Real Estate Finance
Twelve hours: the broker course's 7-hour finance chapter, which itself reserves one hour for loan products and investment monies, two for risk management and two for financial analysis of commercial transactions, plus the salesperson course's 5-hour finance subject.
The New York mortgage and how it is enforced
New York is a lien-theory state: the borrower keeps legal title and the mortgage is security, so a lender cannot take the property back without a court. Foreclosure proceeds judicially under article 13 of the Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law, through a referee's computation, a judgment of foreclosure and sale and a public sale. Two notices come first on residential loans. RPAPL § 1303 requires a separately colored notice to the homeowner and to tenants served with the foreclosure papers. RPAPL § 1304 requires the lender, assignee or servicer to send the borrower a notice 'at least ninety days before' commencing the action, 'in at least fourteen-point type', opening 'YOU MAY BE AT RISK OF FORECLOSURE' and attaching a list of government-approved housing counseling agencies. New York taxes the loan as well as the sale: Tax Law § 253(1) imposes a basic mortgage recording tax of fifty cents for each $100 of principal debt, with a special additional tax of twenty-five cents per $100 under § 253(1-a) from which mortgages held by a natural person or a credit union on premises of six residential units or fewer are excepted, and with further local amounts on top.
Loan products, ratios and risk
The broker syllabus lists the products a broker must be able to compare — fixed rate conventional, adjustable and variable rate with their margins and indexes, prime, subprime and predatory, graduated payment, FHA insured, VA guaranteed, purchase money, gap, miniperm, wraparound, blanket, subordinate, and a lease used as a means of financing. It pairs them with the ratios that decide whether a deal funds: loan-to-value, debt-to-income, and for income property the debt coverage ratio. Loan-to-value is the loan divided by the lesser of price or appraised value, so a $384,000 loan on a $480,000 purchase is 80 percent and the buyer brings $96,000; above 80 percent a conventional borrower generally pays private mortgage insurance, which changes the payment and therefore the price the buyer can reach. One month's interest on an amortizing loan is the balance times the annual rate divided by twelve, so $250,000 at 6 percent accrues $1,250 in the first month and everything paid above that retires principal. The two risk-management hours cover inflation, assessment, leverage, tax shelters, full, low and no documentation loans, foreclosures and equity stripping.
The secondary market and the cost of money
The syllabus asks a broker to explain how the secondary market works, dating the Federal National Mortgage Association to 1938 and the financial and political climate of the 1930s, and describing the market as 'the conduit to bring investor monies from locations of excess to areas of need in the Primary Market'. A secondary-market purchaser buys closed loans, replenishing the originator's capital so it can lend again; it does not lend to consumers, insure loans in place of the Federal Housing Administration, or set the rate a primary lender charges. The same chapter asks how the market manages the risk it buys, how liability for defaulting loans is distributed, and how it participated in the subprime crisis. Behind all of it sits the money supply: United States deficit spending and borrowing, foreign demand for Treasury bills, employment, wages and consumer debt, the pull of competing investments, and Federal Reserve action through discount rates, liquidity requirements and the purchase or sale of Treasuries.
Keep going: the full New York Real Estate Broker guide covers every section of the exam. New York Real Estate Broker Exam Study Guide (2026) — PDF + EPUB, $19.99 · 14-day refund →
State-specific details
State exam facts
- Prelicensing education
- 152 total hours (77-hour salesperson + 75-hour broker qualifying course)
- Time limit
- 150 minutes
Who regulates real estate brokers in New York?
The New York Department of State (DOS), Division of Licensing Services, licenses real estate brokers and salespersons under Real Property Law article 12-A and the rules at 19 NYCRR parts 175 to 179. New York writes and administers its licensing exam itself, at DOS exam sites scheduled through eAccessNY, rather than through PSI, Pearson VUE or any other outside vendor.
What experience do I need before the New York broker exam?
Real Property Law § 441(1)(b) requires either two years of active participation as a licensed real estate salesperson under a broker's supervision, or the equivalent experience in the general real estate business for at least three years. The experience is documented on the point schedule at 19 NYCRR § 179.3, where 3,500 points equal two years of full-time experience, a residential sale is worth 250 points and an exclusive listing 10. On top of that comes 152 hours of approved qualifying education — the 77-hour salesperson course plus the 75-hour broker course — and Real Property Law § 440-a sets the minimum age for a broker at 20.
How is the New York broker exam structured?
DOS publishes four facts about the paper and no more: it is multiple choice, it is "based on the 152-hour pre-licensing curriculum", applicants "will be allowed 2 1/2 hours to complete the test", and "all exam results are reported as either passed or failed; you will not receive a numerical score". There is no published item count, no published passing percentage and no content outline anywhere on dos.ny.gov — so treat any source that quotes a New York broker question count or topic breakdown as quoting something the Department has never published. There is also no separate national portion; the single state-written exam covers the whole 152-hour curriculum.
What does the 152-hour curriculum actually cover?
It is fixed in regulation, not just in the syllabus PDFs. 19 NYCRR § 176.3 prints the 77-hour salesperson course as 19 subjects, led by Law of Agency (11 hours), Legal Issues (10), Commercial and Investment Properties (10) and Human Rights and Fair Housing (6). 19 NYCRR § 176.4 prints the 75-hour broker course as 11 chapters, led by Agency Law, License Law and Operating a Real Estate Office (26 hours) and Advanced Fair Housing and Fair Lending (13), and requires completion of both courses. Because DOS names the full 152 hours as the exam's basis, material built on the 75-hour broker course alone misses whole subjects — Commercial and Investment Properties, Condominiums and Cooperatives, Municipal Agencies and Property Insurance among them.
Sources: https://dos.ny.gov/become-real-estate-broker, https://dos.ny.gov/real-estate-broker-frequently-asked-questions, https://dos.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2024/10/reb-syllabus-2022.pdf, https://dos.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2024/10/res-syllabus-2022.pdf, https://dos.ny.gov/real-estate-license-law
In the New York Real Estate Broker guide: A 60-question practice exam on the national principles, with a key that explains all four options and not just the right one. Practice here stays free.