Texas Real Estate Broker Exam — All Questions

Which of these people needs a Texas real estate license?

• a.An on-site manager of an apartment complex leasing units there
• b.An auctioneer selling real estate at auction and doing nothing more
• c.A residential rental locator paid to find tenants an apartment✓
• d.An attorney licensed in Texas handling a client's purchase of land

Occupations Code § 1101.351(a): "Unless a person holds a license issued under this chapter, the person may not: (1) act as or represent that the person is a broker or sales agent; or (2) act as a residential rental locator." The locator is named in the licensing statute itself, so the fee-for-finding-a-tenant work is licensed activity. The other three are carved out of the chapter entirely by § 1101.005, which says "This chapter does not apply to: (1) an attorney licensed in this state ... (4) an auctioneer licensed under Chapter 1802 while conducting the sale of real estate by auction if the auctioneer does not perform another act of a broker ... (7) an on-site manager of an apartment complex." Note how narrow the auctioneer's exemption is — it survives only while the auctioneer does nothing else a broker would do.

For a broker application filed in 2026, TREC's experience rule requires the applicant to document:

• a.720 qualifying experience points and four years of active licensure✓
• b.360 qualifying experience points and two years of active licensure
• c.Twenty closed transactions within the twelve months before applying
• d.No experience at all, if the applicant holds a bachelor's degree

22 TAC § 535.56(b): "An applicant for a broker license must demonstrate not less than 720 points of qualifying practical experience," reported on TREC No. BL-A. The years come from the same subsection and Occupations Code § 1101.356(a)(1): "at least four years of active experience as a license holder during the 60 months preceding the date the application is filed." 360 points was the earlier floor and is the figure most secondhand study material still carries, but it no longer states the rule; the four-of-five-year requirement is the part that did not change. Counting closings in a single year states the wrong measure altogether — points accrue across the qualifying period, and § 535.56(b) separately requires at least one transaction per year in four of the five years. A degree helps, but on the education side only: § 535.56(a) deems it to satisfy 300 classroom hours of the related-education requirement, and it touches neither the points nor the years.

A Texas limited liability company wants to hold a broker license. TRELA requires the entity to:

• a.Designate a managing officer who holds an active individual broker license✓
• b.Designate any sponsored sales agent with four years of experience
• c.Name a second licensed business entity to act as its designated broker
• d.Register with the secretary of state in place of holding a license

Occupations Code § 1101.355(a)(1) requires a business entity to "designate one of its managing officers as its broker for purposes of this chapter," and (b) adds that the entity "may not act as a broker unless the entity's designated broker is a licensed individual broker in active status and good standing according to the commission's records." Experience is not the qualification in question: however seasoned, a sales agent does not hold a broker license, and 22 TAC § 535.53 repeats that the entity must designate "an individual holding an active Texas real estate broker license in good standing." That word individual also rules out stacking entities — TREC's guidance states plainly that "the designated broker acting as a general partner must be an individual, not another business entity." And a filing with the secretary of state creates the company without conferring any brokerage authority; § 1101.351(a-1) bars an unlicensed business entity from acting as a broker. Section 1101.355(a)(2) adds errors-and-omissions cover of at least $1 million per occurrence where the designated broker owns less than 10 percent of the entity.

A Texas broker renewing a license must complete continuing education of:

• a.Fifteen hours, of which eight must be legal update coursework
• b.Eighteen hours including legal update, contracts and broker responsibility✓
• c.Thirty hours, matching the length of a qualifying course
• d.Eighteen hours chosen freely from Commission-approved electives

22 TAC § 535.92(a): "18 hours of continuing education are required for each renewal of a real estate sales agent or broker license and must include: a four-hour Legal Update I: Laws, Rules and Forms course; a four-hour Legal Update II: Agency, Ethics and Hot Topics course; three hours on the subject of real estate contracts from one or more Commission approved courses; and a six-hour Broker Responsibility Course, if the license holder: is a broker; or is a delegated supervisor." For a broker those four blocks account for 17 of the 18 hours, so the choice is nearly all made for them — which is why an all-elective answer is wrong even though it names the right total. Fifteen hours understates the requirement, and thirty is the minimum length of a qualifying course accepted for elective credit under § 535.92(c), not a renewal obligation. The broker responsibility element is now statutory as well: Occupations Code § 1101.458(a), as amended effective 1 January 2026, requires the course of every broker and of a sales agent who supervises another license holder.