EstatePass
Updated 2026

New York (NY) Real Estate Exam Prep & Study Guide

What the New York (NY) exam actually asks, in the order worth studying it. The weightings below are not an estimate — they are each subject's share of the 3,346 New York questions in our bank.

The New York exam format, fee and passing score are set by DOS. See the current DOS candidate handbook

What to study first for the New York exam

Ordered by how many questions sit behind each subject. Studying front to back spends the same hours on a subject worth 6% as on one worth 11%.

  1. 1

    Financing

    11%367 questions
  2. 2

    License Law & DOS Regulations

    9%301 questions
  3. 3

    Valuation Market Analysis

    7%236 questions
  4. 4

    Agency Relationships Disclosures

    7%230 questions
  5. 5

    General Principles of Agency

    7%226 questions
  6. 6

    Real Estate Math

    6%205 questions
  7. 7

    Contracts

    6%203 questions
  8. 8

    Property Ownership

    6%200 questions

Turn the plan into a score

The order above tells you where to start; the dashboard tells you when you're done — per-topic accuracy over the same New York bank, a readiness score against the pass mark, and a wrong-answer book that won't let a miss stay missed.

  • Every topic above, tracked with live accuracy
  • New York state portion and national portion scored separately
  • Free tier: 20 questions a day, no card required

The New York state portion, subject by subject

NY-specific law is where out-of-state study material stops helping. These are the subjects our bank covers, with real questions under each.

Counts are live from the New York question bank, which mixes the national portion with New York-specific law.

The national portion, subject by subject

Shared with every other state exam, and usually the larger half of the paper.

Counts are live from the New York question bank, which mixes the national portion with New York-specific law.

Studying for the New York exam

How long should I study for the New York real estate exam?

Most candidates need four to eight weeks alongside a job. Working every New York question in our bank at a realistic 30 questions an hour is roughly 112 hours — but the useful measure is not hours, it is whether your practice scores sit above the pass mark on questions you have not seen before.

What is on the New York real estate exam?

Two portions. The national portion covers principles every state shares. The NY portion covers New York law — in our bank that is License Law & DOS Regulations, Valuation Market Analysis, Agency Relationships Disclosures, General Principles of Agency and more.

Which New York topic should I study first?

Financing carries the most questions in our New York bank (367, about 11% of it), so it is the highest-leverage place to start. After that, work down the list below rather than studying front to back.

Is a New York exam prep course required?

Pre-licensing education is required by DOS; exam prep is not. They are different purchases and people often conflate them — the course satisfies the legal hours, prep is practice on questions. Check the current requirement in the DOS handbook before buying either.

Is New York real estate exam preparation different from a study guide?

Not in practice — exam prep, exam preparation and study guide all describe the same work: knowing what the NY exam weights heavily and practising those subjects until the wording stops surprising you. What matters is whether the material is ordered by how much of the exam each subject accounts for, which is how this page is laid out.

How many questions should I practise before the New York exam?

More than most people do. Candidates who pass tend to have worked through several hundred questions with explanations, not a few dozen; the difference shows up as recognising a rule quickly rather than reasoning it out under time pressure. Our own data says the same thing — the people who fail are almost never the people who practised a lot.

New York practice exam

Ten questions with explanations, free, no account.

Full-length mock exam

Timed and scored against the real pass mark.

Exam-day checklist

What to bring, what to expect, what disqualifies you.