- The combined broker exam fee is $70: $36 national plus $34 state, administered by PSI.
- You need 56 of 80 national points and 28 of 40 state points, and both must be passed within six months.
- Contracts (19%) and Agency (13%) carry the most weight on the national outline - study them first.
- Eligibility requires 60 hours of approved broker education, at least one year of active experience, and six documented transactions.
What the NHREB Actually Tests
The New Hampshire Real Estate Broker Exam (NHREB) is a two-part, computer-based multiple-choice examination administered by PSI on behalf of the New Hampshire Real Estate Commission, which sits within the Office of Professional Licensure and Certification. It is not a generic national test with a state sticker slapped on - it's a national broker outline (Domains 1-11) paired with a distinct 40-item New Hampshire outline (Domains 12-16), each scored and timed separately.
That structural split matters for how you prepare. If you've already passed a general real estate licensing exam elsewhere, the national content will feel familiar, but the state portion is uniquely New Hampshire and cannot be skipped or shortcut. For a full breakdown of every content area and its relative weight, see the NHREB Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 16 Content Areas.
Registration, Fees, and Eligibility Mechanics
Before you can even schedule a seat with PSI, New Hampshire requires you to clear several eligibility gates. Candidates must show:
- 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 completed criminal-record check
The combined exam fee is $70 - $36 for the national portion and $34 for the state portion. This is paid when you schedule your PSI appointment, and it's the number you should budget around rather than any figure you might see attached to a different "NHREB" credential online. For a complete breakdown of every dollar involved in getting licensed, including education and background-check costs, read the NHREB Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown.
One deadline candidates frequently overlook: both the national and state portions must be passed within a six-month window. If you pass one portion and let the clock run out before retaking the other, you'll need to re-register and pay again. Build your study plan around that constraint from day one - details on scheduling logistics are covered in the NHREB Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling guide, and full eligibility documentation requirements are laid out in NHREB Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify.
Key Takeaway
Schedule both exam portions close together. Because you have only six months to clear both, treat your first attempt date as the anchor for your entire study calendar, not an afterthought.
National Portion: Domains 1-11
The national portion is where most of your study hours should go, simply because it carries more scored items (75 versus 40) and more available points (80 versus 40). Here's how the eleven domains break down by weight:
| Domain | Weight |
|---|---|
| 5. Contracts | 19% |
| 6. Agency | 13% |
| 10. Practice of Real Estate | 12% |
| 1. Property Ownership | 10% |
| 4. Financing | 9% |
| 3. Valuation | 8% |
| 7. Property Disclosures | 7% |
| 9. Transfer of Title | 6% |
| 11. Real Estate Calculations | 6% |
| 2. Land Use Controls | 5% |
| 8. Property Management | 5% |
Domain 5: Contracts (19%)
This is the single heaviest domain on the entire national outline, and it deserves proportional study time. Candidates must be fluent in offer and acceptance, contingencies, contract remedies, listing and buyer agreements, and how broker-level responsibilities differ from salesperson-level duties in reviewing and explaining contract terms.
- Elements required for a valid, enforceable contract
- Contingency clauses and how breach or default is handled
- Broker obligations when supervising agents on contract paperwork
Domain 6: Agency (13%)
Agency relationships are tested at a broker's level of responsibility - not just knowing the categories of agency, but understanding fiduciary duty, disclosure obligations, and how a principal broker supervises agency relationships across a brokerage.
- Fiduciary duties owed to clients versus customers
- Dual agency and disclosed limited agency scenarios
- Supervisory responsibilities unique to the broker license
Domain 10: Practice of Real Estate (12%)
This domain covers day-to-day brokerage operations: advertising rules, trust account handling, license law violations, and fair housing compliance as it applies to running or supervising a brokerage rather than simply practicing under one.
- Trust/escrow account management and recordkeeping
- Advertising and marketing compliance
- Fair housing obligations at the brokerage level
Domains 3 (Valuation), 4 (Financing), and 11 (Real Estate Calculations) together account for a substantial share of scored points and often trip up candidates who studied theory but skipped the math. Practice loan-to-value ratios, amortization basics, capitalization rate problems, and net-to-seller calculations until they're automatic.
State Portion: Domains 12-16
The 40-item state portion converts New Hampshire's official state outline into five content areas. Because this section is New Hampshire-specific, no amount of generic national-exam prep will cover it - you need to study the actual New Hampshire Real Estate Commission rules.
Domain 12: Real Estate Commission
Structure, authority, and functions of the New Hampshire Real Estate Commission itself, including its role within the Office of Professional Licensure and Certification.
Domain 13: Licensure
Licensing categories, education prerequisites, experience requirements, and the pathway from salesperson to broker - the same eligibility rules discussed above, tested in exam form.
Domain 14: Regulation of Licensee Conduct
Disciplinary standards, prohibited conduct, and how the Commission enforces license law against individual licensees.
Domain 15: Regulation of Agency Conduct
Brokerage-level compliance obligations, supervision standards, and how agency conduct rules apply across an entire firm rather than a single licensee.
Domain 16: New Hampshire Principles and Practice
Practical application of New Hampshire-specific statutes and administrative rules in day-to-day transactions - the domain most likely to reward candidates who read the actual rule text rather than relying on outside-state assumptions.
Because these five domains are compressed into just 40 items, each question carries more relative weight than a single national item. Treat the state portion with the same seriousness as the national portion, even though it has fewer questions and less exam time.
Scoring and What You Need to Pass
The scoring structure differs meaningfully from a straight percentage-correct model, which is why it's worth understanding before test day rather than during it.
- National portion: 75 scored items worth up to 80 points; national broker items may carry up to two points each. You need 56 national points to pass.
- State portion: 40 scored items. You need 28 state points to pass.
- 5-10 unscored experimental questions may be mixed in on either portion without adding to your allotted testing time - they look identical to scored items, so answer every question as if it counts.
For the complete math behind these thresholds, including how partial credit on multi-point items can affect your margin, see NHREB Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass. And if you're trying to gauge realistically how much preparation time you need, the How Hard Is the NHREB Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026 article walks through the factors that make certain domains harder than others.
A Domain-Driven Study Timeline
Generic study techniques only help if they're pointed at the right target. Here's a six-week structure built around the NHREB's actual weight distribution rather than a one-size-fits-all template.
Contracts and Agency
- Master Domain 5 (19%) and Domain 6 (13%) - together nearly a third of the national portion
- Build a scenario bank for offer/acceptance and fiduciary-duty questions
Brokerage Practice and Ownership
- Cover Domain 10 (Practice of Real Estate, 12%) and Domain 1 (Property Ownership, 10%)
- Focus on trust account rules and estate/ownership types
Financing, Valuation, and Calculations
- Drill Domains 4, 3, and 11 together since they share numerical reasoning
- Practice amortization, cap rate, and net-proceeds problems until timing is not an issue
Disclosures, Title, Land Use, and Property Management
- Finish the remaining national domains (7, 9, 2, 8)
- Take a full-length national practice section under timed conditions
New Hampshire State Outline
- Work through Domains 12-16 using the actual Commission rules and statutes
- Pay special attention to Domain 16, where applied scenarios are common
Full Simulation and Review
- Run complete timed simulations of both the national and state portions
- Review weak domains identified from practice test results on our NHREB practice test platform
If you prefer a condensed reference instead of a full six-week plan, the NHREB Cheat Sheet 2026: One-Page Review of Must-Know Facts distills the highest-yield facts from every domain into a single review page for your final days before test day.
Where First-Time Candidates Lose Points
Most repeat test-takers don't fail because they didn't study - they fail because they studied unevenly relative to the exam's actual weighting. A few recurring patterns:
- Treating all national domains equally. Spending the same number of hours on Property Management (5%) as on Contracts (19%) is a poor use of limited study time.
- Underestimating the state portion. Forty items sounds short, but you need 28 of 40 points to pass, and this content is New Hampshire-specific - outside study materials won't cover it accurately.
- Skipping calculation practice. Domain 11 items require speed and accuracy under time pressure; conceptual understanding alone isn't enough.
- Letting the six-month window slip. Passing one portion and delaying the retake of the other past six months forces a costly re-registration.
Real-world pass-rate patterns and where candidates typically stumble are explored further in NHREB Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows.
After You Pass: Licensure and Renewal
Passing both portions is the finish line for the exam itself, but licensure comes with ongoing obligations. Active New Hampshire broker licenses renew every two years and require a 3-hour core course plus 12 elective continuing-education hours during each renewal cycle. Building this into your calendar now avoids a scramble later.
Once licensed, brokers are typically hired by or affiliated with real estate brokerage firms, where they may supervise salespersons, manage transactions, or eventually open their own brokerage. If you're weighing whether the credential is worth the time and cost investment, Is the NHREB Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 and the NHREB Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis both dig into the career outcomes side of that decision. For broader context on the credential itself and how it fits into a real estate career path, see NHREB Certification and What Is NHREB?.
Whichever path you take, running through realistic timed sections on our practice test platform before test day remains the most direct way to confirm you're ready across all sixteen domains, not just the ones that feel comfortable.
FAQ
The combined broker exam fee is $70, split into $36 for the national portion and $34 for the state portion, paid when scheduling through PSI.
You need 56 of 80 available points on the national portion and 28 of 40 points on the state portion. Both must be passed within six months of each other.
The national portion allows 150 minutes for 75 scored items, and the state portion allows 90 minutes for 40 scored items. A handful of unscored experimental items may appear without extending the time limit.
Start with Domain 5 (Contracts) at 19% and Domain 6 (Agency) at 13%, since together they represent the largest share of the national portion's scored points.
Yes. You need 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, plus evidence of at least six compensated transactions.