Real Estate Salesperson Exam (National Portion) guides
25 source-backed guides for the Real Estate License, from registration and scoring to what to study, exam day and retakes.
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New to the Real Estate License? These answer the first questions most candidates have.
- 1Getting started
What Is the Real Estate Salesperson Exam? National Portion, State Portion and Who Writes Each
The salesperson exam is run by your state, and most states pair a national portion from Pearson VUE or PSI with a state-law portion. How the two fit together, where states break the pattern, and how to identify your own exam.
Read guide - 2Eligibility, registration & costs
How to Get a Real Estate Salesperson License: The Steps, Prelicensing Hours and Deadlines by State
The five steps every state shares, from prelicensing education to a supervising broker, with prelicensing hours and the deadlines that can cancel a pass in the states checked on October 28, 2026.
Read guide - 3Exam format & scoring
Real Estate Exam Format: Questions, Time Limits and How the Two Portions Are Split, State by State
How many questions the national and state portions have, how much time 11 states allow, what the unscored items mean for pacing, how Pearson VUE builds its questions, and the math and calculator rules.
Read guide - 4Study strategies
How to Study for the Real Estate Exam's National Portion: A Plan Weighted by Your Vendor's Outline
Turn Pearson VUE's or PSI's national outline into study hours, practice the applied questions that make up most of the exam, build the outline's math in from week one, and follow a 4- or 8-week plan.
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Getting started4 guides
What the exam is, who takes it, how it compares and how hard it is.
How Hard Is the Real Estate Exam? What Official Pass Rates and the Outlines Actually Show
Colorado's official 2025 first-time pass rates, why the state portion and applied questions trip people up, a worked example of an application-style item, and what the difficulty means for how you prepare.
Read guidePearson VUE vs PSI Real Estate Exam: How the Two National Outlines Differ, Topic by Topic
Both vendors test 80 scored national items, but they slice the content differently. Which vendor states use, how each outline is built, a topic-by-topic map between Pearson VUE's eight areas and PSI's eleven, and the topics only one outline names.
Read guideWhat Is the Real Estate Salesperson Exam? National Portion, State Portion and Who Writes Each
The salesperson exam is run by your state, and most states pair a national portion from Pearson VUE or PSI with a state-law portion. How the two fit together, where states break the pattern, and how to identify your own exam.
Read guideSalesperson vs Broker License: What Each Can Do, and Why Some States License Only Brokers
The working difference between a salesperson and a broker, the experience and education each checked state requires to move up, how the broker exam differs, and how North Carolina, Colorado, Washington and Tennessee name their entry-level license.
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Eligibility, registration & costs6 guides
Who can sit the exam, how to apply and schedule, and what it costs.
Passed the Real Estate Exam in 2027? License Application, Post-Licensing and First-Renewal Deadlines by State
What to do after a 2027 pass, state by state: the application window, courses required before the license issues, activating under a broker, and the post-licensing and first-renewal rules that fall in your first two years.
Read guideHow to Get a Real Estate Salesperson License: The Steps, Prelicensing Hours and Deadlines by State
The five steps every state shares, from prelicensing education to a supervising broker, with prelicensing hours and the deadlines that can cancel a pass in the states checked on October 28, 2026.
Read guideReal Estate Salesperson Exam 2027: Which Outlines, Vendors and State Rules Apply to a 2027 Test Date
What a 2027 test date means for the national and state portions: the outline versions still in force, the state outlines that changed in 2026, Colorado's January 1, 2027 forms, and how to catch a change before you book.
Read guideHow Much Does the Real Estate Exam Cost? Exam Fees by State and Everything Else You Pay For
Exam and retake fees in 12 states checked on October 28, 2026, the license, fingerprint and application fees around them, the rules that make you forfeit a fee, and a worksheet for your own state.
Read guideLicensed in Another State? When You Can Skip the National Portion and Take Only the State Exam
What a current out-of-state license gets you in 11 states checked on October 28, 2026: a state-only exam, a national-portion waiver, a reciprocal license, or nothing at all, plus the paperwork and deadlines that catch movers out.
Read guideGetting a Real Estate License in 2027: A Month-by-Month Timeline Built on Your State's Deadlines
Plan a 2027 license backward from your target date: what sets the length of each stage, the eligibility and exam clocks in 12 states checked on October 28, 2026, and two worked 2027 calendars for North Carolina and Washington.
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Exam format & scoring3 guides
Questions, sections, timing and the score you need to pass.
California Real Estate Salesperson Exam: 150 Questions, DRE Rules and How It Differs From the National Exams
How California's DRE salesperson exam works, checked on the DRE's own pages: format, the seven weighted categories, the three required college courses, exam-room rules, results and retakes, and where national-portion prep does and doesn't fit.
Read guideReal Estate Exam Format: Questions, Time Limits and How the Two Portions Are Split, State by State
How many questions the national and state portions have, how much time 11 states allow, what the unscored items mean for pacing, how Pearson VUE builds its questions, and the math and calculator rules.
Read guideReal Estate Exam Passing Score by State: Percent, Raw Count or Scaled 75
The passing standard for the national and state portions in 12 states checked on October 28, 2026, how percent, raw and scaled scores differ, and what a pass or fail score report will and won't tell you.
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What to study7 guides
The content areas, skills and topics the exam actually tests.
Contracts and Agency on the Real Estate Exam: The Biggest Content Area, Explained
How many national items test contracts and agency on each vendor's outline, the contract terms you must be able to apply, how agency relationships form and end, which duties a client gets that a customer doesn't, and two Passy practice items with explanations.
Read guideProperty Disclosures and Environmental Hazards on the Real Estate Exam: Lead Paint, Radon, Flood Zones and Superfund
What the national outlines test on disclosures and environmental issues: the federal lead-based paint rule step by step, radon's action level, asbestos, mold and underground tanks, flood zones and insurance, CERCLA liability and environmental site assessments, and how state seller disclosure laws differ, with two state examples.
Read guideFinancing and Settlement on the Real Estate Exam: Loan Types, RESPA Kickbacks and the TRID Disclosures
What the national outlines test on financing: loan types and mortgage clauses, PMI cancellation, RESPA's ban on referral fees and its exceptions, the Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure deadlines, Truth in Lending advertising triggers and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, all checked against the current federal rules.
Read guideReal Estate Exam Math: Every Calculation on the National Outline, With Worked Examples
The calculations Pearson VUE's and PSI's national outlines list, the two facts you must memorize, how proration questions are set up, a worked example for every category from acreage to net-to-seller, and the calculator rules to check first.
Read guideProperty Ownership, Deeds and Legal Descriptions on the Real Estate Exam
The 20 Pearson VUE items and three PSI areas on property: fixtures, land use controls and encumbrances, estates and leaseholds, co-ownership and community property, deed types and recording, and the three legal description methods, with worked rectangular-survey acreage and two Passy practice items.
Read guideThe State Portion of the Real Estate Exam: What It Covers and Why It's Often Harder to Pass
What state portions test, the scored items and largest areas in 11 states' current outlines, why the official pass rates found run lower on the state part, and a way to study it alongside the national portion.
Read guideProperty Valuation on the Real Estate Exam: The Three Approaches, CMAs, BPOs and Federal Oversight
What the national outlines test on value and appraisal, the sales comparison, cost and income approaches with worked examples, how a CMA and a BPO differ from an appraisal, and the federal rules on appraisal thresholds, independence and copies.
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Study strategies2 guides
Study plans, practice tests and how to prepare in the time you have.
How to Study for the Real Estate Exam's National Portion: A Plan Weighted by Your Vendor's Outline
Turn Pearson VUE's or PSI's national outline into study hours, practice the applied questions that make up most of the exam, build the outline's math in from week one, and follow a 4- or 8-week plan.
Read guideReal Estate Practice Tests: Official Vendor Options, Sample Questions and What a Score Tells You
Which practice tests come from the exam vendors and what they cost, where the free sample questions are in the official handbooks, how to take a practice test so the score means something, and what a practice score can and can't tell you about passing.
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Exam day1 guide
What to bring, testing rules and what happens at the test center or online.
Results & retakes1 guide
Getting your result, what it means, and what to do if you don't pass.
Exam changes & updates1 guide
Upcoming exam versions, new outlines and what changes for you.
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