PassProfessor’s New York program. The 19,996-question New York practice bank is built on the state’s official 19-subject syllabus, and enrollment is open — use this guide to plan your path to the exam.
The New York salesperson exam, in one paragraph
The NYS Real Estate Salesperson Examination is the licensing exam for New York’s entry-level real estate license, administered by the New York Department of State, Division of Licensing Services — the state runs this exam itself, at its own exam sites, rather than through a national testing vendor. It is a multiple-choice exam based entirely on the 77-hour pre-licensing (qualifying) curriculum, and you have 1½ hours to complete it, with the clock starting at the conclusion of the instructions. The exam fee is $15. The Department reports your result as passed or failed only — no numerical score — through your eAccessNY account, and a passing result is valid for two years.
Who can take the New York salesperson exam?
The Department of State’s requirements for a salesperson license are short and specific. You must:
- Be at least 18 years old.
- Have successfully completed 77 hours of approved qualifying education. This is the state-prescribed salesperson course; older materials that say 75 hours are out of date — the requirement rose to 77 hours when a two-hour fair housing / implicit bias component was added.
- Pass your school’s proctored final examination as well as the state’s. The Department’s FAQ is explicit that completion of a school-administered proctored examination is required in addition to the qualifying examination administered by the Department of State. Two exams, two gates.
- Pass the NYS Real Estate Salesperson Examination (this exam).
- Be sponsored by a New York licensed real estate broker. Sponsorship is required for the license to be issued: after you pass, your principal broker must log in to their own eAccessNY account and authorize your application before the Department reviews it.
- Have a current New York photo driver’s license or non-driver ID card.
Three further points that shape real candidates’ plans:
- There is no reciprocity. The Department of State states that it does not currently have reciprocity with any other state. If you completed your education outside New York, you submit a written waiver request with proof of course completion, a detailed topic-and-hours outline, and a course description — and if a waiver is granted, you still must pass the New York state examination.
- Your qualifying course does not expire. Per the Department’s FAQ, once the qualifying course has been applied toward a license it will not expire and can be used for an upgrade. The two-year clock that does run is on your passing exam result (see “Retakes and score validity”).
- Education waivers exist for degrees, too. An applicant with a bachelor’s degree with a concentration in real estate may qualify for a waiver of the qualifying-course requirement, requested in writing with an official transcript. Most first-time candidates simply take the 77-hour course.
PassProfessor note: our program is exam preparation only. It does not provide any of the 77 hours of qualifying education credit — you take that course from a Department of State–approved provider, and this program prepares you for the state exam that follows it.
The exam, piece by piece
New York does not build its salesperson exam from a vendor’s national/state outline. The content basis the Department publishes is the 77-hour qualifying course syllabus itself — the 19 subjects prescribed in 19 NYCRR §176.3, with the course hours the state assigns to each subject. Those hours are the state’s weighting: a subject the state makes you study for 11 hours will matter more on the exam than a subject it covers in one.
| # | Syllabus subject (19 NYCRR §176.3) | Course hours | What it covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | License Law and Regulations | 3 | Article 12-A of the Real Property Law and the Department’s regulations: who needs a license, license types and terms, discipline, escrow and advertising rules |
| 2 | Law of Agency | 11 | Agency relationships and fiduciary duties, New York’s agency disclosure form, dual agency and designated sales agents, how agency is created and terminated |
| 3 | Legal Issues | 10 | Estates and ownership, deeds and recording (New York is a race-notice state), liens, easements, and the Property Condition Disclosure Act |
| 4 | The Contract of Sales and Leases | 3 | Contract essentials, the Statute of Frauds, sales contracts, leases, options and rights of first refusal |
| 5 | Real Estate Finance | 5 | Mortgages in a lien-theory state, judicial foreclosure, loan types and programs, the secondary market, lender calculations |
| 6 | Land Use Regulations | 3 | Zoning and variances, subdivision and building controls, eminent domain, environmental review under SEQRA |
| 7 | Construction and Environmental Issues | 5 | Construction basics and the Uniform Code; lead paint, asbestos, radon, wetlands, and Superfund liability |
| 8 | Valuation Process and Pricing Properties | 3 | The three approaches to value, CMAs versus appraisals, pricing a listing |
| 9 | Human Rights and Fair Housing | 6 | The federal Fair Housing Act plus the broader New York Human Rights Law — including lawful source of income — and the fair housing notice owed at first substantive contact |
| 10 | Real Estate Mathematics | 1 | Commissions and splits, prorations, loan-to-value, capitalization and gross rent multipliers, area |
| 11 | Municipal Agencies | 2 | The New York City and local agencies a licensee actually deals with — buildings, planning, landmarks, finance — and programs such as STAR |
| 12 | Property Insurance | 1 | Homeowners and dwelling forms, flood insurance, coinsurance, replacement cost versus actual cash value, title insurance |
| 13 | License Safety | 1 | Personal safety for showings and open houses, identity and data protection |
| 14 | Taxes and Assessments | 3 | How New York assesses and taxes property, exemptions (STAR, senior, veteran), the state transfer tax and the New York City mansion tax |
| 15 | Condominiums and Cooperatives | 4 | Condo fee ownership versus the co-op’s shares-plus-proprietary-lease structure, offering plans, board approval — a heavily New York subject |
| 16 | Commercial and Investment Properties | 10 | Commercial lease types, investment analysis (NOI, cap rate, cash flow), depreciation and 1031 exchanges, syndication |
| 17 | Income Tax Issues in Real Estate Transactions | 3 | Capital gains, the home-sale exclusion, installment sales, FIRPTA, depreciation recapture |
| 18 | Mortgage Brokerage | 1 | The line between real estate brokerage and mortgage brokerage — the latter is regulated by the Department of Financial Services, not the Department of State |
| 19 | Property Management | 2 | Management agreements, trust accounts, and New York landlord-tenant law, including the 2019 Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act’s deposit and fee rules |
| Total instruction | 77 | The syllabus adds a 3-hour school final examination, for 80 hours in total |
Three structural facts that shape how you should prepare:
- One blended exam, one result. There are no separately scored national and state portions, as in vendor-administered states. New York concepts and general concepts are tested together, and you receive a single pass/fail result for the whole sitting.
- Three subjects carry 27 of the 77 hours. Law of Agency (11), Legal Issues (10), and Commercial and Investment Properties (10) are the syllabus’s center of gravity, with Human Rights and Fair Housing (6) next. A study plan that spreads time evenly across all 19 subjects underweights the state’s own priorities.
- New York tests New York. Co-operatives, the Property Condition Disclosure Statement, agency disclosure under Real Property Law §443, source-of-income protection, and municipal agencies are New York material that generic national courses treat lightly or not at all. In a state-administered exam built on a state syllabus, that material is not a supplement — it is the test.
What the state does not publish. The Department of State’s exam pages do not state a question count, and because results are reported as pass/fail only, the Department does not publish a passing percentage there either. Qualifying schools commonly describe both figures, but they are not figures the Department puts on its exam pages, and this guide does not present them as official. What is official — format, time limit, curriculum basis, fee, and pass/fail reporting — is what the table above and this guide rely on.
The passing standard, explained
The Department of State reports exam results as either passed or failed; you will not receive a numerical score.
That single sentence has three practical consequences most candidates do not plan for:
- There is no score report to learn from. In vendor states, a failing candidate often receives a numeric score and per-section diagnostics. In New York, a failing result tells you exactly one thing. If you need to know which subjects cost you the attempt, your own practice data is the only source — one reason to practice in a system that reports your accuracy subject by subject before you ever sit the real exam.
- “How close was I?” is unanswerable. You cannot calibrate a retake plan against a margin the state never shows you. The only sound readiness standard is a margin you build yourself: full practice simulations, at the syllabus’s weights, consistently strong across every subject — not an average that lets two weak subjects hide behind three strong ones.
- Results arrive through eAccessNY. The Department posts results to your eAccessNY account as soon as possible after they are received and scored; results are not given over the phone. When you pass, the same account is where you submit your license application.
Fees and registration, step by step
Keep the payments separate in your mind — there are two state fees on the standard path, paid at different moments, plus your qualifying-course tuition, which is set by your school.
| Payment | Amount | Paid to | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qualifying course tuition | Set by the school | Your approved course provider | Before the exam (77 hours) |
| Written exam fee | $15 | Department of State | Per exam attempt |
| Initial license application | $65 | Department of State | After you pass, with your application |
Application fees are nonrefundable. The Department accepts check or money order payable to the Department of State, or MasterCard/Visa with its credit card authorization form — do not send cash, and note the $20 fee for a returned check.
The sequence, in order:
- Complete the 77-hour qualifying course with a Department of State–approved provider, and pass the school’s proctored final examination.
- Create your eAccessNY account. Exam scheduling is done online, and an eAccessNY account is required to schedule. The same account shows your scheduled exam details and, later, your results.
- Schedule the state exam through eAccessNY at a Department of State exam site, and pay the $15 exam fee for that attempt.
- Print your “Summary of Your Submission” page. The Department requires you to bring the page you were asked to print when you scheduled — it carries your exam information and candidate number.
- Take the exam (see “Test day” below). Your result is posted to your eAccessNY account.
- Apply for the license through eAccessNY once you pass. Your principal (sponsoring) broker must log in to their own account and authorize your application; the Department then reviews it, and on approval your license is mailed to your business address. The $65 initial application fee applies, and your passing result is valid for two years — the application must be completed inside that window.
Two variations the Department calls out: candidates applying based on attorney status, requesting an additional salesperson license, or who were previously licensed submit a paper application by mail rather than the standard online route; and candidates with an out-of-state education waiver must pass the state examination and submit the application to the Licensing office for processing.
Retakes and score validity
- Retakes. If you fail, you can schedule another exam through your eAccessNY account; the $15 exam fee applies to each attempt. The Department’s pages state no separate retake procedure beyond scheduling a new exam — and because your failing result carries no score or subject breakdown, rebuild your study plan from your practice data before you rebook, not from the result notice.
- Score validity. A passing result is valid for two years. Complete your license application — including your sponsoring broker’s authorization — within that period.
- The license itself runs two years per term. Renewal is $65, and renewal requires 22.5 hours of approved continuing education per term (including specified hours in fair housing/discrimination, agency, ethical business practices, recent legal matters, cultural competency, and implicit bias) — a post-licensing obligation, listed here only so the full cost picture is honest. Your sponsoring broker must also be in place for renewal.
Test day
- Bring two things. (1) A current, government-issued, photo-bearing signature ID from the Department’s list — driver’s license, state-issued non-driver ID, IDNYC card, military ID, U.S. passport, Employment Authorization Card, U.S. INS-issued ID, certificate of U.S. citizenship, foreign passport, or specified consular IDs. New York Mobile ID (MiD) is accepted only at the Albany, Buffalo, Hauppauge, and New York City written exam locations. (2) Your printed “Summary of Your Submission” page from eAccessNY scheduling.
- Calculators: yes, within limits. A calculator is permitted if it is battery or solar powered, silent, nonprinting, and has no alphabetic keyboard. PDAs are not allowed.
- Everything else stays out. Cell phones and other electronic devices must be turned off. Dictionaries, books, other reference materials, large bags, and briefcases are not allowed at the exam site — and there is no place to store them, so leave them behind. Eating, drinking, and smoking are not permitted; visitors, guests, and children are not permitted; firearms are not allowed.
- Conduct rules are strict. Using notes or other aids, giving or receiving help, removing exam materials or notes from the site, or causing a disturbance means dismissal from the exam site, with disciplinary decisions made by the Department’s Exam Supervisor.
- Pace for the clock you are given. The 1½ hours begin at the conclusion of the instructions. Flag-and-return discipline matters more than perfection on any single question: a hard question costs the same minutes whether you answer it now or after the ones you know.
- Testing modifications. If you require testing modifications, do not schedule the exam — call the Department at 518-474-4429 first. The same number serves candidates who need accessibility information.
- Results are posted, not announced. Your pass/fail result appears in your eAccessNY account as soon as possible after scoring. Do not call Licensing Services for results — they are not given by phone.
How to study for this exam
The syllabus is the study plan — the Department publishes exactly what the exam is based on, subject by subject, with the hours that show you the weighting. A plan built on that structure:
- Study the 19 subjects in the state’s proportions. Give agency, legal issues, and commercial/investment properties — 27 of 77 hours between them — the largest blocks, and treat the one- and two-hour subjects as short, finishable units you can clear completely rather than skim.
- Learn the New York layer as New York law, not as variations on national rules. Agency disclosure under §443 (the form goes to the seller or landlord before the listing agreement, with a signed acknowledgment), the fair housing notice due at first substantive contact — which an oral disclosure does not satisfy — the Property Condition Disclosure Statement’s mandatory delivery now that the old $500 credit alternative is gone, escrow deposit within three business days into a separate account at a federally insured bank, and a salesperson’s compensation coming only from their associated broker. These specifics are exactly what a state-written exam exists to test.
- Take co-ops seriously. Condominiums and Cooperatives is a four-hour subject because New York’s co-op structure — shares plus a proprietary lease, board approval, an underlying building mortgage — is a large part of New York practice and almost no part of any other state’s. National materials will not carry you here.
- Drill mathematics past the point of understanding. The syllabus gives math one hour; errors there are rarely knowledge failures — they are setup failures under time pressure. Commissions and splits, prorations, loan-to-value, cap rates, and area calculations need repetitions until the setup is automatic.
- Practice at full length, against the real clock. Ninety minutes, timed from the end of the instructions, on questions you have not seen before. Pacing is a separate skill from knowledge, and this exam’s pass/fail reporting gives you no partial credit for almost finishing strong.
- Build your own diagnostics. Because the state reports only pass or fail, track your practice accuracy by syllabus subject from the first week. The subjects where your misses cluster are your score report — the only one you will get before the real thing.
This program’s New York practice bank (19,996 questions, tagged to the same 19 syllabus subjects, with per-question analytics that break your results down by subject) is built for exactly this plan. The New York Real Estate Exam Prep program page shows the full coverage table and enrollment.
Verified questions
Every question in this program is original — written for PassProfessor from the official exam blueprint, never copied from a test bank or another provider’s materials. Before enrollment opened, each answer key was independently verified: reviewers re-answered sampled questions blind, disagreements were settled against the primary sources, and every numeric answer was recomputed from first principles. Questions whose facts could not be confirmed were removed, and the bank passed a text-overlap screen. Practice exams draw a fresh, blueprint-weighted set from the full bank on every attempt, so no two practice exams are the same.
Frequently asked questions
Who administers the New York real estate salesperson exam? The New York Department of State, Division of Licensing Services. New York administers its own exam at Department of State exam sites — it is not given by PSI, Pearson VUE, or another national vendor. You schedule through eAccessNY and test in person.
What is the New York salesperson exam based on? The 77-hour pre-licensing (qualifying) curriculum, per the Department of State. The curriculum’s 19 subjects are prescribed in 19 NYCRR §176.3 — from the Law of Agency (11 hours) to License Safety (1 hour) — and the exam is multiple choice.
How long do I have to take the New York real estate exam? 1½ hours (90 minutes). The Department of State states that the allotted time begins at the conclusion of the instructions.
How will I get my New York exam result? As pass or fail only, posted to your eAccessNY account as soon as possible after the exam is received and scored. The Department does not give you a numerical score, and results are not given over the phone.
How much does the New York real estate exam cost? The written exam fee is $15 per attempt, per the Department of State’s fee schedule. The initial license application after you pass is $65. Your 77-hour qualifying course tuition is separate and set by your school.
How do I register for the New York real estate exam? Create an eAccessNY account, schedule the exam online at a Department of State exam site, and bring the printed “Summary of Your Submission” page — with your candidate number — plus a current government-issued photo ID from the Department’s list on exam day.
Can I take the New York real estate exam online? No. The Department of State describes an in-person written exam at its exam sites, scheduled through eAccessNY. There is no online-proctored option in the Department’s published exam information.
Do I need a sponsoring broker before I take the exam? You need a sponsoring broker for licensure, not for scheduling the exam. After you pass, you apply through eAccessNY and your principal broker must authorize your application from their own account before the Department reviews it. Arrange the sponsorship promptly — your passing result is valid for two years.
What happens if I fail the New York exam? You schedule another exam through your eAccessNY account, and the $15 fee applies to the new attempt. Your result notice will say only that you failed — no score, no subject breakdown — so use your practice data to decide what to restudy before you rebook.
How long is my New York passing score valid? Two years, per the Department of State. Your license application, with your sponsoring broker’s authorization, must be completed within that period.
I took a 75-hour course. Does it still count? The current requirement is 77 hours. Per the Department’s FAQ, an applicant who completed the 75-hour course needs a two-hour continuing education course on fair housing and/or implicit bias training to make up the difference.
Does New York have reciprocity with other states? No. The Department of State states that it does not currently have reciprocity with any other state. Out-of-state education can be submitted for a written waiver request, but a waived applicant must still pass the New York state examination.
Are calculators allowed on the New York exam? Yes, if the calculator is battery or solar powered, silent, nonprinting, and has no alphabetic keyboard. PDAs are not allowed, and phones and other electronic devices must be turned off at the exam site.
Does PassProfessor’s program satisfy the 77-hour education requirement? No. PassProfessor is exam preparation only and provides no qualifying-education credit. The 77 hours must be completed with a Department of State–approved provider, including the school’s proctored final examination, before you sit the state exam.
Disclaimer
PassProfessor is an independent exam-preparation provider and is not affiliated with the New York Department of State, the Division of Licensing Services, or any state agency or exam vendor. This guide is general information about the New York salesperson licensing exam, current as of October 2026; Department of State publications govern if anything here differs from them.