New Jersey Licensing Requirements
Four of the forty New Jersey items, and the bulletin prints just two subtopics: activities requiring a license, and types of licenses. Both are definitional, and both are decided by reading N.J.A.C. 11:5-1.3 closely.
What counts as brokerage activity
The definition readopted effective 2026-01-20 is deliberately long: real estate brokerage activity means the sale, exchange, purchase or rental of real estate or an interest in it, listing for sale, offering or attempting to negotiate a sale, exchange, purchase or rental, "collecting or offering or attempting to collect rent for the use of real estate," soliciting prospective purchasers, "assisting or directing in the procuring of prospects," negotiating or closing any transaction that does or is contemplated to result in a sale, exchange, lease, rental or auction, negotiating a mortgage loan, and conducting a public or private competitive sale of land. Rent collection for others for compensation is therefore licensed activity in its own right. N.J.A.C. 11:5-6.5(a) makes the same point about a narrower business: every person who, for a fee, refers prospective residential tenants to possible rental units must be licensed under the Act.
The three working license classes
A real estate broker is a person, firm or corporation that engages in brokerage activity for a fee, and also includes anyone who supervises a real estate referral company. A broker-salesperson is a natural person qualified to be licensed as a broker who instead works under another broker's supervision performing a salesperson's functions. A real estate salesperson works under a broker's supervision. Broker licensure requires three years of full-time work as a salesperson plus 150 hours of prelicensure education — a 90-hour general course first, then two 30-hour courses — with the experience approved by the Commission before PSI will seat the candidate. Licenses run for a two-year term concluding on 30 June of the odd-numbered year.
Salesperson (referral) — the class that was renamed
A fourth class exists with sharply limited powers. The 2026 readoption renamed it: the defined term is now "real estate salesperson licensed with a real estate referral company," short form "salesperson (referral)," replacing "referral agent" throughout the operative text, although the section heading at N.J.A.C. 11:5-3.6 still reads "Salespersons' and referral agents' licenses." Under N.J.A.C. 11:5-6.10 the activity is confined to directing prospects to publicly available sources of information and referring prospects to the supervising broker. Such a licensee may not be licensed with more than one broker, may not be simultaneously licensed as a broker, broker-salesperson or salesperson, must state "Services limited to referring prospects to broker" on advertisements other than business cards, and may be paid by their broker only for referrals.
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State-specific details
State exam facts
- State regulator
- New Jersey Real Estate Commission (NJREC)
- Exam vendor
- PSI
- Prelicensing education
- 150 hours of broker prelicensure education (a 90-hour general course first, then two 30-hour courses)
- Passing score
- 70% (PSI bulletin 1663: “70% (84 correct)”)
- Scored questions
- 115
- Time limit
- 240 minutes
Who regulates real estate brokers in New Jersey?
The New Jersey Real Estate Commission (NJREC), within the Department of Banking and Insurance, licenses brokers, broker-salespersons and salespersons. NJREC contracts with PSI to deliver the licensing exams.
What experience do I need before the New Jersey broker exam?
Broker candidates must have worked three years on a full-time basis as a salesperson and completed the 150 hours of broker prelicensure education. The order matters: the 90-hour general course must be completed first, then the two 30-hour courses, and only then may the experience approval application go to NJREC with its $25 fee. PSI will not seat a broker candidate until the Commission has approved that experience.
How is the New Jersey broker exam structured?
It is one integrated 115-question computer-based exam in a single 4-hour session, covering the national/general body of knowledge and New Jersey law together, plus 5 to 10 unscored experimental items. The pass mark is 70%, which PSI's bulletin states as 84 correct; the 115 questions are worth 120 points because some national broker items score up to two points.
Is there a separate New Jersey state score I have to pass?
No. New Jersey uses one integrated exam with a single pass mark, so unlike states that score the national and state halves separately, there is no state-only cut score to clear. In practice a candidate can do poorly on New Jersey law and still pass on national strength — which is exactly why the 40 New Jersey items are worth studying rather than gambling on.
Sources: https://www.nj.gov/dobi/division_rec/index.htm, https://test-takers.psiexams.com/api/content/bulletin/1663
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