- Who Governs NDREB Requirements
- Baseline Eligibility Checklist
- The 60-Hour Broker Prelicensing Course
- Application, Fees & Payment Mechanics
- Exam Format & Passing Requirements
- What the Exam Actually Tests
- Retake Policy & the 12-Month Window
- Licensing, Renewal & Continuing Education
- Mapping Your Prep to the Requirements Timeline
- FAQ
- Resident applicants need two years of full-time licensed salesperson experience plus a 60-hour NDREC-certified broker course.
- PSI charges $134 per exam attempt regardless of whether you sit for one or both portions.
- Passing requires 75 of 100 National points and 30 of 40 State points on separate portions.
- The broker application fee is $150 plus a one-time $20 Recovery Fund payment.
Who Governs NDREB Requirements
The North Dakota Real Estate Commission (NDREC) sets and enforces the eligibility rules for the North Dakota Real Estate Broker Exam, while PSI Services LLC builds, delivers, and scores the actual test. That split matters for anyone planning a 2026 application: the Commission decides who is allowed to sit for the exam and what happens after you pass, while PSI controls the testing experience itself - question format, scoring, and the computer-based delivery you'll encounter on exam day.
Understanding this division helps you know where to look for answers. Questions about experience hours, course approval, or license renewal go to the Commission. Questions about scheduling, test-center rules, or score reporting go to PSI. If you want a broader orientation before diving into requirements, the NDREB Certification overview and What Is NDREB? pages are good starting points.
Baseline Eligibility Checklist
Before you can even register for the exam, resident applicants generally need to clear several gates. None of these are optional shortcuts - the Commission checks each one during application review.
- Minimum age: You must be at least 18 years old.
- Salesperson experience: At least two years of full-time licensed salesperson experience, or experience the Commission considers substantially equivalent.
- Prelicensing education: Completion of a 60-hour NDREC-certified broker prelicensing course within two years of applying.
- Background review: Satisfying credit and criminal-history requirements set by the Commission.
- Favorable broker assessment: A positive outcome on the Commission's broker-level review of your readiness.
- Exam performance: Passing both the National and State portions of the exam.
- Insurance: Obtaining errors-and-omissions (E&O) coverage before practicing actively as a broker.
Each of these is a distinct hurdle, and missing one - even something as administrative as the two-year course validity window - can delay your application. If you're unsure whether your background or experience record clears the bar, contact the Commission directly rather than assuming.
Key Takeaway
Start tracking your two years of full-time salesperson experience and your course completion date early - both have time-sensitive requirements that can quietly expire if you wait too long to apply.
The 60-Hour Broker Prelicensing Course
The 60-hour course is not a formality - it's the foundation the exam is built on. Because the course must be NDREC-certified and completed within two years of your application, timing matters as much as content. Complete it too early, and you may need to retake portions before applying; complete it while you're still finishing your experience requirement, and you keep both tracks moving in parallel.
Course content generally mirrors the material tested on exam day, so treat it as your first pass through the subject matter rather than a box to check. Pay particular attention to contracts, agency relationships, and disclosure obligations - these areas carry heavy weight on the actual exam, as detailed in the NDREB Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 11 Content Areas.
Application, Fees & Payment Mechanics
Budgeting for the NDREB process involves three separate payments, each going to a different place. Confusing them is a common source of application delays.
| Fee | Amount | Paid To |
|---|---|---|
| PSI exam fee (per attempt, either or both portions) | $134 | PSI Services LLC |
| Broker application fee | $150 | NDREC |
| Real Estate Education, Research and Recovery Fund | $20 (one-time) | NDREC |
| Annual broker license renewal | $150 | NDREC |
Note that the $134 PSI fee applies whether you're taking just one portion (say, a retake of the State section) or both portions in the same sitting - it's not calculated per question set. For a full cost breakdown including how these fees stack up against total preparation spending, see the NDREB Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown.
Exam Format & Passing Requirements
The NDREB exam is computer-based, closed-book, and split into two distinct portions that are scored - and often scheduled - independently.
- National portion: 90 questions worth 100 points, 150 minutes, passing score of 75 points.
- State portion: 40 scored questions worth 40 points, 90 minutes, passing score of 30 points.
National broker items include scenario-based, best-answer questions that PSI scores on a 0, 1, or 2-point scale rather than simple right/wrong - meaning partial credit is possible depending on how well your chosen answer resolves the scenario. PSI may also insert 5 to 10 unscored experimental questions into the National portion; these are indistinguishable from scored items, so there's no strategic value in trying to identify them.
No reference materials or personal calculators are permitted - everything you need for the Real Estate Calculations domain has to be done using on-screen tools provided by the test system, or by memory. For an exact breakdown of what "passing" means point by point, see NDREB Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass.
Key Takeaway
Because scenario-based National items award 0, 1, or 2 points, practicing full-length scenarios - not just recalling definitions - is essential to hitting the 75-point threshold.
What the Exam Actually Tests
The National portion draws from 11 weighted content areas. Contracts and Agency together account for nearly a third of the National point total, making them the highest-leverage domains for study time.
Domain 5: Contracts (19%)
The single heaviest domain. Covers offer and acceptance, contingencies, remedies for breach, and listing agreement structures.
- Know the difference between bilateral and unilateral contract elements as applied to real estate
Domain 6: Agency (13%)
Fiduciary duties, dual agency disclosure, and broker-salesperson relationships.
- Be able to identify duties owed to clients versus customers
Domain 10: Practice of Real Estate (12%)
Day-to-day brokerage operations, licensing law, and advertising rules.
- Focus on supervision responsibilities unique to the broker role
The remaining eight domains - Property Ownership (10%), Financing (9%), Valuation (8%), Property Disclosures (7%), Real Estate Calculations (6%), Transfer of Title (6%), Land Use Controls (5%), and Property Management (5%) - round out the National portion. Separately, the State portion covers four unweighted statutory areas specific to North Dakota law, which is why it's tested and scored independently from the National content. For a domain-by-domain study breakdown, the NDREB Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 11 Content Areas walks through each area in depth, and How Hard Is the NDREB Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026 discusses how the weighting affects overall difficulty.
Retake Policy & the 12-Month Window
If you fail either portion, you're not locked out - failed portions may be retaken without limit within a 12-month period. This means a National-portion failure doesn't force you to redo a State portion you already passed; each is tracked separately.
Practically, this affects how you should schedule retakes: rather than waiting indefinitely, treat the 12-month window as a countdown. Review the specific point gap between your score and the passing threshold (75 National or 30 State) before deciding how much additional preparation time you need. The NDREB Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows article discusses how first-attempt outcomes typically compare to retake outcomes.
Licensing, Renewal & Continuing Education
Passing both exam portions isn't the finish line - it's one requirement among several. You still need the favorable broker assessment, satisfied background checks, and active E&O coverage before you can practice as a licensed broker.
Once licensed, broker licenses renew annually for $150, and active resident brokers generally complete 12 hours of continuing education to maintain their license. Building a habit of tracking CE hours from day one avoids last-minute scrambles at renewal time.
If you're evaluating whether the entire process - coursework, exam fees, experience requirement, and ongoing renewal - is worth the investment relative to career outcomes, Is the NDREB Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 and NDREB Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis break down the practical returns.
Mapping Your Prep to the Requirements Timeline
Once your eligibility items are lined up - experience hours logged, course certificate in hand, application fees paid - your remaining task is converting requirement compliance into exam readiness. A simple way to structure the final stretch is to sequence study weeks around domain weight, heaviest first.
Contracts & Agency
- Work through scenario-based practice items mirroring the 0/1/2 scoring style
- Review fiduciary duty distinctions in detail
Practice of Real Estate, Financing, Valuation
- Drill calculation-heavy financing scenarios
- Practice untimed valuation problems, then add the clock
Remaining National Domains + State Statutes
- Cover Property Ownership, Disclosures, Land Use, Transfer of Title, Property Management
- Isolate State-specific statutory review since it's scored separately
Full Timed Simulations
- Run full 150-minute and 90-minute timed sessions separately
- Review missed scenario items against the 0/1/2 scoring logic
For a more detailed week-by-week study plan built specifically around these domains, see the NDREB Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt. Once you're closer to test day, a condensed reference like the NDREB Cheat Sheet 2026: One-Page Review of Must-Know Facts can help with final review, and you can practice under realistic conditions using the timed exams at our practice test platform.
FAQ
The two-year full-time licensed salesperson experience requirement (or substantially equivalent experience) is part of the eligibility bar the Commission checks as part of your broker application, alongside the prelicensing course and background review.
No. The $134 fee applies whether you sit for one portion or both in the same registration, so retaking a single failed portion still costs $134 rather than a reduced amount.
You retain your passing National result and only need to retake the State portion. Failed portions can be retaken without limit within a rolling 12-month period.
No. The exam is closed-book and personal calculators are prohibited, along with any other reference materials, so calculation questions must be worked using only what the testing system provides.
Yes. The course must be completed within two years of submitting your broker application, so timing your coursework relative to your application date matters.