Tennessee Real Estate Crash Course and Exam Prep

Tennessee's real estate exam is administered by PSI. Candidates may register for the exam at the following site: https://www.psiexams.com/tnre or by calling PSI at 855-340-3710.  

Current Processing Timeframes: The Tennessee Real Estate Commission typically processes real estate licenses in 1-2 weeks.

Affiliate Broker Exam

• Applicants must have a high school diploma and:
• Must complete an application and submit with a photograph of the applicant
• Must have completed 90 hours of real estate education (education provider will provide this documentation electronically). This includes:

• 60 of those hours must cover the topic of real estate principles/fundamentals and must be completed in order to qualify to take the licensing exam
• The remaining 30 hour “Course for New Affiliatesâ€ must be completed before the license is issued 

• After completing ALL portions of the exam, candidate must apply for the real estate license at the following site https://core.tn.gov within 6 months of passing the examination 
• Must provide proof of errors and omissions insurance
• Must pay exam fee ($39) and license fee ($91)

Broker Exam

• Must submit the completed Broker Examination Application to TREC at the following address:

• Candidate must obtain approval from the Tennessee Real Estate Commission before scheduling a broker exam

• If the candidate was licensed ON OR BEFORE May 12, 1988, the candidate must have been engaged as a real estate licensee for least 24 months OR hold a bachelor's degree with a major in real estate for at least 12 months
• If the candidate was licensed ON OR BEFORE May 12, 1988, the candidate must have held an active real estate license for at least 36 months OR hold a bachelor's degree with a major in real estate for at least 24 months
• Must have successfully completed 120 classroom hours of approved real estate education, 30 of which must be an “Office/Broker Managementâ€ approved by the Tennessee Real Estate Commission
• Candidates must provide eligibility verification from TREC
• Must pay exam fee ($39) and license fee ($91)

Affiliate Broker Examination: The exam consists of a national portion that includes 80 questions, and a state-specific portion that includes 40 questions.  Candidates have 160 minutes to complete the national portion and 80 minutes to complete the state portion. ‍

Broker Examination: The exam consists of a national portion that includes 75 questions and a state-specific portion that includes 50 questions. Candidates have 150 minutes to complete the national portion and 90 minutes to complete the state portion.

The exam is in multiple-choice format and is given by computer. It may be taken at the following locations: Chattanooga, Dyersberg, Jackson, Johnson City, Knoxville, Memphis, and Nashville.

The following categories are featured on both the Affiliate Broker and Broker Licensing Exam. The percentages show the make-up of how many questions you should expect from each category.

The national portion covers the following topics:

• Property ownership (Affiliate broker 8%; Broker 10%)
• Land use controls and regulations (Affiliate broker 5%; Broker 5%)
• Valuation and market analysis (Affiliate broker 7%; Broker 7%)
• Financing (Affiliate broker 10%; Broker 8%)
• General principles of agency (Affiliate broker 13%; Broker 11%) 
• Property condition and disclosures (Affiliate broker 6%; Broker 7%)
• Contracts (Affiliate broker 17%; Broker 18%)
• Transfer of title (Affiliate broker 8%; Broker 7%)
• Practice of real estate (Affiliate broker 13%; Broker 14%)
• Real estate calculations (Affiliate broker 10%; Broker 8%)
• Leasing and property management (Affiliate broker 3%; Broker 5%)

The state portion covers the following topics:

• Duties and powers of the Real Estate Commission (Affiliate broker 4 items; Broker 6 items)
• Licensing requirements (Affiliate broker 4 items; broker 5 items)
• Advertising and marketing (Affiliate broker 7 items; broker 7 items)
• Broker/Affiliate relationships (Affiliate broker 5 items; broker 6 items)
• Handling of documents and record keeping (Affiliate broker 6 items; broker 4 items)
• Handling of trust/escrow funds (Affiliate broker 4 items; broker 7 items)
• Other improper activities and consumer protection (Affiliate broker 3 items; broker 3 items)
• Agency and disclosure issues (Affiliate broker 6 items; broker 7 items)
• Special areas of practice (timeshare, property management, commercial/industrial real estate) (Affiliate broker 3 items; Broker 3 items)

Affiliate Broker Examination: A passing score is 70% or higher.

Broker Examination: A passing score is 75% or higher.

All applicants are required to bring 2 forms of identification. These must be current and include a signature. 

The primary identification can be any one of the following:

• State-issued driver's license 
• State-issued identification card 
• US government-issued Passport
• US government-issued military identification card 
• US government-issued Alien Registration card
• Canadian government-issued identification 

The secondary identification can be any one of the following: 

• Credit card (signed)
• Social Security card 

Temporary identification and student/employment identification are not accepted.  

• Tennessee Real Estate Candidate Information Bulletin 
• Tennessee Real Estate Commission
• Tennessee Broker Exam Application