North Dakota Real Estate Salesperson License requirements

Follow these steps in order. Deadlines and affiliation requirements can make a passed exam unusable if they are missed.

1. 1

   90-hour NDREC-certified salesperson course (residents)

   Apply for the license within 2 years of the certificate. Reciprocal GA/IA/MN applicants who live there skip this.

2. 2

   Online application $150 + credit-history fee; mail the fingerprint packet + $40 to AG to NDREC

   Do not mail cards to the Attorney General. Paper applications are not accepted.

3. 3

   PSI $134 — National 100/70 (150 min) and State 40/30 (90 min)

   No test code. Upload the first score report. Nonresidents who do not qualify for reciprocity take the state portion only.

4. 4

   Request to Issue: $20 Recovery Fund, E&O, designated-broker signature

   An inactive license is allowed; active status requires a designated broker and insurance.

Minimum age

18 years old

Identification

A Social Security number is required. An ITIN is not confirmed as a substitute.

Residency and identification

Residents: 90-hour NDREC-certified course and both PSI exam portions. Nonresidents who do not qualify for reciprocity: licensed and in good standing at the salesperson level in their state of primary residence; take only the ND state portion. Reciprocal: licensed and living primarily in Georgia, Iowa, or Minnesota. No license revoked in this or any state within 2 years. Residents must apply within 2 years of the 90-hour course.

Qualifying education

According to the salesperson tab of the How to Apply page, resident applicants only must complete a 90-hour, NDREC-certified salesperson prelicensure education course, and must apply for licensure within 2 years of completing it. NDREC certifies schools but does not set their prices. You can complete the course after applying and upload the certificate before issuance, but the license will not issue without it. NDCC 43-23-08(4): a salesperson applicant may take the licensing examination before fulfilling the educational requirement; the Commission may not issue the license until the 90 hours are complete. PSI bulletin: there are no eligibility requirements for the examination; salesperson applicants can test at any time and no longer need test codes. Reciprocal GA/IA/MN applicants (licensed and living primarily there) skip the 90 hours. A South Dakota 116-hour broker-associate certificate does not count as the 90 hours.

Education or filing deadline

Apply for licensure within 2 years of completing an NDREC-certified prelicensure course. The PSI fee is good for 1 year from when PSI receives it.

Character review

NDREC runs a credit history. Statewide and national criminal history checks are done through fingerprints (NDCC 12-60-24 and 43-23-08.4). Disclose convictions, bankruptcies, unpaid judgments, and liens. The Commission may review your application at a meeting. Failing to disclose is disqualifying on its own.

Background process

Fingerprint cards go to NDREC with $40 payable to the ND Attorney General. Credit history is $13 (costs list) or $11.25 (payment paragraph); confirm the amount when you pay. An SSN is required to run both checks.

Experience

No licensed experience is required for a salesperson license. You must affiliate with a designated broker to go active. The broker upgrade requires 2 years as a full-time salesperson (or substantially equivalent experience) plus a 60-hour broker prelicense course.

Broker affiliation

Active salesperson licenses require a designated broker and a firm. The Request to Issue Real Estate License must be signed by that ND-licensed broker. You may be issued an inactive license; inactive licensees cannot conduct compensated North Dakota real estate business, but they can remain inactive indefinitely as long as they renew annually.

PSI Services, $134 (test-takers.psiexams.com/ndre). Bulletin dated 10/1/2025. No NDREC test code. · Fee: $134

Unlimited retakes within 12 months of PSI receiving the fee. If you fail one portion, retake only that portion, still for $134. You cannot reschedule on the same day. Upload the first score report to Online Services after your first exam.

These are commission or testing-vendor amounts we can cite. School tuition and optional preparation products are private-market prices.

How to Apply page: $150 nonrefundable application to NDREC. The credit-history fee is $13 on the costs list but $11.25 in the payment paragraph, for $161.25 combined; the page does not say which is current, so confirm when you pay. PSI $134 for one portion or both (bulletin dated 10/1/2025). $40 fingerprint analysis payable to ND Attorney General, mailed with the cards to NDREC. $20 one-time Education, Research and Recovery Fund at Request to Issue (initialLicense here is that $20, not a second license fee). Reciprocal applicants are billed $181.25, including the $20. Rice E&O is currently listed at $187/calendar year. Annual renewal is $125 salesperson / $150 broker (SCRA paragraph + 2025 renewal memo). Late fee $100/month; licenses are canceled after January 15. Firm $200. Organization (personal corp/LLC payee) $200 one-time; this is not a firm license.

• !

  Mailing fingerprint cards to the Attorney General

  Mail the sealed packet to NDREC. The $40 check is payable to the AG, but the envelope goes to NDREC.

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  Claiming Minnesota reciprocity while living in Fargo, ND

  You must be licensed AND live primarily in GA, IA, or MN. A Minnesota license with a North Dakota address puts you on the nonresident path, where you take the state portion.

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  Letting the 90-hour certificate age past two years

  NDREC: apply for licensure within 2 years of the certified course.

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  Paying PSI $131 because a blog said so

  The PSI bulletin lists $134 for one portion or both.

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  Skipping the $20 fund because you bought E&O

  They are different requirements. The fund is NDCC 43-23.2; E&O is required separately to go active.

• !

  Relying on per-topic item counts for the 40-item state portion

  The PSI bulletin lists the topics but not the number of items per topic. A source that claims, for example, 8 advertising items is not based on the bulletin.

• !

  Treating 2025–2026 CE as a mandatory-topic cycle

  NDREC Education page: NO mandatory topic hours this cycle; 12 hours of electives. If you miss Nov. 15, renew inactive.

NDREC: if you are licensed in Minnesota, Iowa, or Georgia, the nonresident license is reciprocal, but only for those three states and only if you live primarily there. Nonresidents who do not qualify for reciprocity take the state portion only. You need certificates of licensure from every state where you are licensed (older guidelines require them to be less than three months old); a pocket card is not a certificate of licensure. Military SCRA portability is a separate waiver with five criteria (orders, good standing, use within the last 2 years).

North Dakota vs neighboring states

Hours are the pre-license total printed in each guide; states that count credits or named courses show “See guide.” Published state fees add the application, exam, initial-license, and fingerprint amounts the guide can cite — tuition is not included.

How many pre-license hours?

Ninety NDREC-certified hours for resident original salesperson applicants, per the How to Apply page. Apply within 2 years of the course. Reciprocal GA/IA/MN applicants (licensed and living primarily there) skip it. NDCC 43-23-08(4) lets a salesperson take the PSI exam before finishing the 90 hours, but the license will not issue without the certificate.

Exam fee, items, time, cut?

PSI bulletin dated 10/1/2025: $134 for one portion or both. National: 100 items (100 points), passing 70, 150 minutes. State: 40 items (40 points), passing 30, 90 minutes. Unlimited retakes within 12 months. There are 5–10 unscored experimental items, which count against your time. The state outline does not publish item counts per topic.

Application vs issuance fees?

How to Apply page: $150 application. The credit-history fee is $13 on the costs list and $11.25 in the payment paragraph ($161.25 combined there); confirm the amount when you pay. $40 for fingerprints, payable to the AG and mailed to NDREC. $20 Recovery Fund at Request to Issue. Reciprocal applicants pay $181.25, including the $20.

Reciprocity?

Only Georgia, Iowa, and Minnesota, and only if you are licensed and live primarily in that state. If you hold a Minnesota license but live in Fargo, you are on the nonresident path and must take the ND state portion. Military SCRA portability is a separate waiver with five criteria.

CE this cycle?

Per the NDREC Education page, the CE cycle of Nov. 16, 2025–Nov. 15, 2026 requires 12 hours of elective topics, with NO mandatory topic hours. Salespersons first licensed in 2026 are exempt for their first renewal. If you miss Nov. 15, renew inactive.

Fingerprints?

Two cards sealed by the technician, the Fingerprint Verification Form, the Criminal History Record Check Request, and a $40 check payable to the ND Attorney General, all mailed to NDREC at 1120 College Dr Ste 204. Do not mail cards to the AG. One Forever stamp is not enough postage. If the seal is tampered with, the packet is rejected.

Wholesaling?

According to the How to Apply page, if you enter into an agreement to make income or profit from the transfer of or equitable interest in residential real property, you need a license and must provide written disclosure. NDCC 43-23-06.1, 43-23-07.

Which North Dakota-specific topics are scored?

The Education, Research, and Recovery Fund; broker associate as a named license type; GA/IA/MN reciprocity only if you live there; and subdivided/out-of-state land sales registration. South Dakota does not issue an original salesperson license, so its requirements do not apply to this 90-hour license.