New Hampshire Real Estate Broker Exam — Study Guide
Free, topic-by-topic study notes for the New Hampshire Real Estate Broker Exam exam. Read a chapter, then practice it.
Property Ownership
The broker exam assumes you already know the basics of real property and simply tests them at greater depth and speed. This topic covers the nature of real versus personal property, the estates a person can hold in land, and the ways two or more people can co-own. A broker must recognize these interests instantly because a supervising broker reviews the listings and contracts that describe them.
Land Use Controls and Regulations
Government and private parties both limit how land may be used. This topic covers the government's inherent powers over land, public zoning tools, and private controls such as deed restrictions. Brokers must be able to spot a use restriction that could kill a client's plans before a contract is written.
Valuation and Market Analysis
Value is the heart of every transaction, and brokers are expected to master it more deeply than salespeople, including income-property analysis and the difference between an appraisal and a broker price opinion. This topic covers the principles behind value, the three approaches appraisers use, and how licensees prepare a comparative market analysis or BPO.
Financing
Most buyers borrow to purchase real estate, and brokers are tested on the instruments, clauses, and federal laws in more detail than salespeople because a broker's agents rely on the broker to keep the office compliant. This topic covers the documents that create and secure a loan, common loan types and clauses, and the federal lending laws.
Contracts
Contracts are the backbone of every transaction and the most heavily weighted national topic on the broker exam. Because a broker supervises the agreements that flow through the office, this topic covers what makes a contract valid, how offers work, the main contracts used in practice, and remedies for breach.
General Principles of Agency
Agency defines the relationship between a licensee and the people they serve, and for a broker it also defines the duty to supervise the licensees who act under the broker's authority. This topic covers how agency is created, fiduciary duties, clients versus customers, the forms agency can take, and the broker's vicarious responsibility for affiliated licensees.
Property Disclosures
Sellers and licensees must reveal known material facts, and a broker must make sure every agent in the office does so. This topic covers the duty to disclose, the federal disclosures that apply nationwide, and the difference between defects a buyer can and cannot discover independently.
Property Management
Property management is weighted more heavily on the broker exam than on the salesperson exam because managing others' property and money is a broker-level responsibility. This topic covers the management relationship and agreement, leasehold estates and lease types, handling owner funds, and landlord-tenant duties.
Transfer of Title
Title is the evidence of ownership. This topic covers how title passes from one party to another, the types of deeds and their warranties, and how public recording and title assurance protect ownership. A broker overseeing closings must recognize when a title problem should halt a transaction.
Practice of Real Estate
This topic carries the heart of what distinguishes a broker from a salesperson: running a brokerage, supervising licensees, keeping trust accounts, and complying with fair housing and antitrust law. The 2023 national outline folded office operations and brokerage management into this area, so the broker exam tests it heavily.
Real Estate Calculations
The broker exam includes math you must compute quickly and accurately, with extra emphasis on investment and closing-statement problems. This topic covers the core percentage formula, commissions, area and volume, and financial, investment, and proration calculations.
New Hampshire License Law and the Real Estate Commission
New Hampshire real estate practice is governed by RSA 331-A, the Real Estate Practice Act, administered by the New Hampshire Real Estate Commission within the Office of Professional Licensure and Certification (OPLC). This chapter covers the Commission's authority, the broker credential, and the license structure a broker candidate must understand.
Principal Broker, Managing Broker, and Trust Accounts
The New Hampshire broker exam tests the supervisory tier that distinguishes a broker from a salesperson: responsibility for a firm, its affiliated licensees, and its client money. This chapter explains the principal broker and managing broker roles and the trust-account duties unique to that responsibility.
Agency Disclosure and Dual Agency in New Hampshire
New Hampshire requires licensees to explain the available agency relationships to consumers using a Commission brochure and to obtain informed consent before acting as a dual agent. This chapter covers disclosure timing and the rules a supervising broker must enforce across a firm.
New Hampshire Property Disclosures: Radon, Arsenic, and Water
New Hampshire has distinctive disclosure obligations tied to its private wells and geology, including notice about radon and arsenic, in addition to federal lead-paint rules. This chapter covers the disclosures a broker must ensure are delivered in a residential transaction.
New Hampshire Condominium Law (RSA 356-B)
Condominium sales in New Hampshire are governed by the Condominium Act, RSA 356-B, which sets rules for how condominium interests are created, sold, and disclosed. This chapter covers the essentials a broker should know when listing or selling a condominium unit.
Practice by topic
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