Tennessee Real Estate Exam Study Guide PDF 2026

If you’re looking for a Tennessee real estate exam study guide, you’re in the right place. This page shows Tennessee affiliate broker candidates what to study, how the PSI exam works, and how to build a plan around it.

One quick vocabulary note. Tennessee doesn’t call its entry-level license a “salesperson” license. It calls it the affiliate broker license, so if you searched for the “salesperson exam,” this is the exam you need.

We also untangle the 90-hour education requirement, because it works differently here than in most states. Only 60 of those hours come before the exam. The other 30 can wait until after you pass.

To make your prep easier, we put together a free study guide PDF with the exam structure, the 60 plus 30 hour breakdown, a four-week plan, key Tennessee terms, and the math formulas. It’s a direct download, no email needed.

Download our free TN study guide PDF.

What’s on the Tennessee Real Estate Exam

The Tennessee affiliate broker exam is run by PSI for the Tennessee Real Estate Commission (TREC). It comes in two parts that are timed and scored separately.

	National Portion	State Portion
Questions	80	40
Time Limit	160 minutes	80 minutes
Passing Score	70%	70%
Correct Answers Needed	56	28

A strong score on one part can’t rescue a weak score on the other. If you pass one portion and miss the other, you retake only the part you missed. Your passing score is valid for two retakes of the failed portion or one year, whichever comes first, subject to PSI and TREC rules.

PSI may also mix in 5 to 10 experimental questions. They don’t count toward your score, nothing labels them, and they do use up exam time. So treat every question like it counts.

Now the topics. On the national side, Contracts (19%) and Agency (13%) together make up almost a third of the national portion. Add Practice of Real Estate (12%) and you’re at 44%, or roughly 35 of the 80 scored items.

The state portion is shorter, but it’s spread across nine categories. Advertising and Marketing (7 items), Agency and Disclosure Issues (6 items), and Broker/Affiliate Relationships (5 items) add up to 18 of 40 items, or 46% of the state portion, so they deserve your biggest study blocks.

National – Topic Area (80 scored questions)	Exam %	State – Topic Area (40 scored questions)		Items	Exam %
Contracts	19%	Advertising and Marketing		7	18%
Agency	13%	Agency and Disclosure Issues		6	15%
Practice of Real Estate	12%	Broker/Affiliate Relationships		5	13%
Property Ownership	10%	Duties and Powers of Real Estate Commission		4	10%
Financing	10%	Licensing Requirements		4	10%
Valuation	8%	Handling of Documents and Record Keeping		4	10%
Property Disclosures	7%	Handling of Trust/Escrow Funds		4	10%
Real Estate Calculations	7%	Other Improper Activities and Consumer Protection		3	7%
Transfer of Title	6%	Special Areas of Practice	3		7%
Land Use Controls	5%
Property Management	3%

Source: PSI Tennessee Real Estate Candidate Information Bulletin (7/1/2025)

Tennessee’s 90-Hour Education Requirement

Here’s where Tennessee does something most states don’t. The state asks for 90 hours of real estate education in total, but it comes in two pieces, and only one of them is due before the exam.

• The first piece is 60 hours of real estate principles and fundamentals. You finish those before you’re eligible to sit for the PSI exam. Your school sends your eligibility to PSI, and you can’t register until that happens.
• The second piece is the 30-hour Course for New Affiliates. You don’t need it to take the exam. You do need it before TREC issues your license. So you can take it after you pass, but it has to be done before the license is issued.

Why does this matter? Many students assume all 90 hours must be finished before test day. Others pass, celebrate, and only then discover the license can’t be issued without that 30-hour course. Passing the exam and finishing your education are two different finish lines.

Think of the 60-hour course as your ticket to the exam, and the 30-hour course as your ticket to the license.

Once you’ve passed all portions, your next step is to apply for your license through CORE within one year. Book that 30-hour course early, so a missing certificate never holds up your application.

Your 4-Week Tennessee Exam Study Plan

This plan assumes you’ve already finished your 60 hours of principles and fundamentals, so we won’t reteach everything. We start with the national basics, move into Tennessee law, and finish with timed practice. Some weeks are heavier than others, and that’s on purpose.

• Week 1 (about 13 hours) is your national foundation. We start with Property Ownership, which includes legal descriptions, because it shows up inside almost every other topic. Then come Land Use Controls, Valuation, and Financing while the property concepts are still fresh.
• Week 2 (about 25 hours) is the heaviest national week. Contracts and Agency go first, since together they make up almost a third of the national portion. Then we move through Practice of Real Estate (fair housing included), Property Disclosures, Property Management, and Transfer of Title. Real Estate Calculations gets its own day, because math sticks only when you work real problems, not just formulas.
• Week 3 (about 32 hours) is Tennessee state law. This is where the exam stops looking like every other state’s test. We give the biggest blocks to Advertising and Marketing and to Agency and Disclosure Issues, then cover TREC, licensing, broker and affiliate relationships, records, trust and escrow funds, and disciplinary rules.
• Week 4 (10 to 12 hours) is timed practice and review. Time the national portion at 160 minutes and the state portion at 80, separately, and review each result on its own. Spend the rest of the week on the topics you keep missing, then do a final pass through the PSI content outline and check off every subtopic. No new material.

Tennessee-Specific Topics to Focus On

A handful of topics make the state portion feel different from a generic national exam, so they get extra attention in our plan.

Start with the Tennessee Real Estate Commission, which enforces the Tennessee Real Estate Broker License Act of 1973 (T.C.A. Title 62, Chapter 13). It has nine members appointed by the governor, serving five-year terms, and seven of them must have been licensed brokers or affiliate brokers in Tennessee for at least five years. When a licensee crosses the line, the Commission can reprimand, suspend, or revoke a license, and it can also downgrade a broker to affiliate broker status.

As an affiliate broker, you work under a principal broker, and a failure to supervise affiliates is itself a ground for discipline. That connects to money handling. Affiliates must pay trust money over to the principal broker immediately, commingling is prohibited, and earnest money must be disbursed, interpleaded, or turned over to an attorney within 21 days of a written request unless there’s a compelling reason. It’s only four items on the exam, but small details can flip an answer.

Advertising is the heaviest state category at seven items. Ads must show the firm name and the firm phone number, and the firm name has to appear at least as large as the name of any licensee or team. On social media, that firm information can be no more than one click away.

You’ll also see agency questions. The Act defines facilitators and designated agents, so learn the difference. And any listing, sale, or offer form must specify a definite termination date.

For fair housing, the Act names race, color, religion, sex, and national origin as grounds for discipline when a licensee violates anti-discrimination law. Your national Practice of Real Estate study covers the full federal list.

Finally, licenses renew every two years, and renewal takes 16 hours of continuing education (10 electives plus the 6-hour TREC CORE course). Applications and renewals run through CORE.

Tennessee Real Estate Exam Study Tips

Keep in mind these tips while preparing for the exam.

• Treat the two portions as two separate exams. Each one needs its own 70%, so practice them separately and review your results separately too.
• Put Tennessee law first, escrow included. The state portion is where this exam stops looking like a generic national test. Trust and escrow funds are only 4 of the 40 state items, but a small detail like commingling or the 21-day clock can decide an answer.
• Skip any site that promises “real exam questions.” The real exam content is secure, and PSI’s rules prohibit copying or communicating it. Breaking those rules can lead to disqualified results, a ban from future exams, and even legal action. It’s simply not worth the risk.
• Use the right tool at the right time. Use this guide and the PDF for your final review. Use the free Lexawise practice exam for timed practice. The guide tells you what to study and in what order. The practice exam shows you how it feels with the clock running.
• Study in short sessions. PSI itself suggests sessions of about 45 to 60 minutes, because concentration tends to wander in longer ones. Keep a running list of the topics you keep missing and review it every week, not only in week four. A short list you actually read beats a long one you ignore.

Ready to put the plan to work? Take our free Tennessee real estate practice exam under timed conditions and see which topics need another pass

Tennessee Real Estate Exam Requirements

• Be at least 18 years old.
• Follow the affiliate broker license path (Tennessee has no salesperson license).
• Complete 90 hours of education in total.
• Finish the 60-hour real estate principles/fundamentals course before you can take the exam.
• Finish the 30-hour Course for New Affiliates before your license is issued.
• Pass both portions of the PSI exam, 70% on each ($63 for the full exam).
• Submit fingerprints for your initial license application (not needed to take the exam).
• Apply for your license through CORE within one year of passing.

For the full walkthrough, see our Tennessee real estate license requirements guide. You can also check the Tennessee Real Estate Commission website for the latest forms and fees.

Download Your Free TN Exam Study Guide PDF

Want everything in one place? Our free TN exam study guide PDF packs in the exam structure, the 60 plus 30 hour education breakdown, the four-week study plan, the TREC topics, key Tennessee terms, and the math formulas. Think of it as your study companion. It’s a direct download, no email needed, and it’s a guide, not a practice question PDF.

Download the free TN real estate exam study guide PDF. When you’re ready to practice, take our free Tennessee practice exam. And if you want the full question bank and progress tracking, explore our Tennessee real estate exam prep.