Colorado (CO) Real Estate Exam Guide

From the PSI content outline · candidate handbook · verified 2026-09-18

• Colorado forms and contracts: Counterproposal form, Closing instructions, Seller financing
• Requirements governing the activities of licensees: Advertising and trade names, Employer/employee relationships, Place of business and office policy requirements, Commissions, rebates, referrals and inducements, Disclosure of conflict of interest or licensed status, Practice of law and seller financing, Unlicensed personal assistants, Sign crossing
• Brokerage relationships: Brokerage relationship disclosure, Transaction brokerage, Single agent, Designated brokers
• Closing and settlement: Computation of proration, Responsibility for accuracy of closing statements, Matching closing statements to contract instructions, Responsibilities of parties at closing, Closing documents
• Additional topics: Property management and the Landlord Tenant Act, Water rights and disclosures, Well change of ownership
• Licensing requirements: Types of licenses and corporations, Acts requiring a license, License maintenance, renewal and inactive status, Continuing education, Errors and omissions insurance
• Record keeping and trust accounts: Transaction record keeping, Account requirements, Delivery of funds to broker or title company, Trust account record keeping
• Duties and powers of the Real Estate Commission: General powers, Investigations or audits, hearings and appeals, Criminal and license law violations

The state-specific points that show up as questions. Each cites where it comes from.

1. 1

   154 questions — the longest real estate exam in the country

   The general part is 80 questions in 120 minutes and the Colorado part is 74 in 110 minutes. Most states put 30 to 60 questions on the state half; Colorado puts 74. Plan your study time around that, not around a national-heavy course.

   Source: PSI bulletin, Examination Summary Table

2. 2

   Forms and contracts alone are 23 questions

   Colorado forms and contracts is the single biggest topic on any state portion in the country — 23 of 74 items, nearly a third. The Colorado Real Estate Manual from the Division is the source the exam is written from.

   Source: PSI bulletin, State Portion Content Outline

3. 3

   You may take the two parts on different days

   Applicants need not pass both parts on the same administration date. Fail one and you retake just that one at a later sitting — useful when 230 minutes in one day is the real obstacle.

   Source: PSI bulletin, Introduction

4. 4

   No passing score survives past one year

   In no event will a passing score on either part be accepted beyond one year, and you must apply for the license within one year of passing the entire exam. Splitting the parts across dates makes this clock easy to lose track of.

   Source: PSI bulletin, Introduction and Procedure for Licensure

5. 5

   In Colorado the entry-level license is called Broker

   There is no salesperson license here. Everyone starts as a Broker; supervising is an Employing Broker. Study material written for other states will call this the salesperson exam.

   Source: PSI bulletin, Examination Summary Table

6. 6

   The two parts have different passing rates

   60 of 80 on the general part is 75%. 53 of 74 on the Colorado part is about 72%. Knowing the counts is more useful than the percentages — twenty misses on the general part, twenty-one on the state part.

   Source: PSI bulletin, Examination Summary Table

7. 7

   Continuing-education candidates take the state part only

   If you are satisfying a CE requirement, register for the Continuing Education examination — not the Broker State examination. The bulletin says so in capitals because people get it wrong.

   Source: PSI bulletin, Examination Summary Table

8. 8

   168 hours, the heaviest in the country

   Colorado requires 168 hours of qualifying education through an accredited college or university or a DPOS-approved school. For comparison, Michigan and Maryland sit at 40 and 60.

   Source: Colorado Division of Real Estate, Broker Qualifying Education