PassProfessor’s New Jersey program. The 19,674-question New Jersey practice bank is built on PSI’s official salesperson content outline, and enrollment is open — use this guide to plan your path to the exam.
The New Jersey salesperson exam, in one paragraph
The New Jersey Real Estate Salesperson Examination is the licensing exam for New Jersey’s entry-level real estate license, administered by PSI Services LLC under contract with the New Jersey Real Estate Commission, part of the Department of Banking and Insurance. It is a single computer-based sitting: 110 scored multiple-choice questions — 80 on national real estate principles and 30 on New Jersey-specific law — in 4 hours, plus 5 to 10 unscored experimental questions mixed in. You pass by answering 70% correctly overall — 77 of 110. The exam fee is $38 per attempt. You become eligible by completing a 75-hour pre-licensing course at a Commission-licensed school, which transmits your eligibility to PSI; your eligibility expires one year from the date it is issued, and both passing and your license application must happen inside that year.
Who can take the New Jersey salesperson exam?
The Real Estate Commission’s published requirements for a salesperson license are direct. You must:
- Be at least 18 years old.
- Hold a high school education or its equivalent.
- Complete a 75-hour pre-licensure course at a licensed school. The education must be completed before you contact PSI for a reservation — there is no scheduling first and finishing the course later.
- Pass the license examination (this exam).
- Satisfy the Commission as to your honesty, trustworthiness, character, and integrity. The Commission’s requirements page is explicit that if an applicant has ever been convicted of a crime, or is currently on parole or probation, the application may be denied (the page cites N.J.S.A. 45:15-9, 45:15-12.1, and 2A:168A-1 et seq.).
- Apply for the license through a sponsoring real estate broker after passing. Sponsorship is required for licensure, not for sitting the exam.
Four structural points shape how candidates should plan:
- Your school certifies you; you do not self-certify. On successful completion of the course requirements, your education provider transmits your eligibility to PSI electronically, and PSI sends you an email confirmation. Only then do you schedule. (Candidates with an approved state waiver have their eligibility sent by the state instead.) If PSI has no record of you, the bulletin directs you back to your education provider.
- The one-year clock starts when eligibility is issued. Your eligibility expires one year to the day from the date it is issued, and the bulletin states the consequence plainly: candidates must pass the examination and apply for licensure before that expiration date. A pass earned in month eleven leaves very little room for the fingerprint and application steps.
- New Jersey has no reciprocity with any state. The Commission states this without exception: holding a license elsewhere does not shorten the New Jersey path.
- Disabled-veteran waivers exist. A New Jersey citizen with a disability certification from the Veterans Administration may qualify for waivers — including, per the bulletin, a waiver of the $100 salesperson license fee — through the Commission’s Education Waiver Section. Most candidates take the standard path; if this might apply to you, contact the Commission before you enroll anywhere.
PassProfessor note: our program is exam preparation only. It does not provide any of the 75 hours of pre-licensing education credit — you take that course from a Commission-licensed school, and this program prepares you for the PSI exam that follows it.
The exam, piece by piece
The exam is one sitting with two content parts, built from the content outlines published in PSI’s Candidate Information Bulletin. The national part is weighted by percentage; the New Jersey part is weighted by item count. Together they make the 110 scored questions.
The national portion (80 scored questions)
| Outline area | Share of the national portion | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| I. Property Ownership | 10% | Real and personal property, legal descriptions, encumbrances, forms of ownership |
| II. Land Use Controls | 5% | Government rights in land, zoning and land-use controls, private restrictions (CC&Rs) |
| III. Valuation | 8% | Appraisals, the three approaches to value, comparative market analysis |
| IV. Financing | 10% | Loan types and terminology, underwriting, RESPA, Regulation Z and TRID, fair lending |
| V. Contracts | 19% | Contract law, purchase and lease contracts, contingencies, offers and counteroffers |
| VI. Agency | 13% | Agency relationships, fiduciary duties, agency disclosure, termination |
| VII. Property Disclosures | 7% | Seller’s disclosure duties, environmental and government disclosures, material facts |
| VIII. Property Management | 3% | Leasing duties, tenant qualification, fair housing in management |
| IX. Transfer of Title | 6% | Deeds, title insurance and searches, closing and settlement, recordation |
| X. Practice of Real Estate | 12% | Fair housing law, antitrust, licensee duties and responsibilities |
| XI. Real Estate Calculations | 7% | Commissions, prorations, loan-to-value, capitalization, closing figures |
The New Jersey-specific portion (30 scored questions)
| Outline area | Questions | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Duties and Powers of the Real Estate Commission | 2 | Maintenance of records; sanctions, including fines and license suspension and revocation |
| Licensing Requirements | 3 | Activities requiring a license; types of licenses |
| Statutes and Rules Governing Licensee Activities | 22 | Advertising; broker/salesperson relationships; commissions and required accounting; agency, conflicts of interest and disclosure; contracts and documents; trust fund requirements; listings; place of business; records and escrow bookkeeping; inducements; buyer rebates; licensee responsibility to the public and other licensees; and other New Jersey laws, from the Realty Transfer Fee to the Truth in Renting Act |
| Additional Requirements | 3 | The New Jersey Real Estate Sales Full Disclosure Act; the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination; the Real Estate Guaranty Fund; the New Jersey Real Estate Time Share Act |
| Total scored | 110 | Plus 5 to 10 unscored experimental questions (below) |
Three structural facts that shape how you should prepare:
- Contracts and Agency carry the national portion. At 19% and 13%, together they are nearly a third of the 80 national questions. No other pair of areas comes close.
- The New Jersey portion is one dominant area. Statutes and Rules Governing Licensee Activities is 22 of the 30 state questions — the conduct rules a New Jersey licensee works under daily. The other three state areas contribute 8 questions between them, but they are the most purely New Jersey material on the paper (the Commission’s powers, license types, the Guaranty Fund) and the easiest to study directly.
- There is one score, not two. Unlike states that score a national and a state portion separately, the bulletin states a single passing standard for the whole examination: 70% correct, 77 of 110. The two parts are delivered together in one sitting and reported as one result.
Experimental questions. In addition to the 110 scored questions, PSI administers a small number — 5 to 10 — of experimental questions. They are not scored, but they do count against your examination time, and nothing identifies them. PSI uses them to develop future examinations. The only correct strategy is to treat every question as scored and pace for up to 120 questions, not 110.
The passing standard, explained
You pass by answering 70% of the scored questions correctly — 77 of 110.
This is a straight percentage standard, stated by the bulletin in both its summary table (“70% (77 correct)”) and its score-reporting section (“You must get 70% correct to pass the examination”). It is not described as a scaled score, and there is no separate hurdle for either content part: the 77 correct answers can come from any mix of national and New Jersey questions. Two practical consequences:
- A weak area is recoverable — within limits. Because the score is combined, strength in Contracts can offset weakness in Land Use Controls. But offsetting has a floor in practice: the New Jersey statutes-and-rules area alone is a fifth of the whole exam (22 of 110), and no candidate passes comfortably while leaving a fifth of the paper unprepared.
- Your score is immediate, and a failure comes with a map. Your score is displayed on screen at the end of the examination, and a score report is emailed to you. If you fail, the emailed report includes a diagnostic report indicating your strengths and weaknesses by examination type — the document your retake plan should be built from. (Duplicate score reports are available by emailing PSI.)
Fees and registration, step by step
Keep the payments separate in your mind — they go to different places at different times, and only one of them is the exam fee.
| Payment | Amount | Paid to | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Exam fee | $38 per attempt | PSI | When you reserve your appointment |
| License package | $160 total | State Treasurer of New Jersey, submitted through the Licensing Services Bureau – Real Estate | After you pass, with your application |
| Fingerprinting | Fee set by the fingerprint process (separate) | The Commission’s fingerprint vendor | As part of the licensure steps after passing |
The $160 license package breaks down in the bulletin as a $100 license fee, a $50 application fee, and a $10 Guaranty Fund fee. It is paid by certified or cashier’s check, money order, or broker’s business account check — personal checks are not accepted and are returned with the unprocessed application. Exam registration fees are non-refundable and non-transferable, and license fees are subject to change.
The sequence, in order:
- Complete the 75-hour course at a Commission-licensed school. Your provider transmits your eligibility to PSI electronically when you finish, and PSI emails you confirmation. Do not contact PSI before this happens — without your record, there is nothing to schedule against.
- Reserve the exam with PSI. Go to PSI’s New Jersey real estate page (test-takers.psiexams.com/njre) or call (855) 579-4634. Create your account with your first and last name exactly as they appear on your government-issued ID, choose your format — test center or remote proctored — pick a date and time, and pay the $38 fee.
- Take the exam. Arrive 30 minutes early for a test-center appointment (see “Test day” below), or launch a remote exam inside its window. Your score appears on screen when you finish.
- Complete the fingerprint process. Follow the Commission’s fingerprint instructions: the bulletin requires the completed fingerprint Universal Form and the payment receipt from the fingerprint process as part of your license submission.
- Meet with your employing broker and submit everything at once. The Licensing Services Bureau – Real Estate requires a single, simultaneous submission: your PSI passing score report, completed, signed, and dated by your employing broker (copies are not accepted); the fingerprint Universal Form and receipt; and the $160 payment. The Bureau will not accept a partial submission. The employment date your broker indicates cannot be before your examination date or after your eligibility expiration date — and the whole submission must land within one year of the eligibility expiration date shown on your score report.
Retakes and score validity
- Retakes are quick, but never same-day. You cannot make a new appointment on the same day you took an examination, because PSI needs time to process and report results. The bulletin’s own example: a candidate who fails on a Wednesday can call on Thursday and retest as soon as Friday, depending on space availability.
- The $38 fee applies to each attempt, and registration fees are neither refundable nor transferable.
- Cancellation has a deadline. PSI must receive your cancellation at least 2 days before the scheduled date (for a Monday appointment, by the previous Saturday), by website or phone — a voicemail does not count. Miss the appointment, cancel late, arrive late, or arrive without proper identification, and the registration is invalid and the fee is forfeited.
- The eligibility window governs everything. The bulletin states no separate attempt cap; what it does state is the one-year eligibility expiration. Every attempt — and the license application after a pass — must fit inside that window, counted from the date your eligibility was issued.
- A passed exam is not the finish line. Passing starts the licensure submission described above; if the year runs out before the Bureau has your complete submission, the pass does not carry you.
Test day
- Arrive 30 minutes early at a test center. The extra time covers sign-in and identification checks and lets you settle before the clock starts. Arriving after the start time can mean no admission and a forfeited fee.
- Bring one form of identification. It must be government-issued, current, and carry your name, signature, and photograph — a state driver’s license or ID card, a U.S. passport, a U.S. military ID, a U.S. alien registration card, or a Canadian government-issued ID all qualify. No temporary identification is accepted. If you have changed your name, bring official documentation of the change, such as a marriage license or divorce decree. Your PSI account name must match the ID exactly.
- At a test center, PSI provides scratch paper and a pencil, which you return at check-out. Nothing else comes in: reference materials, electronic devices of any kind — including handheld calculators — hats and headgear not worn for religious reasons, bulky outerwear, bags, food, drinks, and personal writing materials are all prohibited, and proctors inspect for them at check-in.
- The tutorial is free time — use it. Before the exam, an on-screen tutorial (up to 15 minutes) walks you through the format and includes sample questions. Tutorial time does not count against your 4 hours. During the exam, one question appears at a time with the minutes remaining displayed, and you may return to any question and change your answer while time remains.
- Remote proctoring is a different contract. If you test from home: you may not use scratch paper; breaks are not allowed — PSI advises candidates who cannot complete the exam without a break not to register for the remote format; you must keep your hands on the desktop and your eyes on the screen, stay in the camera’s view, and follow proctor instructions throughout; you can launch within 30 minutes of your booked time, and failing to start within 15 minutes after it forfeits your fee and eligibility. Run PSI’s compatibility checks — audio/video, webcam, and system — well before test day.
- Results are immediate. Your score is displayed on screen at the end, and the official score report follows by email.
How to study for this exam
The outline is the syllabus — PSI publishes exactly what the exam covers, area by area, with weights. A plan built on that structure:
- Start where the questions are: Contracts, then Agency, then the New Jersey rules. Contracts (19%) and Agency (13%) decide the national portion, and Statutes and Rules Governing Licensee Activities (22 questions) decides the state portion. Those three areas are close to half the entire exam. Sequence your study by weight, not by the order topics appeared in your 75-hour course.
- Learn the New Jersey conduct rules as rules, not as stories. Advertising requirements, trust-fund handling, escrow bookkeeping, commission accounting, listing content, inducements and buyer rebates — these are concrete, checkable requirements, and the exam tests them concretely. They reward direct study and punish vague familiarity.
- Practice calculations until the setup is automatic. Real Estate Calculations is 7% of the national portion, and its skills leak into Contracts and Financing questions as well: commissions, prorations, buyer funds at closing, loan-to-value, capitalization. The error to eliminate is the setup error — choosing the wrong base or the wrong proration — not arithmetic.
- Practice at full length, in one sitting. The real exam is up to 120 questions on screen inside 4 hours, with no break in the remote format and no pausing in either. Full generated practice exams at the real weights build the pacing and the stamina together; short quizzes build neither.
- Use the one-year clock as a study deadline, not a surprise. Your eligibility year is already running when you finish your course. Schedule the first attempt early enough that a failure still leaves room for a retake and the fingerprint and application steps — the pass and the application share the same expiration date.
- If you fail, study from the diagnostic report. PSI’s emailed report breaks your performance down by examination type. Rebuild around the areas it names; a second attempt on the same preparation usually reproduces the first result.
This program’s New Jersey practice bank (19,674 questions, including 5,144 on the New Jersey-specific areas) is built area-by-area on this same outline. The New Jersey Real Estate Exam Prep program page shows the full coverage table and enrollment.
Frequently asked questions
How many questions are on the New Jersey real estate exam? 110 scored questions — 80 on national principles and 30 on New Jersey-specific law — plus 5 to 10 unscored experimental questions mixed in. You have 4 hours for everything on screen, and the experimental questions count against that time even though they do not count toward your score.
What score do I need to pass the New Jersey real estate exam? 70% correct overall: 77 of the 110 scored questions. Per PSI’s Candidate Information Bulletin, that is a single standard for the whole examination — the bulletin publishes no separate pass mark for the national or the New Jersey questions.
How much does the New Jersey real estate exam cost? The exam fee is $38 per attempt, paid to PSI when you reserve; registration fees are non-refundable and non-transferable. After you pass, the license package submitted through your broker totals $160 — a $100 license fee, a $50 application fee, and a $10 Guaranty Fund fee — and fingerprinting is paid separately through the Commission’s fingerprint process.
How do I schedule the New Jersey real estate exam? First finish your 75-hour course — your school transmits your eligibility to PSI electronically, and PSI emails you confirmation. Then reserve on PSI’s New Jersey real estate page or by calling (855) 579-4634, choosing a test center or remote proctoring. Your account name must match your government-issued ID exactly.
Can I take the New Jersey real estate exam online? Yes — PSI offers remote online proctoring as well as test-center delivery. The remote format has stricter rules: no breaks, no scratch paper, continuous camera view, and a hard launch window. If you need a break during 4 hours, PSI itself advises choosing a test center.
What do I need before I can take the exam? You must be at least 18 with a high school education or equivalent, complete the 75-hour pre-licensing course at a Commission-licensed school, and have your eligibility transmitted to PSI by that school. The Commission must also be satisfied as to your honesty, trustworthiness, character, and integrity for licensure.
How long is my exam eligibility good for? One year to the day from the date it is issued. You must pass the examination and apply for licensure before the expiration date — the bulletin repeats this in both the eligibility and the licensure sections, and the date appears on your score report.
What happens after I pass the New Jersey exam? Complete the fingerprint process, meet with your employing broker, and submit everything to the Licensing Services Bureau – Real Estate at once: your passing score report signed and dated by your broker, the fingerprint Universal Form and receipt, and the $160 payment (no personal checks). Partial submissions are not accepted.
If I fail, how soon can I retake the New Jersey exam? Not the same day — PSI must process your results first. The bulletin’s example: fail on Wednesday, call Thursday, retest as early as Friday if space is available. The $38 fee applies to each attempt, and all attempts must fall inside your one-year eligibility window.
Do I need a sponsoring broker before I take the exam? No. You sit the exam on your completed education and your school’s eligibility transmission. A sponsoring (employing) broker is required for the license application after you pass — your broker signs your passing score report and the application goes through that broker.
Are calculators allowed on the New Jersey exam? No personal calculators come into the testing room: the bulletin’s prohibited-items list includes handheld calculators among banned electronic devices. At a test center you are given scratch paper and a pencil for your calculations, which you return at check-out.
Does New Jersey accept a real estate license from another state? No. The Real Estate Commission states that New Jersey does not have reciprocity with any state. An out-of-state licensee follows the same education, examination, and application path as a first-time candidate.
Does PassProfessor’s program satisfy the 75-hour education requirement? No. PassProfessor is exam preparation only and provides no pre-licensing education credit. The 75 hours must be completed with a Commission-licensed school — and completing them is what makes you eligible to schedule this exam in the first place.
Disclaimer
PassProfessor is an independent exam-preparation provider and is not affiliated with the New Jersey Real Estate Commission, the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance, PSI, or any state agency or exam vendor. This guide is general information about the New Jersey licensing exam, current as of October 2026; the Commission’s and PSI’s publications govern if anything here differs from them.