How hard is the Ohio Real Estate Broker exam?

You need to score 75% on the Ohio Real Estate Broker exam.

The Ohio Real Estate Broker exam has 115 questions, with a 180-minute time limit.

The Ohio Division of Real Estate & Professional Licensing, within the Ohio Department of Commerce, licenses brokers and salespersons. The Division contracts with PSI to deliver the licensing examinations, and the five-member Ohio Real Estate Commission adopts the canons of ethics and decides discipline.

Under ORC 4735.07(B)(5) an applicant must have been "a licensed real estate broker or salesperson for at least two of the five years preceding the person's application" and have completed either at least twenty real estate transactions in which property was sold for another while acting as a broker or salesperson, or equivalent experience, which OAC 1301:5-3-04(D) leaves to Commission review. Watch how those transactions are counted: under OAC 1301:5-3-04(A) a completed sale counts as one-half transaction to the procuring agent and one-half to the listing agent, so twenty "transactions" is not twenty closings. ORC 4735.07(B)(6)(b) then requires 240 hours of eligible courses at an institution of higher education — 40 hours of real estate practice, 40 of Ohio real estate law and civil rights, 20 of appraisal, 20 of finance, and 30 each in financial management, human resource or personnel management, applied business economics and business law. No degree is required; these are course hours. (2025's HB 238 cut the appraisal and finance hours for the salesperson license only — the broker figures are still 20 and 20.)

PSI delivers two portions in one session: a national portion of 75 items scored to 80 points in 120 minutes, and an Ohio state portion of 40 items worth 40 points in 60 minutes — 115 questions and 120 points over 180 minutes in total. A broker must score at least 75% on each portion, and there is no limit on retakes under ORC 4735.07(F). The state portion is weighted 4 items on state governance, 6 on licensing requirements, 16 on license law and Commission rules, and 14 on brokerage relationships (agency law).

ORC 4735.07(G) requires a new broker to submit proof of ten hours of Commission-approved post-licensure instruction no later than twelve months after the license is issued. Missing that suspends the license automatically, and a further twelve months without proof revokes it. Thereafter the license renews on a three-year cycle on the licensee's birthday, with 30 hours of continuing education that must include a three-hour course on the duties of a principal broker (ORC 4735.141).

Focus your time on the heaviest content areas, then drill practice questions by topic until you consistently clear the standard you need. PrepPass has 456+ free Ohio Real Estate Broker practice questions with full explanations and a timed mock exam.