By Joe Nelson — Retired Air Force, Nelson Home Group Team Leader and Mortgage Loan Originator
Careers in real estate, Kansas City
This page is the conversation we have with every career changer who calls us: what it takes to get licensed in Missouri or Kansas, what it really costs, how long it takes, and what the first 90 days look like when you start on a team instead of alone. No sugar and no sales pitch. If you get to the bottom and still want in, we should talk.
Production figures come straight from the Nelson Home Group team scoreboard and are refreshed quarterly.
The honest answer first
Is real estate a good career in Kansas City?
For the right person, it is one of the best careers in the metro: no degree required, no ceiling on income, and a business you own. For the wrong person it is an expensive hobby. Here is what the schools and the recruiting ads leave out.
Sixty to seventy-two hours of coursework teaches you the law. It teaches you nothing about finding a client, sitting across from a seller who is deciding whether to hire you, or what to say when a buyer’s loan falls apart nine days before closing. That part is learned on a team or learned the hard way.
A brokerage (the licensed company every agent has to work under) gives you a desk, a login and a sales meeting. Finding clients, the marketing, the paperwork and the plan are on you. That is the reason so many good people leave the business inside two years: not talent, isolation.
You are paid when a sale closes, not before. Your first check usually lands two to four months after your license posts, and only if you were making calls from day one. Plan for it. The agents who make it treat the first year like a job with a boss, even though there is no boss.
Here is what we believe: a new agent should not have to figure out the whole business alone to earn a good living. Nearly every agent on this team started brand new with us, and that is by design.
Step by step
How do you get a real estate license in Missouri or Kansas?
Two states, two commissions, two separate licenses. Pick the state where most of your network lives and start there. Both processes are simpler than they look.
Missouri (Missouri Real Estate Commission)
- Be 18 or older. No degree or diploma requirement.
- Take the 48-hour Salesperson Pre-Examination course from an approved school. Online and self-paced options are available across the metro.
- Pass the Missouri salesperson exam through PSI: a national section and a Missouri section, 140 questions, four hours. Retakes are allowed.
- Take the 24-hour Missouri Real Estate Practice course. You can take it before or after the exam, but it must be done before you apply.
- Get fingerprinted through IdentoGO for the Missouri and FBI background check.
- Apply to the Missouri Real Estate Commission with a sponsoring broker named on the application. Your application must arrive within six months of completing the 48-hour course, so do not sit on it.
Kansas (Kansas Real Estate Commission)
- Be 18 or older with a high school diploma or GED.
- Take the 30-hour Principles of Real Estate course from an approved school. This one is required before the exam and is valid for one year.
- Pass the Kansas salesperson exam through Pearson VUE: an 80-question national section and a 30-question Kansas section, 70 percent to pass each.
- Take the 30-hour Kansas Practice Course within the six months before you apply.
- Submit fingerprints for the KBI and FBI background check. The report is valid for six months.
- Apply to the Kansas Real Estate Commission with a sponsoring broker, within six months of passing the exam.
The sponsoring broker is the part people miss. A broker is the licensed company an agent works under, and neither state issues an active license until one agrees to hold yours. On this team, that broker is Keller Williams KC North. The week you pass the exam is the moment to call us, because the application cannot go in without that name on it.
The real number
How much does it cost to get a real estate license in Kansas City?
Plan on roughly $2,000 to $2,500 in your first year before your first closing, and the license itself is only a quarter of that. The table separates what the state charges from what the business charges once you are licensed.
| Getting licensed | Missouri | Kansas |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-license coursework | 72 hours (48 pre-exam + 24 practice). About $300 to $650 depending on the school and format. | 60 hours (30 Principles + 30 Kansas Practice). About $385 to $500 depending on the school and format. |
| State exam | $62 per attempt (PSI) | $70 to $82 per attempt (Pearson VUE) |
| Background check and fingerprints | $40.50 (IdentoGO, includes state and FBI) | $70 background fee to the Commission plus about $16 to $20 for fingerprinting |
| State application and license fee | $100 | $140 ($15 application + $125 license) |
| To the license | About $500 to $850 | About $680 to $910 |
| Realtor association (KCRAR) and National Association of Realtors | Roughly $800 in your first year (an application fee plus local, state and national dues, prorated by the month you join). Membership is what makes you a Realtor and what gets you into the MLS. | |
| Heartland MLS (the shared database of every home for sale in the metro) | Billed quarterly, roughly $300 a year. You cannot list or show homes without it. | |
| Supra eKey (the electronic key that opens the lockboxes on homes for sale) | A one-time activation plus a monthly fee, roughly $350 to $400 in year one. | |
| All-in, first year | About $2,000 to $2,500 before your first commission check, on either side of the state line. | |
State fees verified September 2026 against the Missouri Real Estate Commission, the Kansas Real Estate Commission and the testing vendors’ published schedules. Association, MLS and eKey figures are what our agents pay and are rounded. Fees change; confirm before you pay.
What is not on that list: the brokerage fees, yard signs, lockboxes and business cards, and then the expensive part: leads (people who want to buy or sell and have not picked an agent yet), the software that tracks every contact, professional photography and video for your listings, someone to handle the paperwork on every sale, mail and email to the people you know, a website that gets your name recommended, and coaching. On your own, that list runs well past $100,000 a year to recreate. On Nelson Home Group, the team carries all of it. You pay to get your license and keep it. We pay for the business.
Timeline
How long does it take to become a real estate agent?
Most people go from first class to active license in two to four months while working full time. The pace is yours to set. Here is a realistic calendar.
Weeks 1 to 6: coursework
Self-paced online students finish the pre-exam hours in four to six weeks working evenings. Classroom formats run on a fixed schedule, usually a few weeks longer. Book your exam date before you finish so the deadline is real.
Weeks 6 to 10: exam, practice course, fingerprints
Schedule the exam within a week or two of finishing the course while the material is fresh. Knock out the state practice course and fingerprints the same month. The day you pass, call us. Your application needs a sponsoring broker on it, and that is where we come in.
Weeks 10 to 16: application and license
Submit the application with Keller Williams KC North named as your broker. Processing runs a few weeks in both states once the background check clears. The day your license posts, your first day on the team is already on the calendar. Not a week later.
After the license
What do the first 90 days look like as a new agent on Nelson Home Group?
This is the part no school covers and the part that decides whether you make it. On this team the first 90 days are a calendar, not a mystery. You are in the morning huddle on day one, riding along on real appointments by week two, and working leads you did not have to pay for as soon as you are ready for them.
- A day-by-day onboarding calendar, so you always know what today is for.
- The 5-minute team huddle every weekday morning, starting your first morning.
- Training on the tools: the contact software (it holds every person you know and tells you who to call today), our online training library, and the coaching playbooks the whole team runs on.
- Shadowing: you ride along on buyer meetings, seller appointments, inspections and closings with an experienced agent.
- You hand us your list of people: friends, family, coworkers, anyone who knows your name. A spreadsheet is fine. That is the one thing only you can do. The moment it is in, the team starts mailing and emailing them under your name, and your bio page goes live.
- Daily prospecting: the calls, texts and conversations that turn people you know into clients. Every one is tracked on a scoreboard so you and your coach can see the work, not just the results.
- Scripts for what to say, so you are never winging it.
- Your first one-on-one with Joe, with your list of prospects on the table.
- Team leads (people who contacted us wanting to buy or sell) start coming your way as soon as you are onboarded and ready to convert them. That timing is different for everyone.
- Your first contracts, written with a coach reviewing every one, and a Client Care Manager handling the paperwork and deadlines from contract to closing.
- Your first seller appointments with a written marketing plan and professional photography already behind you.
- Your first five closings run as a structured ramp with a coach on every file. After that, the training wheels come off and the leads keep coming.
- Coverage when you need it. If a client needs a time you cannot make, or you are on vacation, another agent on the team shows the house. Nobody here is on an island.
- A 90-day review against your own goal, and a plan for the next quarter.
Everything above is the standard, not a promise about your results. What you close depends on what you do every day. What we control is that you will never be guessing what to do next.
Fit
Who should become a real estate agent, and who should skip it?
This career is probably for you if
- You have spent years being good at a job that has a ceiling, and you want the ceiling gone.
- You are willing to prospect every working day: calling, texting and meeting people until someone needs to move. Not when you feel like it. Every day. That is the whole job at the start.
- You have a network somewhere in the Kansas City metro, or you know how to build one from scratch. Teachers, nurses, dental assistants, military spouses and salespeople tend to do very well here.
- You are coachable and you like a scoreboard. The people who thrive on this team want to know their number.
- You can carry yourself for a few months without a paycheck, or you are keeping your job until the closings start.
Skip it, or at least wait, if
- Real estate is the last resort. If you are here because the last thing ended badly, get stable first. This career punishes desperation.
- You want a flexible side hustle. Our leads go to agents who can answer the phone at 2 pm on a Tuesday.
- You are not willing to be on camera, on the phone, or in front of strangers. You cannot outsource the part where you talk to people.
- You need someone to tell you what to do every hour. We give you the plan. You still have to run it without supervision.
Veterans and military spouses: your team leader is one of you, and the discipline you already have is the hardest thing to teach. Please talk to us.
Career changers on this team
What happened to the people who did this before you?
Two of the top producers on this team came from a classroom and a dental office. Their numbers are from the team scoreboard and refreshed quarterly. Their words are their own. And their phone numbers are real: call them and ask what the first year was really like.
Katy Gaines: teacher to Assistant Team Lead
Nearly a decade in the classroom before real estate · Started brand new on this team · Now Assistant Team Lead and the team’s Weston and Platte County specialist · On pace for 40+ closings in 2026, most of them from a neighborhood the team helped her become the known name in.
“When I first started out in real estate, I knew I would need structure, guidance and mentorship to grow. Coming from nearly a decade as a teacher, this was an entirely new world to me. The team’s training program and supportive culture were vital in helping me navigate this industry with confidence. It is clear the team invests in its members’ growth, and the support system here feels like a family that works toward shared success.”
Ask Katy: 816-506-7747 · her bio
Michelle Neely: dental assistant to top producer
15 years as a dental assistant before real estate · Joined the team in 2023 with no experience · Seniors Real Estate Specialist · On pace for 60+ closings in 2026, about half from team-generated leads and half from people she knows, kept warm by the team’s mail and email program.
“I interviewed multiple teams, but this team’s professionalism and structured training made the choice clear. The training and support far outweighed any concerns about commission splits. By following the training, I quickly found success. What keeps me motivated is the points system, which keeps me on track. The culture and leadership here push everyone to be better.”
Ask Michelle: 816-560-2669 · her bio
They are not the exceptions. Josh, McKenna and Miranda started brand new here. Casey and Shy came over from other brokerages early in their careers. LaDonna closed her first transaction this year with the whole office behind her. Every agent on this team is licensed with Keller Williams KC North, 816-452-4200, and every one of them is on the Meet the Team page with a direct number.
Joe Nelson. Team Leader, Realtor since 2015, licensed mortgage loan originator, 21-year Air Force and Air National Guard veteran.From Joe
Why I would rather talk to you before you enroll
I was a career changer. Twenty-one years in the Air Force and Air National Guard, and I got licensed in 2015 knowing nothing about this business except that I was tired of a ceiling. I spent my first year and a half on a team, learned a lot, and outgrew it fast. Then I did the solo thing, and I learned the expensive way that individual effort loses to a good system every time. In 2017 I built the system I wish somebody had handed me.
Here is the thing I tell every career changer who calls: the license is the easy part. The school will happily take your money whether or not this career fits you. I would rather spend thirty minutes with you first, look at your situation with clear eyes, and tell you the truth, even if the truth is “not yet.” We do not teach the course or prep you for the exam. What we do is make sure that when you pass, you are not starting from zero and alone.
Nearly every agent on this team started brand new with me. That is not an accident. It is the whole point.
Joe Nelson
The plan
What is the path from “thinking about it” to licensed and producing?
Tell us where you are
The form below asks two questions: where you are right now, and why real estate, why now. Joe reads every one personally. A thirty-minute, no-pressure conversation follows, in person or by phone.
Get licensed on your own schedule
The steps and costs above are everything you need. We do not run a school or an exam prep, and we will not pretend to. Pick a state, pick a school, pass the exam. When the application asks for a sponsoring broker, that is Keller Williams KC North, and that is the day it becomes official.
Start on day one with a team behind you
The day your license posts, your onboarding calendar starts: the morning huddle, the training, shadowing an experienced agent, and team leads when you are ready. Your first five closings are a structured ramp with a coach on every file.
Questions career changers ask us
Frequently asked questions about starting a real estate career in Kansas City
Do I need a college degree to become a real estate agent in Missouri or Kansas?
No. Missouri requires you to be at least 18. Kansas requires you to be at least 18 and hold a high school diploma or GED. Neither state requires a college degree. What both states require is the pre-license coursework, a passing exam score, a background check and a sponsoring broker. Katy Gaines taught school for nearly a decade and Michelle Neely spent 15 years as a dental assistant before they got licensed. The degree they needed was the one the state issues.
Can I get my real estate license while working a full-time job?
Yes, and most of our career changers did exactly that. Both states allow online, self-paced pre-license courses, so the 72 hours in Missouri or 60 hours in Kansas can happen at night and on weekends. Most people finish the coursework in four to eight weeks and pass the exam within two to three months of starting. We recommend keeping your job until your license posts and your first closings are in sight. Real estate is commission only, and a paycheck buys you patience.
Should I get licensed in Missouri or Kansas first?
Get licensed in the state where most of your network lives and where you expect to do most of your business. Missouri and Kansas do not share a license, and the Kansas City metro sits on both sides of the line. Several of our agents hold both. Start with one, close a few transactions, then add the second license when your business asks for it. The second license is faster because both states generally waive the national portion of the exam for agents who already hold a license in the other state.
Do I need to be licensed before I talk to Nelson Home Group?
No. A thirty-minute conversation with Joe covers whether this career fits your situation and what the first year realistically looks like, and it is worth having before you spend a dollar on a course. What we do not do is teach the licensing course or prep you for the exam. The schools do that, and the steps are on this page. Most people call us the week they pass, because the state application asks for a sponsoring broker and that is the moment it becomes official.
What does a new agent pay for, and what does the team pay for?
You pay to get your license and keep it: the pre-license course, the exam, the background check, the state application, the yearly renewal, and your Realtor association and MLS dues. The team pays for the business: your Keller Williams brokerage fees, yard signs, lockboxes, business cards, the leads, the inside sales agent who books appointments, the Client Care Manager who handles your paperwork, photography, video and drone on team listings, the mail and email program to your contacts, your bio page, the contact software, the training and the coaching. That second list is the part most new agents spend years trying to afford.
How much do new real estate agents make in Kansas City?
Anywhere from nothing to a very good living, because it is commission only and the number tracks your activity. We do not publish income figures on this site, but we will show you the team scoreboard in person and walk you through the math for your own goal. What we can say here: the two top producers on this team both started brand new with no real estate experience, and this year 57 percent of everything the team has closed started as a lead the team generated and handed to an agent.
What is the difference between a real estate agent and a Realtor?
A real estate agent holds a state license. A Realtor is a licensed agent who is also a member of the National Association of Realtors, through a local board such as the Kansas City Regional Association of Realtors, and agrees to its Code of Ethics. In the Kansas City metro, Realtor membership is what gets you access to Heartland MLS and the Supra lockbox system, so nearly every producing agent here is a Realtor. Every agent on Nelson Home Group is.
How do I start?
Fill out the short form on this page and tell us where you are: already licensed, in school now, or still thinking about it. Or call or text 816-680-6624 and ask for Joe. The first conversation is confidential and takes about thirty minutes.
Step one
Tell us where you are
Licensed, in school, or still thinking about it. Two quick questions and Joe reaches out within one business day. The conversation is confidential and there is no obligation on either side.
Office
1508 NW Vivion Rd #205, Kansas City, MO 64118
Already licensed?
The Join the Team page is written for you.
Nelson Home Group, Keller Williams KC North · 1508 NW Vivion Rd #205, Kansas City, MO 64118 · Team: 816-680-6624 · Keller Williams KC North: 816-452-4200. Agents on the team are independent contractors licensed with Keller Williams KC North. Production figures on this page come from the Nelson Home Group team scoreboard, are refreshed quarterly (last refresh September 2026) and are unaudited; pace figures are projections from year-to-date results. Licensing requirements and fees are published by the Missouri Real Estate Commission, the Kansas Real Estate Commission and their testing vendors and change without notice; confirm current figures before you pay. Real estate agents are paid by commission and income is not guaranteed. Lead distribution, marketing support and coaching are provided at the team’s discretion and described in a written agreement reviewed with every candidate. Each Keller Williams office is independently owned and operated. Equal opportunity.