Licensing Requirements
Two of the forty Iowa items. This area covers who must hold a license, who is excluded, and what a broker applicant has to show before sitting the exam. Note at the outset that the commission's rules moved: IAC agency 193E now reads "Transferred to 481-Chapter 20xx" for every chapter, and the operative rules are at Inspections and Appeals 481, chapters 2001 through 2022, on a straight +2000 mapping. PSI's bulletin 120, revised 12/8/2025, still cites "Iowa Administrative Code (193E)", so expect the old numbering on the exam's own materials.
The Commission, and Who Must Be Licensed
Iowa Code section 543B.8(1) creates the real estate commission within the department of inspections, appeals, and licensing - not the old Professional Licensing Bureau. It has five members appointed by the governor and confirmed by the senate: four licensed under chapter 543B and one public member, no more than one from any county, at least one of the licensed members a salesperson, serving three-year terms up to nine years. Section 543B.1 makes a license mandatory before performing even a single act as a broker for compensation, and section 543B.3 lists what those acts are, including preparing offers to purchase, listing contracts, buyer's representation agreements, agency disclosures, rental agreements and groundwater hazard statements. Section 543B.2 requires at least one member or officer of a firm to be a real estate broker.
Exclusions Under Sections 543B.7 and 543B.7A
The chapter does not apply to an owner or the owner's spouse dealing with their own property without repeated and successive transactions of a like character; to an attorney in fact under a duly executed power of attorney; to an Iowa attorney acting solely incident to the practice of law; to a receiver, trustee, executor or guardian acting under court order; to a resident manager living in the dwelling; or to a nonlicensed employee of a licensee who passes on information supplied by the employer licensee. Section 543B.7(5) lets a non-licensee auctioneer set the time, place and method of an auction, advertise it briefly and cry the property - but not show property, host open houses, discuss contracts, or hold deposits, and the broker providing brokerage services must be present at the auction. Section 543B.7A(3), added in 2024, excludes a nonlicensed employee of a broker who advertises, shows, lists, collects rents and deposits and completes form agreements for rentals under chapters 562A and 562B.
Broker Qualification and Examination
Section 543B.15(7) is the number to know: at least sixty contact hours of commission-approved real estate education within the twenty-four months before the broker examination, in addition to the salesperson prelicense course, plus twenty-four months as a licensed salesperson actively engaged in real estate immediately preceding the application, or substantially equal experience. Rule 481-2003.1(2) lets out-of-state salesperson experience count if that license has not been expired more than three years. Applicants must be eighteen, must not have had an application rejected in any state within twelve months or a license revoked within two years, and must pass a national FBI criminal history check whose results the commission must receive within 210 days of the application. Rule 481-2003.3 requires the completed application within the sixth calendar month after the qualifying examination. Section 543B.20 requires the broker examination to be more exacting than the salesperson's.
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State-specific details
State exam facts
- State regulator
- Iowa Real Estate Commission (DIAL)
- Exam vendor
- PSI
- Scored questions
- 115
- Time limit
- 180 minutes
Who regulates real estate brokers in Iowa?
The Iowa Real Estate Commission, now within the Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing (DIAL), licenses brokers and salespersons. The Commission contracts with PSI to deliver the exams.
What experience do I need before the Iowa broker exam?
Iowa Code § 543B.15(7) requires 24 months as a licensed salesperson actively engaged in real estate (or substantially equal experience) plus 60 contact hours of Commission-approved broker education completed within the 24 months before the broker exam — on top of the salesperson pre-license course.
How is the Iowa broker exam structured?
PSI bulletin 120 sets the broker exam at 115 scored questions in 180 minutes: a 75-question national portion scored to 80 points (pass 60 points, 120 minutes) and a 40-question Iowa portion worth 40 points (pass 30, 60 minutes). Both portions must be passed. The national portion is scored by points because some national broker items are worth two points.
Sources: https://dial.iowa.gov/licenses/other-professional-licensure/real-estate-licensees, https://test-takers.psiexams.com/api/content/bulletin/120
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