Property Management, Condominiums and Cooperatives
Ten hours: the broker course's 4-hour Real Property Management chapter, the salesperson course's 2-hour Property Management subject, and its 4-hour Condominiums and Cooperatives subject. The two halves are merged here because both concern buildings in multiple occupation whose owners rely on a professional to run them.
The manager's duties under part 175
Two rules do most of the work. 19 NYCRR § 175.3(a) provides that a broker managing property 'shall not accept any commission, rebate or profit on expenditures made for his client without his full knowledge and consent' — the vice is the undisclosed benefit, not the spending, so a disclosed and agreed supplier discount is permissible. Section 175.3(b) reaches a broker holding tenants' security deposits and requires the money, including any required interest, to be handled in compliance with General Obligations Law § 7-103, adding that failure, 'including failure to pay, apply or credit any required interest, shall constitute grounds for disciplinary or other appropriate action by the Secretary of State'. The same disclosure principle runs through §§ 175.4 to 175.6, which require a broker to make an interest known before buying property listed with the broker, before buying for a client property in which the broker holds an interest, and before selling property the broker owns. The management chapter itself is built around net operating income: raise potential gross income, reduce vacancy and collection loss by selecting reliable tenants, create other income, and control fixed and variable operating expenses.
Cooperatives
A cooperative corporation owns the building. A purchaser buys shares allocated to a particular apartment together with a proprietary lease giving the right to occupy it, so the interest is personal property rather than real property. Everything downstream follows from that: the transfer is an assignment of stock and lease rather than a deed, the buyer's loan is a share loan secured under the Uniform Commercial Code rather than a mortgage, and closing runs on the corporation's transfer agent rather than a title company. Board approval is a genuine contingency. A board may generally decline an applicant without stating a reason, and an experienced broker prepares a buyer for that — but the discretion is not unlimited, because Executive Law § 296(5) reaches any person having the right to sell a housing accommodation and their agents, so a rejection resting on a protected class is unlawful whether or not a reason is given. Note also that Real Property Law § 443 counts cooperative apartments as residential real property for the agency disclosure form, and 19 NYCRR § 175.23 counts them for the three-year record requirement.
Condominiums
A condominium purchaser takes fee title to the unit itself together with an undivided interest in the common elements, and pays common charges to a board of managers. Real Property Law § 339-z gives that board a lien on each unit for unpaid common charges and interest, 'prior to all other liens except only' tax liens in favor of an assessing unit, school district, special district, county or other taxing unit; all sums unpaid on a first mortgage of record; and sums unpaid on certain subordinate mortgages held by named public agencies. So a second mortgage, a judgment and a mechanic's lien all rank behind the common charge lien. On a sale the unpaid charges are paid from the proceeds or by the grantee, and either grantor or grantee may demand a statement of the arrears from the board — which is why a payoff letter is ordered before closing. New offerings of condominium and cooperative interests are filed with the Attorney General under General Business Law article 23-A, and the broker course covers the filing process, Cooperative Policy Statement #1, the tenant notification period in a conversion, unit pricing, temporary certificates of occupancy and the new home warranty for newly constructed high-rise buildings.
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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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