fee (and every rule) the WVREC tests you on
Here’s something that surprises most WV license candidates: Pearson VUE will absolutely test you on WV-specific fees on the state portion of your exam. Which specific fee applies to which situation, what late fees kick in when, and how change-of-broker filings work are all fair game.
Before Spruce published one, no one had ever written a textbook specifically on the WV Real Estate Law Code — not a chapter buried in a generic 50-state book, but an actual state-specific book built around WV Code Chapter 30, Article 40 and the fees, rules, and specifics the WVREC actually tests. We cover every fee on this page (and every rule around when they apply) inside our WV Real Estate Law Code Bible. It’s the only WV-specific textbook of its kind, and there’s an audiobook version bundled with the physical copy so students can study during commutes or workouts.
We’re WV-focused for a reason: the Pearson VUE state portion is entirely West Virginia, and that focus is what keeps our pass rate what it is. Not watered-down generic real estate content that “sort of applies” to WV — just WV.