North Carolina real estate exam

North Carolina has not issued a salesperson licence since April 2006. Every first-time licensee is a provisional broker: a 75-hour Broker Prelicensing Course, an 80-item national section and a 60-item state section each passed at 75, then 90 hours of postlicensing education within 18 months of the licence date. The other thing to plan around is the fee mechanics — the $105 application fee is collected again for every examination attempt, not once.

The two portions

Two sections, separately timed and separately scored: 80 scored national items in 2.5 hours and 60 scored state items in 2 hours, each with 5 unscored pretest items. Both are taken at the same appointment on a first attempt. The Commission writes the state section itself; Pearson writes the national one. Both must be passed inside the same 180-day eligibility period — a section passed in one period is forfeited if the other is not passed before that period ends. The booklet describes scheduling at Pearson test centres, in North Carolina or in any other state, and describes no online delivery.

ExamItemsTimeTo pass
National section80150 min75, scored separately
North Carolina section60120 min75, scored separately

Delivered by Pearson VUE, under contract to the Commission. Every figure here comes from the documents listed at the foot of this page, with the date each was read.

Requirements and fees

Minimum age
18
Citizenship
U.S. citizen, non-citizen national, qualified alien, or lawfully present with work authorization for real estate brokerage
A Green Card holder is a qualified alien. The booklet says that for most other non-citizens, including DACA, an immigration visa or an Employment Authorization Document is required. A Social Security number is also required.
Qualifying education
The 75-hour North Carolina Broker Prelicensing Course, completed within the three years before application
Commission-certified providers only, with a mandatory end-of-course examination. G.S. 93A-4(a) sets both the 75 hours and the three-year currency. Waivers exist for a 75-hour salesperson course from another state completed within one year, for a real estate or law degree, and for a current licence elsewhere.
Application fee
$105, non-refundable, and collected again for every examination attempt
Each application and fee is valid for one attempt. A candidate who fails refiles the application and pays $105 again before Pearson will schedule a retake. The statute sets $100 and lets the Commission raise it by rule to at most $120.
Criminal record report
Required with the application, from the Commission’s vendor, no more than six months old
Ordered from CriminalRecordCheck.com and paid to the vendor; the cost varies with the states and names searched over the past seven years. A rejected Social Security consent form costs a further $10 to resubmit.
Examination fee
$63 for both sections, $53 for a single section
Paid to Pearson at scheduling, not to the Commission. Non-refundable and non-transferable; it expires with the 180-day eligibility period.
Examination eligibility
180 calendar days from the Notice of Exam Eligibility, not extendable for any reason
The notice is emailed two to three days after the application is received. Both sections must be passed within the same period; if only one is passed when it expires, the candidate reapplies and sits both sections again.
Experimental questions
5 on each section
Unscored and unidentified; 85 and 65 questions appear on screen. An unanswered item is scored as incorrect.
Retakes
Only the failed section, after refiling the application
A candidate who fails both sections keeps sitting the two-section examination until one is passed. The application fee and the examination fee are collected each time.
Licence issued
An inactive provisional broker licence, by mail within about ten days of the examination
No separate issuance fee: the $105 application fee covers it. The licence is activated by filing form REC 2.08 with a broker-in-charge; a provisional broker must be supervised by one at all times.
Postlicensing education
90 hours within 18 months of initial licensure
Three 30-hour courses — Post 301 Broker Relationships and Responsibilities, Post 302 Contracts and Closing, Post 303 NC Law, Rules and Legal Concepts. Provisional status ends automatically on completion; missing the deadline puts the licence on inactive status.
Renewal
$50 a year; every licence expires on 30 June
Even a licence issued in May or June expires that 30 June. Renewal runs from 15 May, online. The statute sets $45 and caps the fee at $60.
Rescheduling
Free with at least two business days’ notice
Less notice, lateness or absence forfeits the examination fee.
Calculator
Recommended, not required
Hand-held battery or solar financial calculators used in real estate, finance and accounting are acceptable, with memory but without alphabetic keys. Test centres do not supply one.

Practice the material this exam is built on

These questions cover the general real estate principles every state tests — the eight content areas of the national outline. They do not cover North Carolina statute and commission rule, which no national bank does; for that, the state’s own published material is the source.

North Carolina — general practice Question 1 of 10

A 1960s house has four bedrooms and one bathroom. The loss in value from this layout is:

Provisional broker is the only entry licence

Under G.S. 93A-4(a1), everyone licensed since 1 April 2006 starts as a provisional broker. The route in the Commission’s booklet is the 75-hour Broker Prelicensing Course with its end-of-course exam, a criminal record report from the Commission’s vendor, the $105 online application, then a Notice of Exam Eligibility good for 180 days, and Pearson for the examination. With no character issues and a first-time pass the whole sequence can close in as little as ten business days.

The licence arrives on inactive status. It becomes active when a broker-in-charge files the activation form, and it stays provisional until 90 hours of postlicensing education — three 30-hour courses — are complete, which must happen within 18 months. Budget 165 hours of coursework in total, not 75, and note that the prelicensing certificate is good for three years where several states allow ten.

Why the application fee matters more than the exam fee

Pearson’s fee is modest: $63 for both sections on one appointment, $53 for a single section. The cost that adds up is the Commission’s. Each application and its $105 fee are valid for exactly one attempt at the examination, so a candidate who fails a section refiles online, pays $105 again and receives an updated notice before Pearson will schedule the retake. A first failure of both sections therefore costs $168 to sit again, and a single-section retake $158.

The 180-day eligibility period is the other clock. The Commission’s rules do not allow it to be extended for any reason. Pass the national section and run out of days before the state section, and the passed section is forfeited: a new application, a new criminal record report where the old one has aged past six months, and both sections again. The booklet also notes that out-of-state licensees who need only the state section pass it less than half the time.

What is in the 60-item North Carolina section

The Commission publishes the item counts by category. Agency is the largest at 16 items, then brokerage practice at 12 and other North Carolina laws at 11. Contracts and closing carry 7, with supervision and compensation and taxes and insurance at 4 each, and licensure and landlord-tenant at 3 each. That weighting follows the Broker Prelicensing Course syllabus, which is where the Commission says the subtopics are spelled out.

The national section’s 80 items lean on contracts and agency at 16 and real estate practice at 14, with valuation at 11, real property at 9, ownership and property disclosures at 8 each, and financing and real estate math at 7 apiece. Items are drawn at random from separate national and state banks to a fixed formula, so every administration is different but weighted the same.

Frequently asked

How many questions are on the North Carolina real estate exam?
140 scored questions across two separately timed sections: 80 on the national section in 2.5 hours and 60 on the North Carolina section in 2 hours, plus 5 unscored pretest items on each. A first-time candidate takes both sections at one appointment.
What score do you need to pass the North Carolina real estate exam?
75 on each section, computed separately. Both sections must be passed within the same 180-day eligibility period; a section passed in an earlier period is forfeited when that period expires.
How much does the North Carolina real estate exam cost?
$63 to Pearson for both sections, or $53 for one, on top of the Commission’s $105 application fee. The application fee is collected again for every attempt, so a retake of both sections costs $168 and a single-section retake $158, before the criminal record report.
Does North Carolina have a salesperson licence?
No. Since 1 April 2006 every new licensee is a provisional broker. The licence issues on inactive status, is activated by a broker-in-charge, and loses its provisional status once 90 hours of postlicensing education are completed within 18 months.
Can I take the North Carolina real estate exam online?
The Commission’s booklet describes scheduling at Pearson test centres — in North Carolina or in any other state where Pearson offers the exam — and describes no online delivery. Check Pearson’s North Carolina page when you schedule.
How long is the 75-hour prelicensing course valid in North Carolina?
Three years. G.S. 93A-4(a) requires the course to have been completed within the three years preceding the application, and the Commission’s booklet repeats it under education option 1.

Other states

CaliforniaTexasGeorgiaPennsylvaniaNevadaVirginiaFloridaMichiganIllinoisOhioArizonaMarylandOklahomaNew JerseyNew York National practice test

Sources

Key factual claims on this page are grounded in the documents below, with the day each was read. Rules and requirements change — open the source if you need today's wording.

Page facts last verified September 5, 2026.

Independent exam preparation. Real Estate Exam Bank is not a state-approved pre-licensing course and completing anything here does not satisfy any state education requirement. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or authorized by any state real estate commission, Pearson VUE, or PSI. Practice questions here are original study material, not the official exam.