Is the Florida real estate exam multiple choice?

The format in numbers

Everything below comes from the Florida DBPR's Candidate Information Booklet for the sales associate exam, effective January 2025:

On screen, you can mark questions for review, move forward or back one at a time, or jump to a specific question. A summary screen shows how many you've answered, how many you've skipped and how much time is left.

• 100 multiple-choice questions, answered by selecting A, B, C or D on a computer
• Three and a half hours of testing time
• Up to 15 minutes for an on-screen tutorial first, which doesn't count against your time
• Closed book: no reference materials allowed in the room
• Possible unscored pilot questions, not identified, with extra time added for them
• Graded on a 100-point scale with all questions weighted equally; 75 or higher passes
• Official, photo-bearing score report right after you finish

What the 100 questions cover

Florida's sales associate exam is one combined test of real estate principles and practices, Florida law (Chapter 475, Part I, Florida Statutes, and Chapter 61J2, Florida Administrative Code) and real estate math. The booklet splits it into 19 content areas. The heaviest:

The rest range from 1% to 5%, including legal descriptions (5%), types of mortgages and sources of financing (4%), and smaller areas such as violations and penalties, federal and state laws including fair housing, taxes, investments, planning and zoning, and the real estate business itself. Because each question is worth one point, the two 12% areas are worth about 12 questions each.

• Real Estate Brokerage Activities and Procedures: 12%
• Real Estate Contracts: 12%
• Residential Mortgages: 9%
• Property Rights (estates, tenancies, condos, HOAs, time-sharing): 8%
• Real Estate Appraisal: 8%
• Authorized Relationships, Duties and Disclosures: 7%
• Titles, Deeds and Ownership Restrictions: 7%
• License Law and Qualifications for Licensure: 6%; Real Estate Computations and Closing: 6%

How much math is on it

One area is pure computation: Real Estate Related Computations and Closing of Transactions, at 6%, or about 6 questions. But math also shows up inside other areas. The booklet lists commission math under brokerage, finance math under residential mortgages, tax math under taxes affecting real estate and legal-description math, so expect more than 6 calculation questions.

A typical commission item: a home sells for $380,000 with a 6% commission. The listing brokerage keeps half, and the sales associate gets 60% of that half. The math: $380,000 × 0.06 = $22,800; × 0.5 = $11,400; × 0.6 = $6,840 to the associate. Prorations, loan-to-value and acreage from a legal description are other common setups.

Calculator, ID and what to bring

Bring two forms of valid signature ID, one of them government-issued: a driver's license, state ID, passport or military ID. Student IDs, employment IDs and photo credit cards don't count. You must also show your Certificate of Pre-Licensing Education Completion every time you test. The course is good for two years from completion, and without the certificate you won't be admitted.

Calculators are allowed at test centers if they're silent, hand-held, battery-operated, nonprinting and have no alphabetic keypad. Financial calculators such as the HP 12, TI BA series and Calculated Industries Qualifier Plus are allowed. Report to the test center 30 minutes before your appointment.

How to schedule your exam

The steps, from the DBPR booklet and its examination information page:

• Apply to the DBPR. Once your application is approved, you're eligible to schedule within 72 hours.
• Use the candidate ID number on your authorization notice.
• Book with Pearson VUE online at home.pearsonvue.com/fl/realestate, any time, or call 1-888-204-6289.
• Pay when you schedule, and give a valid email address and phone number.
• Book at least five business days ahead; seats are first come, first served.
• Cancel at least 2 days before your appointment, or you may forfeit your exam fee.

Can you take it online?

The DBPR booklet is written around Pearson VUE test centers, and the DBPR's examination page describes in-person testing at testing sites. The booklet also says personal calculators are permitted only at test centers and that reviews of a failed exam are held at a Pearson VUE center, so it tells anyone who might want a review to test at a center.

Delivery options can change, so confirm what's offered for the sales associate exam on Pearson VUE's Florida real estate page when you book.

If you don't pass

You can review the questions you answered incorrectly on your most recent exam. Request the review within 21 days of your exam date. It's held at a Pearson VUE center, and you get half the original exam time. During the review you can submit written challenges, which take about 21 days on average and come back only as credit or no credit.

To retest, you schedule and pay again. Use the review to target the heaviest areas first: brokerage activities and contracts alone make up about a quarter of the exam. The Cinna RE bank includes 150 Florida-specific questions alongside national practice sets, and the quiz on this page starts with transaction brokers, escrow and commission math.