The Ohio real estate exam is administered by PSI. Candidates who wish to schedule an exam can do so by visiting the following site. This should be done after receiving notice of eligibility from the Division.  Candidates may also call PSI to schedule an exam at 855-834-8749.

Current processing time: Licenses are typically issued in 5-10 days.

Salesperson Exam

• Applicants must be at least 18 years of age and:
• Must be honest, truthful, and of good reputation
• Must have completed 120-hour pre-license education requirements 
• Must submit license application and fee to the Division of Real Estate & Professional Licensing.
• Must not have been convicted of a felony or a crime of moral turpitude. Must not have violated any civil rights laws regarding real estate within the past 2 years as determined by a court of law or violated any rules of the Ohio Division of Real Estate.
• Must have a high school diploma or equivalent
• Must submit fingerprints in order to undergo a criminal background check
• Must have sponsorship from an Ohio Broker
• Must successfully complete the real estate exam
• Must pay exam fee ($63) and license fee ($60)

Broker Exam:

• Applicants must be at least 18 years old and:
• Must complete an application form
• If licensed prior to 1/01/1972, no further education is needed. If licensed from 1/02/72 to 1/03/84, applicant must have taken a 120 hours course

If licensed on or after 1/03/84, the applicant must have taken:

• Ohio Real Estate Law (40 hours)
• Ohio Real Estate Principles and Practices (40 hours)
• Real Estate Appraisal (20 hours)
• Real Estate Finance (20 hours)
• A Financial Management course 
• A Human Resources or Personnel Management course 
• An Applied Business Economics course 
• A Business Law course 

A minimum of 2 years of post-secondary education or equivalent hours of 60 semester or 90 quarter hours. Courses #5-8 may be included in applicant's postsecondary education possess a minimum of 2 years of postsecondary education (#9), or the equivalent hours of 60 semester or 90 quarter hours.

• Must not have been convicted of a crime of moral turpitude
• Must have been licensed as a salesperson for at least 2 years 
• Must have successfully completed the real estate exam
• Must meet a total of 20 real estate transactions
• Must pay exam fee ($43) and license fee ($100)

Applicants can submit their applications by mail to the following address:

Ohio Department of Commerce
Division of Real Estate & Professional Licensing
6606 Tussing Road 
PO Box 4008
Reynoldsburg, OH 43068

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Salesperson Examination: The exam consists of a national portion and a state portion. The national portion includes 80 questions and candidates have 120 minutes to complete it. The state portion has 40 questions and candidates have 60 minutes to complete it.

Broke Examination: The exam consists of a national portion and a state portion. The national portion includes 75 questions and candidates have 120 minutes to complete it. The state portion has 40 questions and candidates have 60 minutes to complete it. 

The real estate exam is in multiple-choice format and is given by computer. It may be taken at the following locations: Akron, Cambridge, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus North, Columbus South, Toledo, and Troy. 

The following categories are featured on both the Salesperson and Broker Licensing Exam. The percentages show the make-up of how many questions you should expect to see from each category.

The national portion of the exam covers the following topics:

• Property ownership (Salesperson 8%; Broker 10%)
• Land use controls and regulations (Salesperson 5%; Broker 5%) 
• Valuation and market analysis (Salesperson 7%; Broker 7%)
• Financing (Salesperson 10%; Broker 8%)
• General principles of agency (Salesperson 13%; Broker 11%)
• Transfer of Title (Salesperson 8%; Broker 7%)
• Practice of Real Estate (Salesperson 13%; Broker 14%)
• Property disclosures (Salesperson 6%; Broker 7%)
• Contracts (Salesperson 17%; Broker 18%)
• Leasing and property management (Salesperson 3%; Broker 5%)
• Real estate calculations (Salesperson 10%; Broker 8%)

The state portion of the exam covers the following topics:

• State governance of the real estate profession (4 items)
• Licensing requirements (6 items)
• License law and rules of the Ohio Real Estate Commission (16 items)
• Brokerage relationships (14 items)

Salesperson Examination: A passing score on the exam is 70% or higher.

Broker Examination: A passing score on the exam is 75% or higher. 

All applicants must provide 1 form of identification that matches the name on the candidate's registration. Identification can be any of the following:

• State-issued driver's license
• State-issued identification card
• US government-issued Passport
• US government-issued Military Identification card
• US government-issued Alien Registration card
• Canadian government-issued ID 

• Ohio Real Estate Salesperson and Broker Exam Information Bulletin 
• Ohio Real Estate License Guide