- PSI administers the $79 closed-book exam: 115 scored questions plus 5-10 unscored pilot items in 180 minutes.
- You need 70% or 80 correct answers to pass - no partial credit for close guesses.
- Contracts is the single largest content area at 19%, followed by Agency at 13% and Practice of Real Estate at 12%.
- Applications go through MiPLUS and require broker sponsorship plus 40 prelicense hours, including 4 hours on civil rights and equal-opportunity housing.
Quick Snapshot: The Exam in Numbers
If you only have five minutes before test day, this is the page to reread. The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA), working with the Board of Real Estate Brokers and Salespersons, sets the licensing rules, while PSI builds and delivers the computer-based test itself. Everything below comes straight from the current exam structure - no rounded estimates, no borrowed numbers from other states or other "MI-RE-SALES" acronyms floating around online.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Exam fee | $79, paid to PSI |
| Format | Closed-book, computer-based |
| Scored questions | 115 multiple-choice |
| Unscored questions | 5-10 experimental (not identified during the test) |
| Time allowed | 180 minutes |
| Passing standard | 70% or 80 correct answers |
| Prelicense hours required | 40 hours, including 4 hours civil rights/fair housing |
| Minimum age | 18 |
For a deeper walk-through of what these numbers mean for your study plan, the MI-RE-SALES Study Guide 2026 breaks down how to sequence prep around the format above.
Registration, Fees, and Sponsorship
Before you can even schedule with PSI, Michigan requires a specific paper trail. Miss one step and your exam eligibility stalls, so treat this section like a checklist rather than background reading.
- Age and education: You must be at least 18 and complete 40 approved prelicense education hours, four of which cover civil rights and equal-opportunity housing content.
- Application system: All licensing applications route through MiPLUS, Michigan's online licensing portal.
- Broker sponsorship: You need a sponsoring Michigan broker attached to your application before licensure is granted.
- Exam fee: $79 per attempt, paid directly to PSI when you schedule.
A full walkthrough of every eligibility rule, including how the 40-hour requirement and sponsorship interact, lives in the MI-RE-SALES Requirements 2026 guide. If you want the complete dollar-by-dollar breakdown of prelicense courses, exam fees, and licensing costs, see the MI-RE-SALES Certification Cost 2026 article.
Exam Format at a Glance
The Michigan Real Estate Salesperson Exam is a closed-book, computer-based test administered at PSI test centers. There's no reference sheet, no open-book lookup, and no calculator beyond what PSI provides on-screen for math items. Every one of the 115 scored questions is multiple-choice, and PSI mixes in 5-10 unscored experimental questions that look identical to real ones - you won't know which is which, so treat every question with equal seriousness.
Key Takeaway
With 180 minutes for up to 125 total questions, you have roughly 1.5 minutes per question on average. Budget extra time for the Real Estate Calculations domain and move faster through straightforward definitional items so the math questions don't eat your clock.
For a candid look at how test-takers experience this pacing and question style in practice, read How Hard Is the MI-RE-SALES Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026.
Domain-by-Domain Cheat Sheet
The exam's listed content weights apply to the national portion of the test, with Contracts carrying the most weight at 19%. Layered on top are Michigan-specific questions covering board powers, licensing rules, statutory duties, and contractual relationships unique to the state. Here is the full domain list with the weight of each:
| Domain | Weight |
|---|---|
| Contracts | 19% |
| Agency | 13% |
| Practice of Real Estate | 12% |
| Property Ownership | 10% |
| Financing | 10% |
| Valuation | 8% |
| Property Disclosures | 7% |
| Real Estate Calculations | 7% |
| Transfer of Title | 6% |
| Land Use Controls | 5% |
| Property Management | 3% |
Contracts (19%)
The single heaviest domain on the exam. Candidates must understand the elements of a valid contract, the difference between listing agreements and purchase agreements, contingencies, and how contracts are discharged or breached.
- Know offer, acceptance, and consideration cold - these show up in multiple question stems
- Practice distinguishing void, voidable, and unenforceable contracts
Agency (13%)
Expect scenario-based questions testing fiduciary duties, types of agency relationships, and disclosure obligations between agents, brokers, and clients.
- Memorize the fiduciary duties and when each one applies
- Understand dual agency and designated agency distinctions
Practice of Real Estate (12%)
This domain covers day-to-day licensee conduct, advertising rules, and how business is legally transacted.
- Review rules on trust accounts and handling client funds
- Study advertising compliance requirements
The remaining eight domains - Property Ownership, Financing, Valuation, Property Disclosures, Real Estate Calculations, Transfer of Title, Land Use Controls, and Property Management - carry smaller individual weights but still appear consistently across the 115 scored questions. For a domain-by-domain deep dive with worked examples for all eleven content areas, see the MI-RE-SALES Exam Domains 2026 guide.
Michigan-Specific Topics You Cannot Skip
National real estate content only gets you partway to a passing score. Michigan-specific questions test knowledge that doesn't appear in generic national prep materials, so make sure these areas get dedicated review time:
- Board powers: What the Board of Real Estate Brokers and Salespersons can and cannot do, including disciplinary authority.
- Licensing rules: How Michigan licenses are issued, transferred, and maintained through LARA and MiPLUS.
- Statutory duties: The specific obligations Michigan law places on salespersons beyond general fiduciary duty.
- Contractual relationships: How Michigan treats listing agreements, buyer representation, and brokerage relationship disclosures.
- Additional state topics: Miscellaneous state-level rules that don't map cleanly to national domains but appear on the Michigan-specific portion of the exam.
Passing Score Math
Michigan sets the passing standard at 70% or 80 correct answers out of the 115 scored questions. Since 5-10 additional unscored experimental questions are mixed in without identification, you'll actually answer somewhere between 120 and 125 questions total - but only the 115 scored ones count toward your result.
Do the arithmetic before test day: 80 out of 115 is a real, fixed number, not a moving percentage that adjusts to question difficulty. That means every domain matters proportionally to its weight - missing most of the Contracts questions (19% of content) is far more damaging than missing a few Property Management questions (3% of content).
Key Takeaway
Prioritize mastery in Contracts, Agency, and Practice of Real Estate first - together they represent 44% of the national content weight. A misstep there costs more than a misstep anywhere else on the exam.
For the complete explanation of how scoring works, including what happens with the unscored questions, see the MI-RE-SALES Passing Score 2026 article.
Validity Timeline: Education, Results, and Renewal
Deadlines quietly derail more candidates than the exam content does. Keep these three timeframes straight:
- Prelicense education: Valid for 36 months from completion. Let it lapse and you'll need to retake the coursework before applying.
- Exam results and applications: Valid for one year. If you pass but don't finish licensing steps within that window, you may need to retest.
- License renewal: Every three years, requiring 18 continuing-education hours, including annual legal-update and fair-housing study.
Final-Week Review Plan
This isn't a full study curriculum - that's covered in the MI-RE-SALES Study Guide 2026 - but here's how to allocate a condensed final review using the domain weights above.
Heavy-Weight Domains
- Drill Contracts (19%) and Agency (13%) with scenario-based practice questions
- Rebuild any weak fiduciary-duty or contract-element flashcards
Mid-Weight Domains
- Review Practice of Real Estate (12%), Property Ownership (10%), and Financing (10%)
- Time yourself on a block of Real Estate Calculations (7%) problems
Michigan-Specific Content
- Study board powers, licensing rules, and statutory duties specific to Michigan
- Cross-check contractual relationship rules against national Contracts content
Light Review + Logistics
- Skim Valuation, Property Disclosures, Transfer of Title, Land Use Controls, and Property Management
- Confirm PSI appointment details and required ID
Whatever timeline you use, run full-length timed practice sessions on our practice test platform so the 180-minute pacing feels familiar before you sit down at the PSI test center. Repeating timed sets on the practice test site also helps surface which of the 11 domains still needs another pass.
FAQ
There are 115 scored multiple-choice questions, plus 5-10 unscored experimental questions mixed in without identification, for a total of roughly 120-125 questions in 180 minutes.
You need 70% or 80 correct answers out of the 115 scored questions. See the passing score breakdown for the full explanation.
Contracts is the largest domain at 19% of the national content weight, followed by Agency at 13% and Practice of Real Estate at 12%.
Exam results and license applications are valid for one year. Prelicense education itself remains valid for 36 months from completion.
Licensing requires sponsorship from a Michigan broker submitted through MiPLUS. Requirements around timing and documentation are detailed in the MI-RE-SALES Requirements guide.
Keep this page bookmarked as your one-stop reference, and pair it with focused domain review and full-length timed practice on the main practice test platform as your exam date approaches.