Real estate license · North Carolina
As of October 26, 2026, North Carolina license applicants must complete the North Carolina Broker Prelicensing Course, at least 75 instructional hours with a mandatory end-of-course exam, from a Commission-certified Education Provider.
The North Carolina real estate license exam has a National section with 80 scored items and a State section with 60 scored items, and each section adds 5 unscored pretest items.
The North Carolina Real Estate Commission sets a passing score of 75 for each exam section, computed separately, and both sections must be passed within the same 180-day eligibility period (per ncrec.gov, checked on Oct 26, 2026).
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OneTryPass wrote these questions from North Carolina law, the commission's rules and the exam vendor's handbook. Pick an answer to see if you got it; each explanation names the section it comes from.
Rule 58A .0104(c) requires the broker to hand over and review the publication at first substantial contact. If that contact happens by phone or online, the broker has no more than three days to send it.
Under Rule 58A .0104(a), a buyer or tenant agreement must be written and signed no later than the time one of the parties makes an offer. If the agreement binds the buyer for a period of time or restricts working with other agents, it must be in writing from the start.
Rule 58A .0104(j) allows designated agency only with the prior express approval of both clients, put in writing no later than the dual agency authority. A broker who already received confidential information about the other party cannot be designated.
G.S. 39-50 and 42-14.2 say a death or serious illness of a prior occupant is not a material fact, so agents need not volunteer it. The Commission explains that, if asked, the agent may decline to answer or respond honestly, but may not answer whether an occupant had AIDS.
Rule 58A .0116(b)(3) gives three days after acceptance for earnest money or a tenant security deposit paid by check with a pending offer. Other trust money must be deposited within three banking days of receipt.
Provisional brokers take three 30-hour Postlicensing courses (Post 301, 302 and 303) within 18 months of initial licensure. The Commission removes provisional status automatically once the education provider reports all three.
The State section has 60 scored items plus 5 pretest items; the National section has 80 scored items plus 5 pretest items. Agency gets more State items than any other topic: 16.
Rule 58A .0115 bars a broker from disclosing the price or other material terms of a party’s offer to a competing party without the express authority of the offering party.
The course has at least 75 instructional hours and a mandatory end-of-course exam, and it must be completed within three years before the license application. Commission rules count an instructional hour as 50 minutes of instruction and 10 minutes of break.
The Commission notes that sellers must also provide the Mineral and Oil and Gas Rights Mandatory Disclosure Statement before the buyer makes an offer. Both forms are prescribed by the Commission under Chapter 47E and Rules 58A .0114 and .0119.
Only 140 items count: 80 in the National section and 60 in the State section. Each section also carries 5 unscored pretest items that look like the rest, so answer everything.
The sections are timed separately, 2.5 hours for National and 2.0 hours for State. In the State section, agency alone is worth 16 items, more than a quarter of it.
Source: Real Estate Licensing in North Carolina (NC Real Estate Commission, April 2026)
You need a score of 75 on each section, and each section is scored on its own. Both passes have to land inside the same 180-day window that starts with your Notice of Exam Eligibility.
Source: Real Estate Licensing in North Carolina (NC Real Estate Commission, April 2026)
Before the exam: the 75-hour Broker Prelicensing Course with its end-of-course exam, finished within three years before you apply.
After the license: 90 hours of Postlicensing courses within 18 months to drop the “provisional” label, then 8 hours of continuing education each license year, first due before your second renewal.
Source: Real Estate Licensing in North Carolina (NC Real Estate Commission, April 2026)
You refile your application with the Commission and pay the $105 application fee again, then pay Pearson $53 to retake one section or $63 for both. There is no cap on attempts.
A passed section only counts until your 180-day eligibility period runs out. Miss that window and you start over with both sections and a new criminal record report.
Source: Real Estate Licensing in North Carolina (NC Real Estate Commission, April 2026)
Each line is one rule from an official page — the North Carolina Real Estate Commission, North Carolina law or the exam vendor's handbook — with the date we read it.
The free questions above are a sample. The pack is the whole question bank, practiced the way the app below shows.
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No. North Carolina licenses brokers only, so everyone takes the same exam. New licensees start as provisional brokers and must work under a broker-in-charge until they finish Postlicensing education. Source: official page "Real Estate Licensing in North Carolina (NC Real Estate Commission, April 2026)", checked on Oct 26, 2026.
Pearson VUE. After the Commission accepts your application it emails a Notice of Exam Eligibility valid for 180 days; you then book with Pearson, online or by phone, and pay $63 for both sections. Source: official pages "Real Estate Licensing in North Carolina (NC Real Estate Commission, April 2026)" and "North Carolina Real Estate Licensure Examinations", checked on Oct 26, 2026.
With no character issues, expect the license certificate within about 10 calendar days of the exam. The license starts inactive, so you can work only after a broker-in-charge files the activation form with you. Source: official page "Real Estate Licensing in North Carolina (NC Real Estate Commission, April 2026)", checked on Oct 26, 2026.
No. OneTryPass writes its own practice questions from North Carolina law, the commission's rules and the exam vendor's candidate handbook, and each question names the section it comes from so you can check the rule. Exam vendors do not publish their live questions.
No. OneTryPass is an independent practice site. Licensing rules and the candidate handbook are free on the North Carolina Real Estate Commission and exam vendor websites, linked on this page.
Every rule on this page comes from the North Carolina Real Estate Commission, North Carolina statutes and rules, or the Pearson VUE candidate materials for North Carolina. OneTryPass reads each page, writes the rule in plain English and records the date. A rule that passes its re-check date leaves this page on its own until it is read again.
How often each kind of rule is read again: license exam, 120 days; pre-licensing education, 180 days; who can apply, 180 days; exam vendor, 180 days; fees, 90 days; if you fail, 180 days; after you pass, 180 days; commission, 365 days.
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