PassProfessor’s Maine program is part of the expanding PassProfessor catalog. The 19,995-question Maine practice bank is built on Pearson VUE’s published Maine content outlines, and enrollment opens soon. Join the notify list and we will email you when enrollment opens — then use this guide to plan your path to the exam.
This program is part of the expanding PassProfessor catalog — join the notify list and we’ll email you when enrollment opens.
The Maine Sales Agent exam, in one paragraph
The Maine Sales Agent exam is the licensing exam for Maine’s entry-level real estate license, administered by Pearson VUE for the Maine Real Estate Commission. It has two portions, and you must pass both: a national/general portion of 80 scored questions in 2.5 hours and a Maine law portion of 40 scored questions in 1.5 hours. Each portion also mixes in unscored pretest questions — 5 on the national portion, 5 to 15 on the Maine law portion. The passing standard is a scaled score of 75 on a 0–100 scale. Before you can test, you complete The Sales Agent Course — at least 55 hours with a Commission-approved provider — with a final grade of at least 75%, and you must pass both portions within one year of finishing that course.
Who can take the Maine Sales Agent exam?
Maine’s entry-level license works differently from the “salesperson” license in most states, so start with what the license itself is. Under the Maine Real Estate Brokerage License Act (32 M.R.S. chapter 114, §13200), the Sales Agent license is a training license: it is issued for two years and is not renewable, and a sales agent may perform only the brokerage services specifically authorized by the agency’s designated broker. It is the required first step toward the Associate Broker license.
To qualify for the Sales Agent license, the Commission requires that you:
- Be at least 18 years old at the time of application.
- Hold a high school diploma or its equivalent.
- Have a reputation for honesty, truthfulness, fair dealing, and competency, as the licensing law requires of applicants.
- Complete The Sales Agent Course with a minimum final grade of 75%. The Commission’s own course outline requires the course to be at least 55 hours long, including quizzes and a final exam, taken with a Commission-approved provider.
- Pass the Sales Agent licensing examination administered by Pearson VUE — both portions — within one year of completing the Sales Agent Course.
- Arrange affiliation with a licensed Maine real estate agency before you apply — a sales agent works under an agency’s designated broker, and the affiliation must be in place for the license application.
- Apply for the license within one calendar year of passing the entire exam. Miss that window and the exam must be addressed again; the Commission is explicit about both one-year clocks.
Two consequences of the two-year, non-renewable design are worth planning around from day one. First, there is no renewing a Sales Agent license to buy more time — the two years are the runway to qualify for Associate Broker. Second, the Commission advises against putting a Sales Agent license on inactive status, because qualifying for Associate Broker requires having been actively affiliated with an agency for the full 24-month licensing period.
PassProfessor note: our program is exam preparation only. It does not provide any of the 55 hours of Sales Agent Course credit — you take that course from a Commission-approved provider.
The exam, piece by piece
Both portions are built from Pearson VUE’s published content outlines — the national/general outline for salespersons (effective April 1, 2025) and the Maine laws, rules, and regulations outline (revalidated July 10, 2024), both published as Pearson VUE document #092005 (04/2025). These are the same outlines our practice bank is organized around. The area names and counts below are the outlines’ own titles and scored-item counts.
The national/general portion — 80 scored questions, 2.5 hours
| Area | Scored questions | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| I. Real Property Characteristics, Legal Descriptions, and Property Use | 11 | Real vs. personal property, characteristics of land, legal descriptions, public and private land-use controls and encumbrances |
| II. Forms of Ownership, Transfer, and Recording of Title | 9 | Ownership forms and estates, leases, deeds, title transfer, recording, notice, and title insurance |
| III. Property Value and Appraisal | 11 | Concepts and principles of value, the appraisal process, the sales comparison, cost, and income approaches, CMAs and BPOs |
| IV. Real Estate Contracts and Agency | 16 | Contract elements and performance, listing and sales contracts, earnest money, contingencies, agency types, creation and termination of agency, licensee duties |
| V. Real Estate Practice | 10 | Broker responsibilities, brokerage agreements, fair housing, risk management, property management basics |
| VI. Property Disclosures and Environmental Issues | 9 | Hazardous substances, environmental law, disclosure obligations and liability |
| VII. Financing and Settlement | 7 | Financing concepts, lender requirements, federal financing regulations, settlement and closing |
| VIII. Real Estate Math Calculations | 7 | Area and valuation calculations, commissions, loan and settlement costs, prorations, investment and property-management math |
| Total scored | 80 | Plus 5 unscored pretest questions |
Contracts and Agency is the heavyweight here: at 16 of 80 questions it carries a fifth of the national portion by itself. Property Characteristics and Property Value and Appraisal add 11 each.
The Maine law portion — 40 scored questions, 1.5 hours
| Area | Scored questions | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| I. Maine Real Estate Commission | 2 | The Commission’s powers; investigations, hearings, and appeals; sanctions |
| II. Maine Laws and Rules Governing Activities of Licensees | 15 | Activities requiring a license; licensee and brokerage definitions; the designated broker–sales agent relationship; listings and brokerage contracts; offers and sales contracts; handling of monies — earnest money and trust accounts; material disclosures, including Maine’s mandated property disclosures (water supply, heating systems, waste disposal, hazardous materials); commissions; market analysis; advertising |
| III. Law of Agency/Brokerage | 10 | Types of agency relationships — buyer, seller, appointed, disclosed dual, and subagency; agency and brokerage contracts; obligations to clients and customers; creation and termination of agency; disclosures, including the Real Estate Brokerage Relationships form; transaction brokerage |
| IV. Maine-Specific Principles and Practices | 8 | Property ownership and transfer, including adverse possession, the recording system, transfer tax, and nonresident withholding tax; sources of information in Maine; the Maine Landlord-Tenant Act; condominium law; closings |
| V. Maine Land-Use Law | 5 | Subdivisions (Title 30-A); Mandatory Shoreland Zoning (Title 38); Site Location of Development (Title 38); Underground Oil Storage Tanks (Title 38); minimum lot size and the Land Use Planning Commission (Title 12); the Department of Environmental Protection (Title 38); Open Space and Tree Growth tax laws (Title 36); Protection of Natural Resources (Title 38); transfers of shoreland property (Title 30-A) |
| Total scored | 40 | Plus 5–15 unscored pretest questions |
Three structural facts shape how you should prepare:
- Area II is the Maine portion. Maine Laws and Rules Governing Activities of Licensees is 15 of 40 questions — more than a third of the law portion — and it is the most operational material on the exam: trust accounts, contracts, disclosures, advertising, commissions. If Maine law has a center of gravity, this is it.
- The Maine portion is its own hurdle. Its content — Commission rules, Maine agency law, Maine-mandated disclosures, transfer tax, shoreland zoning, Tree Growth — exists nowhere in national study materials. Candidates who prepare only from a national textbook walk into 40 questions, a full third of the exam, essentially unprepared.
- Do not confuse the two Maine law tests. Pearson VUE also administers a separate Maine Law exam (50 scored questions) used for reciprocity and renewal situations. The outlines state it plainly: the Maine Law exam does not satisfy the law portion of the Sales Agent exam. Sales Agent candidates take the 40-question law portion described above.
Pretest questions. The national portion mixes in 5 pretest items and the Maine law portion mixes in 5 to 15. They are tryout questions Pearson VUE is evaluating for future exams; they are not identified, they do not affect your score, and there is no way to game them. The only correct strategy is to treat every question as scored — which also means pacing for up to 85 questions on the national portion and up to 55 on the Maine law portion, not for the scored counts alone.
The math conventions are published. The national outline lists the constants that are not provided at the test center and must be memorized: 43,560 square feet per acre and 5,280 feet per mile. When a question requires a prorated amount, the question itself states whether the calculation uses a 360- or 365-day year and whether the day of closing belongs to the buyer or the seller, and standard rounding rules apply. Knowing this in advance removes a whole category of avoidable misses: the skill being tested is setting up the calculation, not guessing the convention.
Calculators. You may use a calculator that is silent, handheld, and nonprinting, with no alphabetic keypad — and financial calculators are not permitted. The test center does not hand you one; bring a permitted calculator or plan to work without.
The passing standard, explained
The passing standard is a scaled score of 75.
A scaled score is not a percentage of questions answered correctly, and it is not a raw count. Pearson VUE administers multiple forms of the exam; forms differ slightly in difficulty, so raw results are converted onto a common 0–100 scale, set by the Maine Real Estate Commission in conjunction with Pearson VUE, so that every form demands the same level of knowledge. The handbook is explicit that the reported scaled score should not be interpreted as the percentage or number of questions answered correctly. Two practical consequences:
- You must pass both portions. The exam is not one blended score: the national/general portion and the Maine law portion each have to be passed, and both passes must land within one year of your Sales Agent Course completion date. A practice routine that only tracks a combined average can hide a Maine law portion sitting below the line.
- “75%” study targets are misleading. Because of scaling, no one can tell you exactly how many questions you may miss. The safe approach is to practice until your full simulations sit comfortably above the passing zone on each portion separately, with no outline area left weak.
You leave the test center with an official score report. If you do not pass a portion, that report is your starting point for a retake plan — rebuild around the portion, and the areas within it, that cost you.
Fees and registration, step by step
Keep the payments separate in your mind — they go to different places at different times, and one of them changed recently enough that older guides disagree about it.
| Payment | Amount | Paid to | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Exam fee | $88 | Pearson VUE | When you reserve your appointment |
| License application | $121 | Maine State Treasurer, with your license application | After you pass |
Exam fees are non-refundable and non-transferable. A note on the exam fee specifically: the $88 above is the figure in Pearson VUE’s current Maine candidate handbook (December 2025 edition). Older editions listed $85, and older guides still circulating repeat that figure — if a source disagrees with the current handbook, the handbook governs. The fee is paid when you reserve, by credit card, debit card, or voucher; payment is not accepted at the test center.
The sequence, in order:
- Complete The Sales Agent Course with a Commission-approved provider, finishing with a final grade of at least 75%. Keep your Course Completion Certificate — you will need the original twice: at the test center and again with your license application. The certificate is valid for one year.
- Create your Pearson VUE web account with your legal name, exactly as it appears on your government-issued ID. Pearson VUE stresses this: the name on your account is the name that appears on your score documentation and on reports to the Commission, and correcting it after the fact means contacting customer service.
- Reserve the exam. Book on Pearson VUE’s Maine real estate page or by phone at (877) 543-5220 (TDD 866-274-4777). Appointments may be made up to one calendar day before the day you wish to test, subject to availability — but book earlier than that; you want the date, not the leftover slot. The Commission’s FAQ lists the exam as given in Westbrook and Bangor; the candidate handbook lists the current test centers.
- Take the exam — both portions, 2.5 hours and 1.5 hours — and bring your original Course Completion Certificate and the identification the handbook requires. You receive your official score report when you finish.
- Apply for the license — after passing. Apply online through the Commission, within one calendar year of passing the entire exam. The Commission’s instructions ask for the $121 payment to the Maine State Treasurer, your original examination results, and your original Course Completion Certificate — and your affiliation with a licensed agency must be arranged, because a sales agent practices under that agency’s designated broker.
Retakes and score validity
- Retake only what you failed. If you pass one portion and fail the other, you reserve the Sales Agent exam again and Pearson VUE administers only the portion or portions you still need to pass. Wait 24 hours before making a reservation for reexamination, and rebook through Pearson VUE’s website or by phone — reexamination reservations cannot be made at the test center. Have your failing score report handy when you reschedule.
- The one-year clock does not pause. Every attempt — first try and retakes alike — must fall within one year of your Sales Agent Course completion date. If the certificate year runs out before both portions are passed, you must address the course requirement again before testing. Retake planning in Maine is therefore partly calendar planning: book the retake promptly, not eventually.
- The exam fee applies to each attempt ($88 per attempt under the current handbook) and is non-refundable and non-transferable.
- Passing scores run on the second one-year clock. Once you have passed the entire exam, your license application must be completed within one calendar year of passing. After that window, the passing result no longer carries a license application.
- A passed exam cannot be retaken to improve a result — passing is passing, and the application clock starts.
Test day
- Bring the original Course Completion Certificate. For Sales Agent candidates this is not optional paperwork — the Commission states that candidates must present the original certificate at the test center. Photocopies are a risk you do not need on exam morning.
- Bring proper identification, matching your reservation. Your Pearson VUE account name must match your government-issued ID exactly; a mismatch is the most preventable way to lose an exam day.
- Pace for the pretest items, too. You have 150 minutes for everything on the national portion — up to 85 questions including pretest items — and 90 minutes for up to 55 on the Maine law portion. That is roughly a minute and three quarters per national question and a minute and a half per Maine law question. Flag-and-return discipline matters: a hard question costs the same time whether you wrestle it now or after the ones you know.
- Know your calculator’s status before you arrive. Silent, handheld, nonprinting, no alphabetic keypad — and no financial calculators. If your calculator does not meet the handbook’s description, it does not go in with you.
- Results are immediate. You leave with an official score report. If you passed both portions, start the license application promptly — the one-year application clock is already running, and the Commission cannot accept an online application until your scores have been transmitted, so build in a short wait rather than planning to file the same evening.
How to study for this exam
The outlines are the syllabus — Pearson VUE publishes exactly what the exam covers, area by area, and the counts above are scored-question counts, not suggestions. A plan built on that structure:
- Respect the two-pass rule from the start. Split your preparation into two readiness checks — one per portion — rather than one blended score. The national portion rewards breadth across eight areas; the Maine law portion rewards direct study of Maine rules. They are different study problems and they fail independently.
- Give Maine law Area II its weight. Fifteen of the 40 Maine law questions cover the rules governing licensee activities: what requires a license, the designated broker relationship, listing and sales contracts, earnest money and trust accounts, mandated disclosures, commissions, advertising. This is concrete, learnable, high-yield material — deadlines, dollar-handling rules, and required forms — and it is the single largest block on either portion relative to its size.
- Drill Maine’s distinctive topics until they are familiar, not just recognized. Transaction brokerage and the Real Estate Brokerage Relationships form; the §173 seller disclosure categories (water supply, heating, waste disposal, hazardous materials); the real estate transfer tax and the nonresident withholding tax; landlord-tenant and condominium law; and the land-use set — subdivision review, mandatory shoreland zoning, Site Location of Development, underground oil storage tanks, and the Tree Growth and Open Space tax programs. None of this appears on any other state’s exam, and all of it is fair game here.
- Learn the national heavyweights comparatively. Contracts and Agency (16 questions) plus the two 11-question areas — property characteristics and appraisal — are 38 of the 80 national questions. Learn policy-like distinctions side by side: estate types against each other, appraisal approaches against each other, contract statuses against each other.
- Practice math the handbook’s way. Memorize 43,560 square feet per acre and 5,280 feet per mile, because the test center will not provide them. Practice prorations by reading the basis the question gives you (360- vs. 365-day year; whose day the closing day is) before touching the numbers, and practice commissions, capitalization, loan costs, and settlement figures until the setup is automatic.
- Simulate the real sitting, on the real clocks. At least twice before test day, sit a full 80-question national set in 150 minutes and a full 40-question Maine law set in 90 minutes, including a handful of extra questions standing in for pretest items, and check your readiness portion by portion.
This program’s Maine practice bank (19,995 questions — 13,386 on the national/general topics and 6,609 on Maine law) is built area-by-area on this same pair of outlines. The Maine Real Estate Exam Prep program page shows the full coverage table — and the notify list there will email you when enrollment opens.
Frequently asked questions
How many questions are on the Maine real estate exam? 120 scored questions: 80 on the national/general portion and 40 on the Maine law portion. Unscored pretest questions are mixed in — 5 on the national portion and 5 to 15 on the Maine law portion — and they cannot be identified and do not affect your score.
What is the passing score for the Maine Sales Agent exam? A scaled score of 75, and both portions must be passed. The score is reported on a 0–100 scale and is not the percentage or number of questions answered correctly; Pearson VUE equates results so every exam form demands the same knowledge.
How long is the Maine real estate exam? 2.5 hours (150 minutes) for the national/general portion and 1.5 hours (90 minutes) for the Maine law portion — 4 hours of testing across the two portions, with pretest questions inside that time.
Does Maine require a course before the exam? Yes. You must complete The Sales Agent Course — at least 55 hours with a Maine Real Estate Commission-approved provider, including quizzes and a final exam — with a minimum final grade of 75%, before you can sit for the Sales Agent exam.
How much does the Maine Sales Agent exam cost? The exam fee is $88, paid to Pearson VUE when you reserve, by credit card, debit card, or voucher (payment is not accepted at the test center; the fee is nonrefundable and nontransferable). That figure is from the current candidate handbook (December 2025) — older editions listed $85. After you pass, the license application payment to the Commission is $121.
How do I register for the Maine real estate exam? Reserve through Pearson VUE’s Maine real estate page or by calling (877) 543-5220. Create your account with your legal name exactly as it appears on your government ID, and note that appointments can be made up to one calendar day before the test day, subject to availability.
Where do I take the Maine real estate exam? At a Pearson VUE test center. The Maine Real Estate Commission’s FAQ lists the exam as given in Westbrook and Bangor, and the candidate handbook lists the current test centers — check it when you reserve, as center lists can change.
What do I need to bring to the test center? Your original Sales Agent Course Completion Certificate — the Commission requires the original for Sales Agent candidates — and proper government identification matching the name on your reservation. A permitted calculator (silent, handheld, nonprinting, no alphabetic keypad; no financial calculators) is allowed but not provided.
What happens after I pass both portions? Apply for the Sales Agent license online through the Maine Real Estate Commission within one calendar year of passing the entire exam, with the $121 payment, your original examination results, and your original Course Completion Certificate — and with your affiliation with a licensed agency arranged, since a sales agent practices under the agency’s designated broker.
If I fail one portion, how soon can I retake it? You must wait 24 hours before making a reservation for reexamination, and reexamination reservations cannot be made at the test center — rebook through Pearson VUE’s website or by phone. You will be administered only the portion or portions you still need. The binding constraint is the calendar: all attempts must fall within one year of completing the Sales Agent Course, and the $88 exam fee applies to each attempt.
How long is my Maine exam score valid? Your passing result supports a license application for one calendar year from the date you passed the entire exam. The Commission requires the completed application inside that window.
Is the Maine Sales Agent license renewable? No. The Sales Agent license is issued for two years and cannot be renewed; it is a training license whose path leads to the Associate Broker license. The Commission also cautions that time on inactive status can work against the active-affiliation requirement for advancing to Associate Broker.
What is the difference between the Maine law portion and the Maine Law exam? They are different tests. The Sales Agent exam’s law portion has 40 scored questions built for new Sales Agent candidates. The separate Maine Law exam has 50 scored questions and is used for reciprocity and certain renewal situations — and per Pearson VUE’s outlines, it does not satisfy the Sales Agent exam’s law portion.
Does PassProfessor’s program satisfy the 55-hour course requirement? No. PassProfessor is exam preparation only and provides no pre-licensing education credit. The Sales Agent Course must be completed with a Commission-approved provider, with a final grade of at least 75%, before you test.
Disclaimer
PassProfessor is an independent exam-preparation provider and is not affiliated with the Maine Real Estate Commission, Pearson VUE, or any state agency or exam vendor. This guide is general information about the Maine Sales Agent licensing exam, current as of October 2026; Maine Real Estate Commission and Pearson VUE publications govern if anything here differs from them.