Real Property Investment and Commercial Property
Fourteen hours: the salesperson course's 10-hour Commercial and Investment Properties subject and the broker course's 4-hour Real Property Investment chapter. A bank built on the 75-hour broker syllabus alone would give this material no weight at all, which is exactly why the exam's stated basis is the full 152 hours.
The reconstructed operating statement
The order is fixed and the exam rewards knowing it cold. Potential gross income, less vacancy and collection loss, plus other income, gives effective gross income. Effective gross income less operating expenses — fixed, variable and reserves — gives net operating income. Net operating income less annual debt service gives before-tax cash flow, and after federal and state income tax, after-tax cash flow. So $200,000 of potential gross income, $10,000 of vacancy and collection loss, $5,000 of other income and $70,000 of operating expenses produce $195,000 of effective gross income and $125,000 of net operating income. Financing never enters the net operating income line, which is what makes the figure comparable between two buildings bought on different terms. The syllabus also sets out the taxable income formula: net operating income plus reserves, less loan interest, less depreciation, less amortized loan costs.
Capitalization, multipliers and ratios
Value equals net operating income divided by the capitalization rate, so a building earning $96,000 and selling for $1,200,000 carries an 8 percent overall rate; at 10 percent the same income is worth $960,000 and at 6 percent $1,600,000. The syllabus asks for the overall rate and the built-up rate, and ties the rate to risk through property condition. Multipliers are the quick screen: sale price divided by annual gross income gives a gross income multiplier, so $840,000 against $70,000 of income is 12. Because a multiplier uses gross income it ignores vacancy and expense differences, which is why the syllabus lists four variants — potential gross income, effective gross income, net operating income and gross rent multipliers — and expects you to know which income figure each uses. The ratio set is equity dividend, loan-to-value, debt coverage, operating expense and cash break-even. Debt coverage is net operating income divided by annual debt service: $150,000 against $120,000 is 1.25, and commercial lenders commonly want something near 1.20 to 1.25. Depreciation runs straight line over 27.5 years for residential rental property and 39 for nonresidential, on the building only — land is never depreciable, so the land and building allocation has to be made first.
Commercial leasing terms
Two of the four hours of the broker course's Conveyance chapter are reserved for commercial leasing terms: triple net, full-service gross, modified gross, sublease clauses, exclusive rights and rent escalation. Under a triple net lease the tenant pays base rent plus real estate taxes, building insurance and maintenance; under a full-service gross lease the landlord pays those out of the rent; a modified gross lease splits them, usually by fixing a base year and passing through increases. The other measurement that decides whether two quoted rents are comparable is area. Usable area is what the tenant occupies; rentable area adds a proportionate share of lobbies, corridors, lavatories and mechanical space, and the gap is quoted as a loss factor. Rent is charged on rentable area, so 10,000 usable square feet with a 25 percent loss factor is billed on roughly 13,300. The property management chapter lists the same vocabulary — gross rent, modified gross rent, NNN rent, concessions, tenant options, standard clauses, rentable versus usable square feet.
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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
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