- The combined exam fee is $70: $36 national plus $34 state.
- You need 56 of 80 national points and 28 of 40 state points to pass.
- Contracts (19%) and Agency (13%) dominate the national broker outline - study these first.
- Both portions must be passed within six months of each other.
Fee & Format at a Glance
The New Hampshire Real Estate Broker Exam is administered by PSI on behalf of the New Hampshire Real Estate Commission, which sits inside the Office of Professional Licensure and Certification. Before you touch a single practice question, memorize the mechanics - they show up in scheduling confusion more often than content gaps do.
- Combined fee: $70 total - $36 for the national portion, $34 for the state portion.
- National portion: 75 scored multiple-choice items worth up to 80 points, 150 minutes.
- State portion: 40 scored items worth up to 40 points, 90 minutes.
- Unscored items: 5-10 experimental questions may be mixed in without adding time - you can't identify them, so answer everything with equal effort.
For a line-by-line breakdown of where that $70 goes and what else candidates budget for (education hours, background checks, license issuance), see the NHREB Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown.
The 16 NHREB Domains, Ranked by Weight
The national portion (Domains 1-11) follows the official national broker outline. The state portion (Domains 12-16) converts New Hampshire's 40-item state outline into percentages. Together they define everything that can legally appear on your exam.
| Domain | Weight | Portion |
|---|---|---|
| 5. Contracts | 19% | National |
| 6. Agency | 13% | National |
| 10. Practice of Real Estate | 12% | National |
| 1. Property Ownership | 10% | National |
| 4. Financing | 9% | National |
| 3. Valuation | 8% | National |
| 7. Property Disclosures | 7% | National |
| 9. Transfer of Title | 6% | National |
| 11. Real Estate Calculations | 6% | National |
| 2. Land Use Controls | 5% | National |
| 8. Property Management | 5% | National |
| 12-16. Commission, Licensure, Licensee Conduct, Agency Conduct, NH Principles & Practice | Combined 40 items | State |
Want the full explanation of what each of these sixteen domains actually tests - with sample scenarios and study priorities per domain? The NHREB Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 16 Content Areas breaks each one down individually.
Domain 5: Contracts (19%)
This is the single heaviest domain on the entire national portion, nearly one-fifth of your scored items. Candidates consistently underestimate how much contract law bleeds into agency, disclosure, and title questions too.
- Elements of a valid contract and remedies for breach
- Listing agreements versus buyer representation agreements
- Contingencies, addenda, and proper contract termination
Domain 6: Agency (13%)
Agency relationships intersect with New Hampshire's own licensee-conduct rules in Domain 15, so weak agency fundamentals cost you points on both portions.
- Fiduciary duties owed to clients versus obligations to customers
- Disclosed dual agency and designated agency scenarios
- Termination of agency relationships
Domain 16: New Hampshire Principles and Practice
This state-specific domain has no national equivalent - it's pure New Hampshire law and custom, so outside prep courses built for other states will not cover it adequately.
- State-specific disclosure forms and required practices
- New Hampshire's unique agency and brokerage rules
- Local transaction customs that differ from the national outline
Scoring Thresholds You Cannot Round Up
Passing requires clearing two separate thresholds - there is no averaging between portions:
- National portion: 56 points out of 80 available.
- State portion: 28 points out of 40 available.
Because national items can be worth up to two points, a candidate who is strong on high-value questions can pass with a lower raw item count than someone who guesses randomly across two-point items. For a deeper walkthrough of how raw scores convert and what a "close miss" actually looks like, read NHREB Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass.
Key Takeaway
Both portions must be passed within a six-month window. If you clear the state portion but stall on national, you're racing a clock - schedule your retake immediately rather than waiting for "more study time."
Eligibility Snapshot
You can't sit for the NHREB until you've cleared four gates:
- 60 hours of approved broker pre-licensing education.
- One year of full-time experience under an active principal broker, or 2,000 part-time hours as a licensed New Hampshire salesperson within the preceding five years.
- Evidence of at least six separate compensated transactions.
- A clean criminal-record check.
These requirements trip up more candidates administratively than academically. Before you register with PSI, confirm your paperwork against the NHREB Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify checklist so a documentation gap doesn't delay your exam date.
High-Yield Topics Inside Each Portion
Beyond raw domain weights, certain topic clusters recur across multiple domains simultaneously. Mastering these clusters is more efficient than studying domain-by-domain in isolation.
If you're still deciding how much runway to give yourself before test day, the How Hard Is the NHREB Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026 article walks through where candidates typically lose the most points across both portions.
A Final-Week Review Plan
In the last seven days before your test, prioritize by domain weight rather than by comfort. Spend the most time where the most points live, and treat lighter domains as quick daily refreshers rather than full study blocks.
Contracts & Agency
- Redo every missed practice item on Domains 5 and 6
- Write out fiduciary duties and contract remedies from memory
Practice of Real Estate & Financing
- Drill Domain 10 licensee-conduct scenarios
- Recalculate LTV, amortization basics, and loan math from Domain 4
State Portion (Domains 12-16)
- Review New Hampshire Real Estate Commission structure and licensure rules
- Focus heavily on Domain 16's New Hampshire-only content - it won't appear in generic national materials
Full Timed Simulation
- Run a 150-minute national mock and a 90-minute state mock back to back
- Review every miss and log it by domain, not just by question
For a broader multi-week version of this plan that also covers your 60-hour education requirement and transaction documentation, see the NHREB Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt. Running full-length timed sets on our NHREB practice test platform is the fastest way to find out which of the sixteen domains still needs work before it's too late to fix.
After You Pass: Renewal Basics
Passing the exam isn't the finish line - it's the start of a renewal cycle. Active New Hampshire licenses renew every two years, requiring a 3-hour core course plus 12 elective continuing education hours. Build this into your calendar now so it doesn't sneak up on you two years from now.
Once you're licensed, it's worth understanding what the credential actually opens up professionally. The NHREB Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis and Is the NHREB Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 articles cover the practical upside of holding a broker license versus staying at the salesperson level.
Key Takeaway
Set a calendar reminder for your two-year renewal window the same day you receive your license - the 3-hour core plus 12 elective hours are easy to forget until they're overdue.
FAQ
The combined broker exam fee is $70 - $36 for the national portion and $34 for the state portion - paid to sit for both sections administered by PSI.
You need 56 points out of 80 on the national portion and 28 points out of 40 on the state portion. Both thresholds must be met independently.
Both the national and state portions must be passed within six months of each other, so don't let a passed portion expire while you delay a retake.
Contracts (19%) and Agency (13%) carry the most weight on the national portion, so most candidates get the highest return by mastering those two domains before moving to lighter-weighted areas.
No. The 5-10 unscored experimental items added to the exam do not count toward your national or state score, but since they're indistinguishable from scored items, you should answer every question with full effort.
For quick answers to related terminology questions - what the acronym means, how it differs from similar-sounding credentials, or what the certification actually entails - see What Is NHREB? and NHREB Meaning. And when you're ready to test your recall against real exam-style items, start a practice session to see how these sixteen domains actually feel under timed conditions.