- Exam Snapshot: What You're Actually Sitting For
- Registration, Fees, and Deadlines
- Breaking Down All 14 Domains
- Why Contracts, Agency, and Statutory Requirements Decide Your Score
- A Week-by-Week Plan Built Around Domain Weight
- Question Style, Calculations, and Test-Day Mechanics
- After You Pass: Affiliation, Licensing, and Renewal
- Frequently Asked Questions
- You need 75% correct across 110 scored questions (80 general, 30 state) in 210 minutes.
- Statutory Requirements Governing the Activities of Licensees is 67% of the state portion - master it first.
- Contracts (19%) and Agency (13%) carry the most weight in the 80-question general portion.
- The $79 PSI exam fee is separate from the $65 application fee, $130 license fee, and $60 Guaranty Fund assessment.
Exam Snapshot: What You're Actually Sitting For
The District of Columbia Real Estate Salesperson Exam (DC-RE-S) is a computer-based licensing test administered by PSI on behalf of the District of Columbia Real Estate Commission, which sits inside the Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection. If you've searched around for background on the credential itself, our What Is DC-RE-S? and DC-RE-S Meaning explainers cover the origin of the acronym and how it fits into the District's broader licensing structure.
Structurally, the exam is split into two scored portions: 80 general real estate questions and 30 District-specific questions, for 110 scored items total. PSI may slip in up to 10 additional non-scored items that are indistinguishable from the rest, so treat every question as if it counts. You get 210 minutes to finish, the test is closed book, and PSI supplies an on-screen calculator for the math-heavy items - you won't need to bring your own.
Registration, Fees, and Deadlines
Before you can sit for the DC-RE-S, you need to meet a short list of eligibility requirements: be at least 18 years old, hold a high school diploma or equivalency, be able to read, write, and understand English, and complete 60 hours of Commission-approved salesperson prelicensing education. A full eligibility walkthrough lives in DC-RE-S Requirements, but the numbers below are what most candidates actually budget around.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| PSI Examination Fee (one or both portions) | $79 |
| State Application Fee | $65 |
| License Fee | $130 |
| Guaranty and Education Fund Assessment | $60 |
For a line-by-line explanation of when each of these fees is collected and by whom, see DC-RE-S Certification Cost. Timing matters just as much as money: you must apply for licensure within six months after passing the exam, and if you fail one portion, you have six months from your first attempt to retake and pass that portion. Miss either window and you may need to restart pieces of the process. Our DC-RE-S Exam Dates guide covers how to schedule around the current PSI bulletin, which is dated June 3, 2026.
Key Takeaway
Book your PSI test date only after you've confirmed your 60-hour prelicensing certificate is finalized - the six-month application clock starts the moment you pass, not when you enroll in courses.
Breaking Down All 14 Domains
The DC-RE-S content outline is organized into 11 general domains (shared with many jurisdictions' real estate fundamentals) plus 3 District-specific domains that make up the state portion. If you want the full content map with subtopics for each, our DC-RE-S Exam Domains 2026 guide goes deeper than what fits here.
| Domain | Weight |
|---|---|
| 1. Property Ownership | 10% |
| 2. Land Use Controls | 5% |
| 3. Valuation | 8% |
| 4. Financing | 10% |
| 5. Contracts | 19% |
| 6. Agency | 13% |
| 7. Property Disclosures | 7% |
| 8. Property Management | 3% |
| 9. Transfer of Title | 6% |
| 10. Practice of Real Estate | 12% |
| 11. Real Estate Calculations | 7% |
| 12. Duties and Powers of the Real Estate Commission | 20% |
| 13. Licensing Requirements | 13% |
| 14. Statutory Requirements Governing the Activities of Licensees | 67% |
Notice that Domains 12-14 are weighted within the 30-question state portion only, which is why Statutory Requirements at 67% dominates that section so heavily - it's effectively two out of every three state questions. Domains 1-11 are weighted within the 80-question general portion.
Domain 14: Statutory Requirements Governing the Activities of Licensees
This is the single highest-leverage topic on the entire exam. Candidates must know the specific conduct rules that govern brokers and salespersons operating under District law - not generic ethics concepts, but the actual statutory obligations tied to licensee behavior.
- Know exactly which activities trigger disciplinary review versus routine compliance
Domain 5: Contracts
At 19% of the general portion, Contracts is the heaviest single topic outside the state section. Expect scenario-based questions on offer and acceptance, contingencies, and remedies for breach.
- Practice distinguishing bilateral contract elements from listing agreement terms
Why Contracts, Agency, and Statutory Requirements Decide Your Score
Three domains - Contracts (19%), Agency (13%), and Statutory Requirements (67% of the state portion) - together account for a disproportionate share of your scored questions. If you're deciding how much runway you need before test day, our How Hard Is the DC-RE-S Exam? guide frames difficulty in terms of exactly this kind of concentration risk: getting these three areas right does more for your score than spreading effort evenly across all 14 domains.
Agency questions typically test your understanding of fiduciary duties, dual agency disclosure, and the difference between a client and a customer relationship. Practice of Real Estate (12%) sits close behind and often overlaps with Agency in scenario questions about what a licensee can and cannot legally do without broker supervision.
A Week-by-Week Plan Built Around Domain Weight
Generic study frameworks only help if they're mapped to what's actually tested. The timeline below assumes roughly four weeks of prep layered on top of your 60-hour prelicensing coursework, sequenced by domain weight so the heaviest-value material gets reviewed more than once before test day.
Foundations and Highest-Weight State Content
- Read through Statutory Requirements Governing the Activities of Licensees line by line
- Skim Duties and Powers of the Real Estate Commission and Licensing Requirements
Contracts, Agency, and Practice of Real Estate
- Work practice scenarios covering offer, acceptance, and contract remedies
- Drill agency relationship and disclosure questions until answers are automatic
Mid-Weight General Domains
- Cover Financing, Property Ownership, and Valuation
- Practice Real Estate Calculations using the on-screen calculator format
Full Review and Timed Practice
- Take full-length timed practice sessions at dcsalesexam.com to simulate the 210-minute window
- Revisit Statutory Requirements one final time given its outsized weight
If four weeks feels tight given your work schedule, stretch this into six by adding a buffer week between Week 2 and Week 3 for Property Disclosures and Transfer of Title. For a condensed reference to review on the morning of your test, keep our DC-RE-S Cheat Sheet handy.
Question Style, Calculations, and Test-Day Mechanics
DC-RE-S questions are scenario-driven multiple choice, not simple definition recall. A Financing question, for example, is more likely to describe a buyer's loan situation and ask what type of financing arrangement applies than to ask you to define a term outright. Real Estate Calculations (7%) questions require you to work through prorations, commission splits, or loan-to-value ratios using PSI's built-in calculator - practice with an on-screen calculator beforehand so the interface isn't unfamiliar on test day.
Because the exam is closed book, you cannot bring reference sheets, so memorization of key statutory thresholds and procedural steps matters more than it would on an open-resource exam. Run a few full practice sets under timed conditions at dcsalesexam.com to get a feel for pacing across all 110 scored questions within 210 minutes - that's roughly 1.9 minutes per question, which is workable if you're not stuck rereading Statutory Requirements passages for the first time mid-exam.
Key Takeaway
Treat every non-obvious question as potentially one of PSI's up-to-10 non-scored pretest items - don't waste time trying to guess which questions "don't count," since you can't tell during the exam.
After You Pass: Affiliation, Licensing, and Renewal
Passing the exam is not the finish line. You must apply for licensure within six months of your passing date, and you cannot practice independently - you need to affiliate with a District-licensed broker before your license becomes active. If you're weighing what comes next in terms of employment, our DC-RE-S Jobs and DC-RE-S Salary Guide articles look at how newly licensed salespersons typically find broker affiliation and build a client base.
Once licensed, your salesperson license expires August 31 of odd-numbered years. Renewal ordinarily requires 15 hours of continuing education per two-year cycle - but there's a helpful exception: your first renewal after being licensed by examination is CE-exempt, giving new licensees one cycle to get established before continuing education obligations kick in.
If you're still deciding whether the investment of prelicensing hours, exam fees, and licensing costs is worth it relative to the career path, our Is the DC-RE-S Certification Worth It? analysis and our broader DC-RE-S Certification overview lay out the full picture, and DC-RE-S Pass Rate discusses what the available data suggests about first-attempt outcomes.
Frequently Asked Questions
There are 110 scored questions total: 80 general real estate questions and 30 District-specific state questions. PSI may add up to 10 additional non-scored items that look identical to the rest.
You need at least 75% correct. See our DC-RE-S Passing Score guide for how that threshold is applied.
The PSI exam fee is $79 for one or both portions. Beyond that, budget $65 for the state application fee, $130 for the license fee, and $60 for the Guaranty and Education Fund assessment.
Statutory Requirements Governing the Activities of Licensees makes up 67% of the state portion, and Contracts is the heaviest general domain at 19%. Both deserve repeated review passes.
You must retake and pass the failed portion within six months of your first attempt. After passing both portions, you then have six months to submit your license application.