Updated 2026
Ohio Real Estate Exam Prep & Study Guide
What the Ohio exam actually asks, in the order worth studying it. The weightings below are not an estimate — they are each subject's share of the 3,332 Ohio questions in our bank.
Questions
120
Time limit
180 min
To pass
70%
Exam fee
$66
Source: ODRE candidate handbook. Salesperson licence.
What to study first for the Ohio 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 9%.
- 19%300 questions
License Law Orc 4735
- 28%250 questions
Ohio Agency Law
- 37%226 questions
General Principles of Agency
- 46%216 questions
Financing
- 56%207 questions
Property Ownership
- 66%205 questions
Contracts
- 76%200 questions
Specific Contracts Forms
- 86%199 questions
Real Estate Math
The Ohio state portion, subject by subject
OH-specific law is where out-of-state study material stops helping. These are the subjects our bank covers, with real questions under each.
License Law Orc 4735
300 questions- A broker disagrees with an administrative rule governing real estate licensees in Ohio and wants to formally seek a chan…
- Under ORC Chapter 4735, which entity has primary statutory authority to establish the content requirements and standards…
- A buyer asks their Ohio salesperson to explain whether a specific contract clause is enforceable and what legal remedies…
- Under ORC Chapter 4735, the Division of Real Estate & Professional Licensing operates within which larger state governme…
Ohio Agency Law
250 questions- Under Ohio law, which type of listing agreement provides the listing broker with a commission only if the broker is the …
- Under Ohio law, when a salesperson's license is suspended by the Superintendent of Real Estate, what is the effect on th…
- Under Ohio law, the fiduciary duty of accounting requires an agent to:
- Under Ohio law, a listing agent receives an offer while another offer is already being considered by the seller. What is…
General Principles of Agency
226 questions- Without prior permission, Quinn Brooks signs a small repair authorization on behalf of the owner. The owner later approv…
- A buyer under a buyer-representation agreement receives an earnest money refund after a failed deal. The agent deposits …
- A buyer representation agreement should specify:
- Jamie Cruz signs a listing agreement with Skyler Simmons. In the resulting sale, whose interests does the listing broker…
Specific Contracts Forms
200 questions- Miguel, a buyer in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, has a purchase agreement contingent on the sale of his current home within 45 …
- An Ohio buyer submits $10,000 in earnest money for a property listed at $400,000. The transaction closes at $380,000 aft…
- An Ohio transaction closes, but the buyer later discovers that the seller's agent failed to disclose that the property w…
- Nathan, an Ohio buyer, has a purchase agreement with a 10-day inspection contingency that began on March 1. Nathan's hom…
Ohio Disclosure Requirements
190 questions- An Ohio seller is providing a home warranty to the buyer as part of the purchase agreement. Under Ohio disclosure practi…
- An Ohio property has a history of flooding from a nearby creek during heavy rains. The seller has installed a backflow p…
- An Ohio listing agent discovers during a listing appointment that the seller's property has unpermitted electrical work …
- An Ohio seller's property is in a homeowners association that has recently enacted a significant increase in monthly due…
Property Disclosures
151 questions- A 1978 ranch home is on the market. During inspection, the buyer's environmental specialist samples the wall insulation …
- Which of the following is NOT a hidden condition?
- A Transfer Disclosure Statement (TDS) must be provided by:
- The purpose of the Closing Disclosure under TILA-RESPA is to:
Division of Re Rules Disciplinary Process
150 questions- An Ohio broker hires an unlicensed assistant. Under Ohio Division rules, which activities can the unlicensed assistant l…
- In Ohio, a real estate brokerage must be managed by:
- Under Ohio advertising rules, all of the following would constitute a violation EXCEPT:
- An Ohio salesperson receives a valuable gift (a $2,000 watch) from a grateful client after a successful transaction. Und…
Valuation Market Analysis
149 questions- In October 2026, appraiser Caleb Moore is reviewing an income statement for Oak Place. The property's NOI is $67,500, th…
- Under USPAP, what is the purpose of the Competency Rule?
- An example of functional obsolescence is:
- In August 2026, appraiser Omar Lewis is valuing a small retail strip. Potential gross income is $96,000, vacancy and col…
Property Tax Assessment
149 questions- An Ohio homeowner receives a property tax bill showing an assessed value of $63,000 and annual tax of $5,670. What is th…
- A real estate investor in Lake County, Ohio (which charges the full county permissive fee) sells two properties simultan…
- In Ohio, when a property's assessed value is reduced by the Board of Revision, the property owner may be entitled to a r…
- A title company in Ohio handles a closing where the property is being sold by an estate. The executor provides a fiducia…
Land Use Controls Regulations
128 questions- A homebuyer purchases a lot in a planned community. The deed references a recorded declaration of covenants, conditions,…
- A board of adjustment is reviewing an owner's request for relief from a zoning ordinance. All of the following are commo…
- A homeowner in an HOA community wants to install solar panels on her roof. The CC&Rs do not address solar panels. The HO…
- Seeking an exemption from zoning requirements requires a:
Fair Housing
125 questions- An Ohio real estate agent is representing a buyer who is a veteran with a visible prosthetic limb. During a showing, the…
- A veteran with PTSD applies to rent an apartment in Ohio. The landlord denies the application saying, 'I don't want some…
- Under Ohio law, the OCRC can subpoena witnesses and documents during a housing discrimination investigation. If a respon…
- A mortgage lender in Ohio consistently charges higher interest rates to borrowers of a particular race, even when their …
Financing & Closing
125 questions- In Ohio, a buyer purchases a home using an FHA loan. The FHA requires the borrower to pay a mortgage insurance premium (…
- An Ohio borrower has a fixed-rate mortgage with an amortization schedule. In the early years of the loan, most of each m…
- An Ohio borrower obtains a purchase money mortgage to buy a home. Under Ohio law, a purchase money mortgage has which sp…
- In Ohio, title insurance is used to protect against defects in the chain of title. Which statement about title insurance…
Transfer of Property
114 questions- Under TRID rules, the lender must deliver the Closing Disclosure to the borrower at least how many business days before …
- A deed is properly recorded in the county records before a later purchaser checks title. Even if the later purchaser nev…
- At closing, the seller's existing mortgage balance of $185,000 must be paid off from the sale proceeds. On the seller's …
- An attorney examining the abstract of title discovers a gap in the chain where a deed from 1952 does not match the grant…
Counts are live from the Ohio question bank, which mixes the national portion with Ohio-specific law.
The national portion, subject by subject
Shared with every other state exam, and usually the larger half of the paper.
Financing
216 questions- A buyer wants to purchase a home but cannot qualify for a conventional loan. The seller agrees to carry the entire purch…
- During the annual escrow analysis on Priya's loan, the servicer wants to maintain an escrow cushion equal to three month…
- Before the scheduled foreclosure sale, Lena Howard pays the past-due installments, late fees, and allowed expenses so th…
- Lena Chen is buying a home for $350,000 and is making a 20% down payment. Her lender will charge 2 discount points on th…
Property Ownership
207 questions- A roofing contractor replaced shingles on a home for $18,400, but the owner refused to pay. After following the required…
- Emma owns only a life estate in a rural tract, with title to pass to her nephew at Emma's death. Without the nephew's co…
- In February 2026, title examiner Rachel noticed that a metes and bounds description ended at a different point than wher…
- In June 2026, Jared sold the oil and gas rights under his ranch to Mesa Energy but kept the surface estate. After record…
Contracts
205 questions- After a property inspection reveals minor cosmetic issues, the buyer demands $20,000 in credits. The seller refuses, and…
- A buyer wants to demonstrate serious intent when submitting an offer. What financial deposit typically accompanies the o…
- Under a traditional contract for deed, what risk does the buyer face if the seller has an existing mortgage on the prope…
- Under a contract for deed, the buyer defaults after making five years of payments. In some jurisdictions, what protectio…
Real Estate Math
199 questions- A county charges $40 to record the first page of a deed and $7 for each additional page. If a deed is 3 pages long, what…
- A property sells for $300,000 with a 6% commission split equally between the listing broker and the selling broker. The …
- A buyer is purchasing a property for $450,000 with an 80% LTV loan. Buyer closing costs are $9,500, the earnest money de…
- A transfer tax is charged at $1.00 per $500 of sale price (rounded up to the nearest $500). If the property sells for $3…
Practice of Real Estate
155 questions- Fair housing complaints in Ohio must be filed within:
- A broker uses cloud-based transaction management software to store all transaction files, including contracts, disclosur…
- Two competing brokerages agree that each will refer commercial clients to the other and neither will compete for the oth…
- A landlord refuses to rent to a family with children, claiming the property is 'adults only.' This is legal ONLY if:
Leasing & Property Management
80 questions- A written apartment lease begins on July 1 and ends on June 30 of the following year with no need for notice to terminat…
- A property management agreement authorizes the manager to spend up to $500 on emergency repairs without prior owner appr…
- A property manager deposits tenant security deposits into the manager's personal checking account and uses the funds to …
- All of the following are landlord-tenant law concepts EXCEPT
Counts are live from the Ohio question bank, which mixes the national portion with Ohio-specific law.
Studying for the Ohio exam
How long should I study for the Ohio real estate exam?
Most candidates need four to eight weeks alongside a job. Working every Ohio question in our bank at a realistic 30 questions an hour is roughly 111 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 Ohio real estate exam?
Two portions. The national portion covers principles every state shares. The OH portion covers Ohio law — in our bank that is License Law Orc 4735, Ohio Agency Law, General Principles of Agency, Specific Contracts Forms and more.
Which Ohio topic should I study first?
License Law Orc 4735 carries the most questions in our Ohio bank (300, about 9% 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 Ohio exam prep course required?
Pre-licensing education is required by ODRE; 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 ODRE handbook before buying either.
Ohio 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.