North Dakota Real Estate Exam Prep and Crash Course

North Dakota's real estate exam is administered by PSI. Candidates can schedule exams online at the following site. Candidates may also call PSI to schedule an exam at: 855-834-8747. 

Salesperson Exam

• All applicants must be at least 18 years of age and:
• Must submit online application including $150 application fee and $8 for credit report
• Must submit fingerprints for a criminal background check; send fingerprinting kit with $41.25 fee to Dakota Real Estate Commission (check or money order should be made out to ND Attorney General Note: DO NOT get fingerprinted before submitting completed application to the Real Estate Commission
• Must submit proof of having completed the 90-hour pre-licensing education courses 
• Must have a reputation for competency, honesty, truthfulness, financial integrity and fair dealing
• Must obtain errors and omissions insurance 
• Must pay exam fee ($131) and license fee ($150)
• Once applicants have received approval and a test ID number from the Real Estate Commission, they may go online and schedule the exam 
• Must pay $20 into the Education, Research, and Recovery Fund at the time of licensing

Broker Exam

• Applicants must be at least 18 years of age and:
• Must submit online application including $150 application fee and $8 for credit report
• Must submit Personal Authorization for Criminal History Record Check Request form 
• Must submit proof of having been actively engaged as a licensed real estate salesperson for a period of 2 years preceding the date of the application or experience as determined by the Commission to be substantially equal to that which licensed real estate salesperson would ordinarily receive during a 2-year period
• Must submit fingerprints for a criminal background check; send fingerprinting kit with $41.25 fee to Dakota Real Estate commission (Check or money order should be made out to ND Attorney General)
• In addition to the 45 hours of pre-licensing education, an applicant for a broker's license must have successfully completed an additional 60 hours in courses of study approved by the Commission as a broker-level education 
• Must obtain errors and omissions insurance
• Must provide test ID number issued by the Real Estate Commission, which will be issued after the previous requirements are met
• If applying for the license for the first time, applicant must pay $20 to the Education, Research, and Recovery Fund at the time of licensing 
• Must pay exam fee ($131) and application fee ($150)

Salesperson Examination: The exam consists of a national portion and a state portion. The national portion has 100 questions and candidates have 2.5 hours to complete it. The state portion has 40 questions and candidates have 1.5 hours to complete it.

Broker Examination:  The broker exam consists of 11 simulation problems and candidates have 3 hours to complete it.

The exam may be taken in the following locations: Bismarck, Fargo, Grand Forks, Minot, and Williston.

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 salesperson exam covers the following topics:

• Agency relationships and contract (28 questions)
• Real property ownership/interest (13 questions)
• Finance (14 questions)
• Real property (14 questions)
• Marketing regulations (10 questions)
• Property management (8 questions)
• Real estate calculations (13 questions)

The state portion of the salesperson exam covers the following topics:

• Duties and powers of the Real Estate Commission
• Licensing requirements
• Statutory requirements governing the activities of licensees
• Additional topics 

The broker simulation exam covers the following topics:

• Agency relationships and property representations (3 questions)
• Fair Housing and other governmental regulations (2 questions)
• Handling money (2 questions)
• Training and supervision of licensees (1 question)
• Plus one primary issue varying by examination form (1 question)

Section topics:

• Agency
• Contracts
• Freehold and Leasehold
• Property management 
• Finance
• Government regulations and private restrictions 
• Description and measurement 
• Valuation
• Conveyance 
• Calculations 
• Ethical Behavior (must be incorporated into at least 4 problems)

Property types:

• Residential (4 problems)
• Commercial (2 questions)
• Property management (1 question)
• Plus two property types varying by examination form (2 questions)

Salesperson Examination: A passing score for the national portion is 70 questions correct and a passing score for the state portion is 30 questions correct. 

Broker Examination: To pass the National Simulation Examination, candidates must meet or exceed the overall minimum passing level (MPL) for Information Gathering (IG) sections and meet or exceed the overall MPL for Decision Making (DM) sections. Each section in a simulation was evaluated by content experts when the problem was developed. The MPL was established for the section using the scoring weights assigned to the options in that section and represents the level of performance expected of a minimally competent practitioner.

The overall IG MPL is the sum of the MPL for all IG sections on the examination, and the overall DM MPL is the sum of the MPL for DM sections on the examination. The sum of your scores on all IG sections is reported as your IG total raw score, and the sum of your scores on all DM sections is reported as your DM total raw score. Your total raw scores must meet or exceed the MPL in both IG and DM to pass the examination. 

All candidates must provide 2 forms of identification. The primary form of identification must be government-issued, current, and include the applicant's name, signature, and photograph.

Primary forms of identification may be any of the following:

• Driver's license with photograph 
• State identification card with photograph 
• Passport 
• Military identification card with photograph 

Secondary forms of identification must display the applicant's name and signature for signature verification. Secondary forms of identification may be any of the following:

• Credit card with signature 
• Social Security card with signature 
• Employment/Student ID with signature 

No form of temporary identification will be accepted. 

• North Dakota Candidate Handbook  
• North Dakota Real Estate Commission 
• Salesperson License Application
• Broker License Application
• North Dakota real estate license guide