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What's On the National Real Estate Exam? Full Topic Breakdown (Percentage Weights)

You're about to drop $60 to $150 on an exam. Before you study one more flashcard, you need to know exactly what's on the test and how heavy each topic hits. Most people waste a month grinding the wrong material. Don't be most people.

The national portion of the real estate exam — whether you take it through PSI, Pearson VUE, or your state's vendor — is built on a standard content outline. The percentages don't move much from state to state. The number of questions does, because some states give you 80 national questions and some give you 100. This post breaks down every section, the weight, the question count, and what you actually need to know.

How the National Exam Is Structured

The national portion is split from the state portion. The national side covers federal law and universal real estate principles. The state side covers your specific license law, agency rules, and local statutes. Most candidates fail the national portion because they underestimate contracts and agency.

You'll see somewhere between 80 and 100 questions on the national side. Passing is usually 70% to 75% correct. That means you can miss roughly 20 to 30 questions and still walk out with a license. Knowing where the questions come from is half the battle.

Here's the official breakdown, section by section.

Contracts — ~17% (14 to 17 questions)

This is the biggest single chunk of the exam. If you skip contracts, you fail. Period.

You need to know the four required elements of a valid contract: offer and acceptance, consideration, legal purpose, and competent parties. You need to know the difference between bilateral and unilateral contracts, executed and executory, valid versus voidable versus void versus unenforceable.

Memorize these contract types cold:

Then statute of frauds — any contract for the sale of real estate must be in writing. Verbal real estate contracts are unenforceable. Period.

Expect questions on assignment, novation, breach, remedies (specific performance, liquidated damages, rescission), and contingencies. Earnest money questions show up here too.

Worked example

Buyer offers $300,000 with $5,000 earnest money. Seller counters at $310,000. Buyer rejects. Is the original offer still on the table? No. A counteroffer terminates the original offer. Buyer would have to make a new offer.

Laws of Agency — ~13% (10 to 13 questions)

Tied with Practice of Real Estate for second-biggest section. The exam loves agency.

Know your fiduciary duties. The acronym is OLD CAR:

Know the agency relationships: seller agent, buyer agent, dual agent, designated agent, transaction broker (non-agent). Dual agency requires written consent from both parties in most states. Some states ban it outright.

Understand how agency is created (express agreement, implied, ratification, estoppel) and how it terminates (performance, expiration, mutual agreement, revocation, renunciation, death, incapacity, bankruptcy, destruction of property).

You'll get questions on subagency, puffing versus misrepresentation, and the agent's duty to third parties. Puffing ("this is the best kitchen in the neighborhood") is legal. Misrepresentation ("this roof is brand new" when it isn't) is fraud.

Practice of Real Estate — ~13% (10 to 13 questions)

This is where federal antidiscrimination law lives, and the test will hammer you on it.

The Fair Housing Act (Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968) prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on protected classes. The federal protected classes are:

Memorize those seven. States and localities can add more (age, marital status, source of income), but federal is seven.

Know the prohibited practices:

The 1866 Civil Rights Act prohibited race-based discrimination with no exemptions. The 1968 Fair Housing Act has limited exemptions (Mrs. Murphy's boardinghouse, religious org housing, private clubs) but race discrimination is never exempt because of the 1866 Act. Trick question favorite.

Also under this section: the Sherman Antitrust Act (1890). Brokers cannot conspire to fix commissions, allocate markets, or boycott. Each broker sets their own commission rate independently. "What's the standard commission?" is a dangerous question to answer — there is no standard.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires commercial properties and public accommodations to be accessible. Reasonable accommodations and modifications are required in residential housing under the Fair Housing Act.

Financing — ~10% (8 to 10 questions)

Mortgages, deeds of trust, promissory notes, loan types, and federal disclosure law.

Know your loan types:

Know the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) of 1968. TILA requires lenders to disclose the APR, finance charges, amount financed, and total payments. It doesn't cap rates — it forces disclosure so borrowers can compare. The right of rescission gives borrowers three business days to cancel certain refinance loans secured by their principal dwelling. The rescission right does not apply to purchase money mortgages. Memorize that.

RESPA (Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, 1974) governs the closing process. RESPA requires the Loan Estimate within three business days of application and the Closing Disclosure at least three business days before closing. RESPA prohibits kickbacks and referral fees between settlement service providers. A title company cannot pay your broker $200 for sending business their way. That's a Section 8 violation.

The Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) of 1974 prohibits lenders from discriminating based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, age, or receipt of public assistance. Lenders must notify applicants of adverse action within 30 days.

Worked example

Borrower takes out a $200,000 loan at 6% interest, 30-year fixed. Monthly payment of principal and interest is about $1,199. Over 30 years, total payments equal about $431,640. Total interest paid: $231,640 — more than the original loan amount. TILA forces this disclosure so the borrower sees the real cost.

Real Estate Calculations — ~10% (8 to 10 questions)

You will do math. Bring a calculator. Most testing centers provide one or allow basic non-programmable models.

Topics you'll be tested on:

Worked example: commission split

Home sells for $350,000. Total commission is 6%, split 50/50 between listing and selling brokerages. Listing agent gets 60% of the listing brokerage's share. What does the listing agent earn?

Worked example: proration

Annual property tax is $3,650. Closing is on day 90 of the calendar year. Using a 365-day year, what does the seller owe at closing?

Property Ownership — ~8% (6 to 8 questions)

Forms of ownership, estates, and the bundle of rights.

The bundle of rights: possession, control, enjoyment, exclusion, and disposition. Memorize all five.

Freehold estates:

Forms of co-ownership:

Also: condominium (fee ownership of unit + common elements), cooperative (shareholder in corporation, proprietary lease), and time-share.

Transfer of Title — ~8% (6 to 8 questions)

Deeds, title, and how property changes hands.

Deed types ranked by buyer protection (best to worst):

For a deed to be valid, it must be in writing, identify grantor and grantee, contain a granting clause, describe the property, be signed by the grantor, and be delivered and accepted.

Title transfers happen voluntarily (sale, gift, dedication) or involuntarily (foreclosure, eminent domain, adverse possession, escheat). Title insurance protects against title defects. An owner's policy protects the buyer. A lender's policy protects the lender.

Recording a deed gives constructive notice. The first to record generally wins disputes in race-notice and notice jurisdictions.

Valuation and Market Analysis — ~7% (6 to 7 questions)

Three approaches to value:

  1. Sales comparison (market) approach — comps. Best for residential.
  2. Cost approach — replacement cost minus depreciation plus land. Best for new construction and unique properties.
  3. Income approach — NOI / cap rate. Best for investment properties.

Know the difference between price (what was paid), cost (what was spent to build/acquire), and value (what it's worth). Not the same number.

Appraisers must follow USPAP (Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice). After the 2008 crisis, the Home Valuation Code of Conduct and later Dodd-Frank rules created appraiser independence — lenders can't pressure appraisers to hit a number.

A CMA (comparative market analysis) is what agents prepare. An appraisal is what a licensed appraiser prepares. They're not the same. Don't call your CMA an appraisal on the exam.

Mandated Disclosures — ~7% (6 to 7 questions)

What sellers and agents must disclose, by law.

Lead-Based Paint Disclosure (Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act of 1992, Title X): For any residential property built before 1978, sellers and landlords must:

Failure to comply: up to $16,000+ per violation and potential triple damages in private suits.

Other common required disclosures:

Agents must disclose their agency relationship. Brokers must disclose if they have a personal interest in the transaction.

Land Use Controls and Regulations — ~5% (4 to 5 questions)

Public and private restrictions on how property can be used.

Public controls:

Private controls:

Know nonconforming use (legal use that predates a zoning change — grandfathered), variance (permission to deviate from zoning), and special use permit (conditional use allowed by zoning).

Specialty Areas — Varies (~2% or less)

Some exams include a small specialty section covering property management, commercial real estate, leases, or environmental issues. Question counts vary by state and vendor. Don't burn study time here until you've nailed the big six (contracts, agency, practice, financing, ownership, calculations).

How to Study Smart

Look at the percentages again. Contracts, agency, and practice of real estate together make up about 43% of your exam. That's nearly half your score riding on three sections. If you only have a week left to study, drill those three first.

Then financing, calculations, ownership, and transfer of title — another 36%. Hit those second.

Disclosures, valuation, land use, and specialty round out the remaining 21%. Important, but don't drown in them at the expense of the heavy hitters.

Practice questions matter more than re-reading textbooks. Take timed practice tests under exam conditions. If you can't pass a practice test by 80%, you're not ready for the real thing.

Ready to Pass the First Time?

The candidates who fail this exam don't fail because they're stupid. They fail because they studied the wrong stuff in the wrong order, or they crammed federal law without understanding it.

The National Real Estate Master Guide at studystack.org is built around the exact percentage weights in this post. Every section gets coverage proportional to how heavy it hits on test day. Federal laws — RESPA, TILA, ECOA, Fair Housing, Sherman Act, ADA, Lead Paint — are broken down in plain English with worked examples and the exact trick questions the test loves to ask.

Stop guessing what's on the exam. Study what's actually there. Get the National Real Estate Master Guide at studystack.org and walk into your exam ready to pass on the first try.

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