What's on the NH Real Estate Salesperson Exam

The New Hampshire real estate salesperson exam is a computer-based, multiple-choice test given by PSI in two portions. The national portion has 80 scored questions and the state portion has 40. You get 150 minutes for the national portion and 90 for the state portion, and you need 56 points on the national and 28 on the state to pass, which is 70% on each (PSI candidate bulletin, updated July 1, 2025).

The exam at a glance

Portion	Scored questions	Time allowed	Passing score
National	80	150 minutes	56 points
State	40	90 minutes	28 points
Both in one sitting	120	240 minutes	84 points

Even if you book both portions together, you have to reach 70% on each one separately (Rea 303.05).

PSI may also slip in 5 to 10 unscored “experimental” questions it’s trying out for future exams. They don’t count toward your score, and the time you spend on them isn’t taken out of your testing time. A tutorial of up to 15 minutes runs before the exam starts and doesn’t count against your time either. One question appears on screen at a time, and you can go back and change answers until time runs out (PSI bulletin).

What the national portion covers

PSI started using an updated national exam on October 1, 2023, after a national job analysis survey (OPLC notice). For salespersons, the topics are weighted like this (PSI bulletin):

Topic	Share of national questions
Contracts	19%
Agency	13%
Practice of real estate (fair housing, advertising, handling others’ funds)	12%
Property ownership	10%
Financing	10%
Valuation	8%
Property disclosures	7%
Real estate calculations	7%
Transfer of title	6%
Land use controls	5%
Property management	3%

Contracts and agency alone make up nearly a third of the national questions. The math covers a seller’s net proceeds, the funds a buyer needs at closing, property tax and other prorations, transfer fees and PITI payment estimates, along with equity, capitalization rates, loan-to-value and discount points.

What the state portion covers

The 40 state questions test New Hampshire law, mostly RSA 331-A (the Real Estate Practice Act) and the Commission’s Rea administrative rules (PSI bulletin):

Topic	Questions	Covers
The Real Estate Commission	3	Its purpose, powers and disciplinary procedures
Licensure	5	Which activities need a license, eligibility, renewal and continuing education
Regulation of licensee conduct	11	Advertising, prohibited conduct, recordkeeping, funds and accounts, and required disclosures on private water supplies, insulation and sewage disposal systems
Regulation of agency conduct	11	Broker and salesperson relationships, brokerage contracts, and the agency roles of seller agent, buyer agent, disclosed dual agent, designated agent and facilitator
New Hampshire principles and practice	10	Human rights law, environmental rules such as lead paint, radon and underground storage tanks, the Condominium Act, planning and zoning, wetlands, property taxes, manufactured housing, landlord and tenant law, recording, and descent and distribution

What you need before you can test

You must complete 40 hours of approved prelicensing study before your exam date (RSA 331-A:10). Under the Commission’s rules, at least 32 of those hours have to be classroom time or a real-time live online class, no more than 8 can be other distance education, and, under the current rule, the course must have started within 6 months before your exam. A December 2025 proposal to rewrite the Commission’s rules would extend that window to 12 months, so check which rule applies when you enroll. Recorded or correspondence hours are only allowed to cover absences such as illness, family emergencies or technical problems during a live class (Rea 301.03; proposed Rea 300; OPLC laws and rules).

If you studied part of the material in another state, a second route is 34 hours of accredited national material from that state plus at least 6 hours of accredited New Hampshire material (PSI bulletin).

Don’t test before the course is done. If you sit for the exam without meeting the education requirement, you have to retake the entire exam, including any portion you passed (Rea 301.03(r)).

To get the license itself, you must also be at least 18, have no record of unprofessional conduct, and complete a criminal records check (RSA 331-A:10). For the New Hampshire check, you send a notarized criminal record release form, with the fee, to the Division of State Police before you apply for the license (PSI bulletin). OPLC’s checklist also asks for signed affidavits from three character references who aren’t related to you by blood or marriage, plus a criminal history report from any other jurisdiction where you have a conviction that hasn’t been annulled (OPLC application checklist, rev. 02/2026).

Registering and scheduling with PSI

Since March 31, 2025, PSI only takes exam applications online, at test-takers.psiexams.com/nhre. Anything sent by mail, fax or email is returned (PSI bulletin). OPLC no longer accepts exam registration forms or payments (OPLC exam information).

PSI’s guide lays out the steps (PSI guide on the OPLC site; PSI bulletin):

1. Create an account on PSI’s test-taker portal. Your first and last name must match your government ID exactly.
2. Apply for the exam and upload your documents, including proof of your prelicensing course.
3. Once PSI approves the application, choose the portions you want to take, pick a test center, date and time, and pay.

The bulletin’s scheduling rules (PSI bulletin):

• You must take the exam within 3 months of the date your registration is received.
• To cancel or reschedule without losing your fee, give notice at least 2 calendar days before the appointment. A voicemail doesn’t count.
• Arrive 30 minutes early. If you’re late, you won’t be admitted and you lose the fee.
• Bring one valid, unexpired, government-issued photo ID in the name you registered under.

The bulletin lists New Hampshire test centers in Concord, Keene, Manchester, Nashua, Newington and Portsmouth.

What it costs

Item	Fee	Paid to
National portion	$34	PSI
State portion	$32	PSI
Both portions	$66	PSI
Salesperson license application	$99	OPLC

The exam fees come from PSI’s bulletin. They’re non-refundable, valid for one year from payment, and charged again for each attempt (PSI bulletin). The $99 license application fee is from OPLC’s fee page. Prelicensing course tuition is set by each school.

If you don’t pass

Each retake needs a new registration and a new fee, and there’s a deadline. Under the current rules, you must pass both portions within 6 months of your original exam date and within 8 attempts. The December 2025 rules proposal would remove this limit, so confirm it still applies. Miss either limit and you have to complete another accredited prelicensing course and retake the whole exam (Rea 303.05; PSI bulletin).

After you pass

You apply for the license through OPLC’s online licensing portal (OPLC license applications). OPLC’s checklist says the testing company sends your scores directly to OPLC (OPLC checklist), while PSI’s bulletin tells you to mail your original score reports with the application (PSI bulletin). Ask OPLC which it wants when you apply. OPLC asks you to allow 10 to 14 business days for processing, and it sends licenses by email (OPLC FAQs).

How to study for it

• Split your time the way the exam does. On the national side, contracts, agency and practice of real estate make up 44% of the questions. On the state side, licensee conduct and agency conduct account for 22 of the 40.
• For the state portion, read the sections of RSA 331-A and the Rea rules that the bulletin’s outline cites, alongside any summaries you use.
• Work prorations, net proceeds, closing funds and loan-to-value problems until the formulas are automatic.
• Practice against the clock. On the national portion you have just under two minutes per question. PSI sells an online practice exam you can retake as often as you like, paying each time, and it warns that a good practice score doesn’t guarantee a pass (PSI bulletin).
• Use a current textbook. The bulletin’s reading list for the national portion includes Modern Real Estate Practice and Mastering Real Estate Math, among others. PSI says the list isn’t an endorsement and recommends the latest edition.