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RE License Guide

Ohio real estate licensing

Ohio Real Estate Broker License requirements

A practical, source-checked guide to qualifying, passing the exam, applying, and keeping this license active.

Gabriel Giner

By Gabriel Giner, Editor  ·  Verified  ·  RE License Guide Editorial Desk

Source checked 4 official references Next review 2026-12-01
Required education
120 hours of named broker courses (salesperson-era hours plus four business courses)
Exam fee
$66
Published fees
$201 in Division $135 + PSI $66, plus 120-hour tuition and Webcheck
Typical timeline
Two years of Ohio salesperson activity is the long pole
01

What to know first

An Ohio broker license is a Chapter 4735 object, not a NAR upgrade and not a salesperson license with a new wall hanging. The Division's live broker-requirements page wants an active Ohio salesperson license for at least two of the last five years, 20 counted transactions, and 120 hours of named education that is not the salesperson 40+40+10+10. HB 238's salesperson cut from 120 to 100 hours is not automatically a broker-education cut — it only rewrote the salesperson-era hours that sit under the broker's additional financial-management, HR/personnel, applied-business-economics, and business-law courses.

Transaction counting is Ohio-specific. Listing agent in the sale of property owned by another = 1/2; selling agent in that sale = 1/2; listing or procuring agent in a commercial/industrial lease of at least one year = 1/2; listing or procuring agent in a residential lease of at least one year = 1/2. If leasehold transactions make up 16 or more of the 20, you also need three years of full-time property management. That is not Pennsylvania's 200-point chart and not Texas's 720-point log.

The broker examination application is $135. PSI uses the same $66/$46/$43 fee table as salespersons, but the cut score is scaled 75 percent on each portion (O.A.C. 1301:5-1-05). The national broker paper is 75 items worth 80 points (scenario items can score 0, 1, or 2) in 120 minutes; the state paper is 40 items in 60 minutes. Fingerprints are the same BCI&I plus FBI set. Neighbor titles will mislead you: Indiana's entry license is already called broker; an Indiana broker is not an Ohio broker until the Division says so. Kentucky broker education is 336 classroom hours or 21 academic credits including a 48-hour brokerage-management block. Michigan brokers add 90 clock hours on top of the salesperson 40. None of those certificates is an Ohio broker file.

02

Your path to the license

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

  1. Hold an active Ohio salesperson license for two of the last five years

    Build the 20-transaction log using the Division's ½-credit rules.

  2. Complete the 120-hour named broker grid

    Salesperson-era hours plus Financial Management, HR/Personnel, Applied Business Economics, and Business Law. Do not assume HB 238 rewrote this.

  3. File the Broker Examination Application with $135

    Fingerprints with the file. Division then notifies PSI.

  4. Pass PSI at scaled 75 percent on each portion

    75 national items (80 points) + 40 state, $66 combined.

  5. Qualify the brokerage and calendar principal-broker CE

    3-hour principal-broker duties course inside each 30-hour CE cycle.

03

Education and eligibility

Minimum age
18 years old
Identification
A Social Security number is required. An ITIN is not confirmed as a substitute.
Residency and identification
U.S. citizen or legal alien. An active Ohio salesperson license for two of the last five years is the experience door the Division currently prints — confirm rather than substituting an Indiana broker year.
Qualifying education
Division broker-requirements page: if licensed on or after April 9, 2025, the salesperson-era block is 40 law + 40 principles & practices + 10 appraisal + 10 finance, plus Financial Management, Human Resources or Personnel Management, Applied Business Economics, and Business Law. Applicants licensed August 1, 2001–April 8, 2025 use 40+40+20+20 plus those four business courses. Applicants licensed January 1, 1972–July 31, 2001 use 30+30+30+30 plus the four 30-hour business courses. Licensed before January 1, 1972: no additional education. HB 238 did not delete the four business courses.
Character review
Same honest-and-truthful / R.C. 9.79 review as salesperson applicants.
Background process
BCI&I plus FBI fingerprints with the broker examination application.
Experience
active Ohio salesperson license for at least two of the last five years, plus 20 counted transactions (½ each for listing or selling a property owned by another; ½ for qualifying leases of at least one year). If 16 or more of the 20 are leasehold, also three years of full-time property management.
Broker affiliation
An Ohio broker may qualify a business and hold salespersons. The salesperson recommendation letter you once signed is the other side of this credential. Principal-broker duties are a 3-hour CE topic every cycle.

Documents to prepare

  • Broker Examination Application ($135)
  • Official transcripts or course completion certificates for the 120-hour grid
  • Transaction log matching the Division's ½-credit counting rules
  • BCI&I / FBI fingerprints
  • PSI broker passing score report (scaled 75 each portion)
04

The licensing exam

PSI after Division eligibility. Broker national: 75 items (80 points, some scenario items weighted 0/1/2), 120 minutes, scaled 75 percent. Broker state: 40 items, 60 minutes, scaled 75 percent. Combined fee $66. 12-month CIB window, same retake-through-the-Division rule as salespersons. State outline adds broker-only topics: trust or special accounts, Ohio Broker Lien Law, ancillary trustee if the broker dies, broker license display, and principal-broker supervision. National broker outline bumps property management to 5% and adds supervisory-responsibility items. Passing score is 75, not the salesperson 70.

PSI Services LLC, under contract to the superintendent · Fee: $66

Part Questions Minutes Pass
Broker National (scenario-weighted) 75 120 75 items carrying 80 points / 120 minutes on the live PSI table (7/1/2026). Passing Score column prints 75%. Live ODRE broker page: Passing score: 75. Combo is 115 items carrying 120 points / 180 minutes at 75%. Note: national broker exams include questions scored up to two points (scenario items 0/1/2). Cut is 75% of 80 points (60), not 56 of 75 items. $66 combined / $46 national-only.
Broker Ohio State 40 60 40 items (40 points) / 60 minutes; 75% on the live PSI table and live ODRE broker page. Same 16+14+6+4 state-outline bands as salesperson, with broker-only topics live: trust or special accounts, Ohio Broker Lien Law, ancillary trustee if the broker dies, broker license display, principal-broker supervision. $43 state-only or $66 combined.

Same 12-month CIB window and Division retake-request rule as salespersons. Cut score is 75, not 70. Combined PSI fee $66.

What to study

  • Division broker-requirements page

    Ohio Division of Real Estate and Professional Licensing

    Two-of-five, 20 transactions, 120-hour grids by licensure-date cohort, $135.

  • PSI bulletin broker tables

    PSI

    75 items / 80 points national, scaled 75, scenario weighting.

  • R.C. 4735.12 Recovery Fund

    Ohio legislature

    Broker trust-account and conversion exposure.

05

Application costs

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

Fee Amount
Application$135
Examination$66

Division broker page: $135 examination application. PSI $66 combined / $46 / $43. Three-year birthday CE cycle; brokers include a 3-hour principal-broker duties course inside the 30 hours.

Commission

Ohio Division of Real Estate and Professional Licensing

(614) 466-4100

Ohio Revised Code Chapter 4735 (including §§ 4735.07 broker, 4735.09 salesperson qualifications / $81 / 100 hours after HB 238 / 20-hour post-license, 4735.12 Recovery Fund, 4735.141 CE). O.A.C. 1301:5 (including 1301:5-1-05 exam content split and scaled cuts, 1301:5-7-02 CE). Live ODRE Requirements for an Ohio Real Estate Salesperson's License page, Requirements for an Ohio Real Estate Broker's License page, and House Bill 238 FAQ (effective April 9, 2025) fetched 2026-09-02. PSI Ohio Department of Commerce Division of Real Estate and Professional Licensing Real Estate Salesperson and Broker Candidate Information Bulletin at test-takers.psiexams.com/ohre, Copyright 2026, 7/1/2026, bulletin 1001, fetched 2026-09-02. PSI (855) 834-8749. eLicense LPI at lpi.elicense.ohio.gov. Paper applications are not accepted.
Pre-licensing

120 hours of named broker courses (salesperson-era hours plus four business courses)

Division broker-requirements page: if licensed on or after April 9, 2025, the salesperson-era block is 40 law + 40 principles & practices + 10 appraisal + 10 finance, plus Financial Management, Human Resources or Personnel Management, Applied Business Economics, and Business Law. Applicants licensed August 1, 2001–April 8, 2025 use 40+40+20+20 plus those four business courses. Applicants licensed January 1, 1972–July 31, 2001 use 30+30+30+30 plus the four 30-hour business courses. Licensed before January 1, 1972: no additional education. HB 238 did not delete the four business courses.
Sponsoring broker

An Ohio broker may qualify a business and hold salespersons. The salesperson recommendation letter you once signed is the other side of this credential. Principal-broker duties are a 3-hour CE topic every cycle.
Fingerprints

Same BCI&I plus FBI fingerprint channel as salesperson applicants. Instructions are on the Broker Examination Application.
CE / renewal

30 hours every three birthdays including 3 civil rights, 3 core law, 3 canons of ethics, and — for brokers, brokers on deposit, and management-level licensees — a 3-hour principal-broker duties course (R.C. 4735.141).
Recovery fund

Same R.C. 4735.12 Real Estate Recovery Fund. Brokers are the typical target of conversion claims. A paid claim suspends the license until the fund is reimbursed plus interest. Cap $40,000 per licensee.
06

Mistakes that delay applicants

  • Assuming HB 238 rewrote broker education

    Live broker page still prints Financial Management, HR/Personnel, Applied Business Economics, and Business Law on top of the salesperson-era block. Live HB 238 FAQ: you must still complete the broker pre-licensure courses required by R.C. 4735.07.

  • Treating an Indiana broker license as an Ohio broker license

    Indiana's entry title is broker. Ohio still has a salesperson license and a separate broker license.

  • Counting a listing and a sale as two full transactions

    Live page: each side is 1/2. Twenty full credits means more closings than people expect. Sixteen or more leasehold credits also need three years of full-time property management.

  • Sitting the broker exam at the salesperson 70 percent cut

    Live ODRE broker page and live PSI table: 75, not 70. National is 75 items carrying 80 points.

  • Using the August 1, 2001–April 8, 2025 20-hour appraisal/finance block after a post-April 9, 2025 original

    Live broker page splits three education cohorts by original-salesperson date. Confirm which grid you are on.

  • Skipping principal-broker CE

    Brokers, brokers on deposit, and management-level licensees include a 3-hour principal-broker duties course inside each 30-hour cycle (R.C. 4735.141).

07

Reciprocity and recognition

Partner / path Accepted exam Conditions
No formal bilateral reciprocity is published for this credential.

Confirm any endorsement path on the live Division broker pages. An Indiana broker license is an entry credential in Indiana, not an Ohio broker file.

08

Renewal and staying active

30 hours every three birthdays including 3 civil rights, 3 core law, 3 canons of ethics, and — for brokers, brokers on deposit, and management-level licensees — a 3-hour principal-broker duties course (R.C. 4735.141).

Applicant checklist

  • Active Ohio salesperson license covering two of the last five years
  • 20-transaction log using the Division's ½-credit rules
  • 120-hour named course grid (including the four business courses)
  • $135 Broker Examination Application
  • BCI&I / FBI fingerprints
  • PSI scaled 75 on each portion
09

How Ohio is different

Kentucky broker: 336 hours or 21 credits including 48 hours of brokerage management, plus two years at 20 hours a week. Indiana entry is already broker (90 hours, Pearson scaled 75); managing broker is a 24-hour plus three-year upgrade. Pennsylvania: 200-point charts and 240 hours. Michigan: 90 additional clock hours including 9 civil rights on a 40-hour salesperson base. Ohio broker: two of five years as an Ohio salesperson, 20 counted transactions, 120 hours of named courses, $135 application, PSI at scaled 75.

10

Frequently asked questions

Does Ohio issue a salesperson license?
Yes. Salesperson is the entry title. Broker is a separate license after two of five years as an active Ohio salesperson, 20 counted transactions, and the named broker-education grid.
Did HB 238 cut broker education to 100 hours?
No. Live broker-requirements page (fetched 2026-09-02) still prints three education cohorts. Licensed on or after April 9, 2025: 40 law + 40 principles & practices + 10 appraisal + 10 finance PLUS Financial Management, Human Resources or Personnel Management, Applied Business Economics, and Business Law. HB 238 FAQ: you must still complete the broker pre-licensure courses required by R.C. 4735.07 even though the post-secondary education requirement was removed.
What is the broker passing score?
Live ODRE broker page: Passing score: 75. Live PSI table: 75% on each portion. National is 75 items carrying 80 points / 120 minutes; state 40 / 60 minutes; both 115 items carrying 120 points / 180 minutes. Cut is 75% of 80 points (60), not 56 of 75 items.
How are the 20 transactions counted?
Live broker page: listing agent in the sale of property owned by another = 1/2; selling agent in that sale = 1/2; listing or procuring agent in a commercial/industrial lease of at least one year = 1/2; listing or procuring agent in a residential lease of at least one year = 1/2. If leasehold transactions make up 16 or more of the 20, you also need three years of full-time property management.
What does the broker application cost?
Live broker page: Submit a Broker Examination Application and pay the $135 fee. PSI is still $66 combined / $46 / $43. Three-year birthday CE cycle; brokers include a 3-hour principal-broker duties course inside the 30 hours.
Is an Indiana broker an Ohio broker?
No. Indiana's entry title is already broker. Ohio still has a salesperson license and a separate broker license. Confirm any endorsement on the live Division pages rather than importing a compact list.

Primary Sources

Regulatory requirements on this page are drawn from the official board, statute, and exam-provider materials listed below.

  1. Ohio Division — Requirements for an Ohio Real Estate Broker's License
  2. R.C. Chapter 4735
  3. O.A.C. 1301:5-1-05 (broker scaled 75)
  4. PSI Ohio Real Estate Candidate Information Bulletin

Verified 2026-09-02  ·  Next scheduled review 2026-12-01