Licensing
Area II is published as a range of 7 to 8 scored items. It runs from the requirements for a license through the activities that need one, the exemptions, unlicensed assistants, appraisal, nonresident licensure, the handling of licenses, and errors and omissions insurance.
Becoming a Broker
Section 81-885.13 sets a minimum age of nineteen and requires a high school diploma or equivalent, subject to narrow exceptions. A salesperson applicant completes three approved courses totaling at least ninety class hours. A broker applicant must either have served actively for two years as a licensed salesperson or broker and completed sixty class hours beyond the salesperson requirement, or qualify under the hardship route, which is open on special application and hearing where a brokerage cannot retain a designated broker and which calls for eighteen college credit hours or six courses totaling one hundred eighty class hours. Rule 299 NAC 1-004.01 reads 'served actively for two years' as full-time experience or its part-time equivalent. A new broker may not act as a designated broker until completing postlicensure course work in trust accounting, brokerage finance, business ethics, and risk management. Applicants are fingerprinted and subject to a criminal history check.
What Requires a License, and What Does Not
Section 81-885.01(2) defines a broker broadly enough to include auctioning real estate, collecting rents, and giving a broker's price opinion or comparative market analysis; section 81-885.02 makes it unlawful to act as one without a license and, as amended in 2025, reaches publicly marketing an equitable interest in a contract to buy real property other than a vacant lot. Section 81-885.04 lists the exemptions, including owners and lessors, attorneys in fact and attorneys at law, receivers and personal representatives acting under a will or court order, and resident managers leasing where they live. Section 81-885.04(9) lets an unlicensed person make initial contact but forbids discussing the services offered, the customer's motivation, or price. Section 81-885.16 lets a licensee give a price opinion or market analysis provided it is never called an appraisal.
Handling Licenses, Nonresidents, and Insurance
Renewal fees fall due on or before November 30 of each renewal year under section 81-885.14; failing to pay cancels the license on December 31, and a license inactive more than three continuous years is reinstated only by passing the current examination. A broker with more than one place of business obtains a branch office license for each under section 81-885.19, and the manager must be the broker or an associate broker. A nonresident applicant files a certified copy of the home-jurisdiction license, an affidavit of familiarity with Nebraska law, and proof of a three-hour approved class on the License Act and sections 76-2401 to 76-2430. Section 81-885.55 requires errors and omissions insurance for every licensee except inactive ones; failing to file the certificate of coverage puts the license on inactive status until it is filed.
Keep going: the full Nebraska Real Estate Broker guide covers every section of the exam. Nebraska Real Estate Broker Exam Study Guide (2026) — PDF + EPUB, $19.99 · 14-day refund →
State-specific details
State exam facts
- State regulator
- Nebraska Real Estate Commission (NREC)
- Exam vendor
- Pearson VUE
- Prelicensing education
- 60 class hours beyond the 90-hour salesperson requirement
- Passing score
- 75%
- Scored questions
- 130
- Time limit
- 240 minutes
Who regulates real estate brokers in Nebraska?
The Nebraska Real Estate Commission (NREC) licenses and disciplines brokers, associate brokers, and salespersons under the Nebraska Real Estate License Act (Neb. Rev. Stat. sections 81-885 to 81-885.56). NREC contracts with Pearson VUE to deliver the licensing exams, at Pearson Professional Centers in Lincoln, Omaha, and North Platte and at community college sites including Columbus, Grand Island, Hastings, Lexington, McCook, Norfolk, and Scottsbluff.
What experience do I need before the Nebraska broker exam?
Under Neb. Rev. Stat. section 81-885.13(3), broker applicants must have served actively for two years as a licensed salesperson or broker and complete 60 class hours of commission-approved education beyond the salesperson requirement, or qualify under the hardship provision. Rule 299 NAC 1-004.01 reads 'served actively for two years' as full-time experience, or the equivalent period if less than full time. Applicants must be at least 19 years old, and a new broker may not act as a designated broker until completing postlicensure courses in real estate trust accounting, brokerage finance, business ethics, and risk management.
How is the Nebraska broker exam structured?
The Nebraska broker exam is entirely multiple choice, in two portions taken in one 4-hour appointment: an 80-item national portion (2.5 hours) and a 50-item Nebraska state portion (1.5 hours), for 130 scored items, plus 5 to 10 unscored pretest items. A score of 75% is required. A salesperson candidate who passes one portion may retake only the portion failed; a broker candidate who fails either portion must retake both parts of the examination.
What does the Nebraska state portion of the broker exam cover?
Pearson VUE publishes a separate broker state outline (effective September 1, 2023) with five areas across the 50 scored items: Duties and Powers of the Real Estate Commission (5), Licensing (7-8), Statutory Requirements Governing the Activities of Licensees (17-18), Agency (15), and Additional Topics (5). Agency alone is 30% of the state portion. The broker outline is not the salesperson outline: the two carry identical areas and subtopics but swap the item counts for Statutory Requirements and Agency.
Sources: https://nrec.nebraska.gov/licensing-forms/licenseinformation.html, https://www.pearsonvue.com/content/dam/VUE/vue/en/documents/publications/092800.pdf, https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=81-885.13
In the Nebraska Real Estate Broker guide: A 60-question national practice exam, with a key that explains all four options and not just the right one. Practice here stays free.