Virginia Real Estate Exam Study Guide (Free PDF)

Every Virginia real estate career starts the same way, with one exam standing between you and your license. The good news? Once you know how that exam is built, it gets a lot less scary.

Virginia’s real estate exam has a little twist. You need 70% on the national portion, but 75% on the Virginia portion. So the shorter half of the test is the one with the higher bar. And more than half of that state portion comes from just two areas, agency and disclosures.

That’s why we built this Virginia real estate exam study guide. It shows you what’s on the test, how the two portions work, and what to study first. Think of it as your roadmap, not another textbook.

Before you can test, you’ll finish 60 hours of Board-approved pre-license education. Then you’ll face a separate state portion built entirely on Virginia law. Prefer to study offline? This VA real estate exam study guide also comes as a free PDF.

Want this study guide on paper? Download our free Virginia real estate exam study guide PDF. No email, no sign-up, just the guide.

What’s on the Virginia Real Estate Exam

PSI runs the exam for the Virginia Real Estate Board, which sits inside the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR). The test comes in two portions, and each one has its own clock and its own passing score.

	National Portion	State Portion	Both
Scored Questions	80	40	120
Time Limit	105 minutes	45 minutes	150 min
Passing Score	70%	75%	Graded separately
Correct Answers Needed	56	30	Graded separately

Here’s a sneaky detail. PSI can mix in 1 to 10 experimental questions that don’t count toward your score. They aren’t labeled, and they still eat up your time, so treat every question like it counts.

You can test at a PSI center or online with a remote proctor. Either way, leave your calculator at home, because handheld calculators are prohibited. At a test center you get an LCD writing tablet for notes, and online exams don’t allow scratch paper.

So where are the points? On the national side, Contracts leads at 19%, followed by Agency and Practice of Real Estate. On the state side, agency and disclosures make up 22 of the 40 questions. The tables below give you the full picture.

National – Topic Area (80 scored questions)	Exam %	State – Topic Area  (40 scored questions)	Items	Exam %
Contracts	19%	Agency Definitions and Relationships	12	30%
Agency	13%	Disclosure Requirements	10	25%
Practice of Real Estate	12%	Licensing	8	20%
Property Ownership	10%	Virginia Fair Housing Law and Regulations	4	10%
Financing	10%	Specific Acts Pertaining to Real Estate Practice	4	10%
Valuation	8%	Escrow Accounts	2	5%
Property Disclosures	7%
Real Estate Calculations	7%
Transfer of Title	6%
Land Use Controls	5%
Property Management	3%

Source: PSI Virginia Candidate Information Bulletin (updated 2/18/2026).

Virginia’s 60-Hour Pre-License Requirement

Before you can sit for the exam, you need 60 class/clock hours of Board-approved pre-license education. DPOR calls this course “Principles of Real Estate.” Your school sends your eligibility to PSI, and then you can register and schedule.

Good news on experience. Salesperson applicants don’t need any. You do need to be at least 18 and have a high school diploma or its equivalent.

Already licensed in another state? You may only need the Virginia state portion, but you still have to show you completed 60 hours of Principles of Real Estate substantially equivalent to Virginia’s. Check your eligibility with DPOR before you register.

Thinking about broker someday? That’s a separate path, with 180 hours of education plus 36 months of active experience in the 48 months before you apply. Your salesperson course won’t count toward it, and the broker exam has its own numbers, so don’t mix them up with yours.

Your education doesn’t stop at the license, either. New salespersons complete 30 hours of post-license education within one year from the last day of the month the license was issued. Miss that deadline and the license goes inactive.

Requirement	Detail
Pre-license education	60 hours, “Principles of Real Estate,” Board-approved
Exam	National and state portions, both required
Experience	None required for salesperson applicants

Virginia State Portion Study Guide

If there’s one section to bookmark, it’s this one. Think of it as your Virginia real estate exam state portion study guide, built straight from PSI’s outline. National study materials stop helping here, because every question comes from Virginia law and the Real Estate Board’s rules.

Start with Agency Definitions and Relationships, the biggest category at 12 of 40 questions. It covers broker-salesperson relationships and compensation, limited service agency, designated and dual agency, and unrepresented parties. In every scenario, ask yourself two things. Who’s my client, and what do I owe the client versus the customer?

Disclosure Requirements comes next with 10 questions. Expect property disclosure (including the Chesapeake Bay Act), aircraft noise and crash zones, septic, Megan’s Law, stigmatized properties, HOA and POA disclosures, and advertising rules. For each one, learn who discloses, what gets disclosed, and when.

Licensing carries 8 questions. Here you’ll find qualifications, the broker’s supervisory duties, discipline, record keeping, and license maintenance. This category is full of deadlines and dollar amounts, so flashcards pay off.

Virginia Fair Housing Law and Regulations and Specific Acts Pertaining to Real Estate Practice each have 4 questions. Fair housing tests Virginia’s own statute, which protects more classes than federal law. Specific Acts pulls in four laws, the Condominium Act, the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, the Underground Utility Damage Prevention Act, and the Property Owners’ Association Act.

Escrow Accounts closes the list with just 2 questions. Learn the rules, but don’t let them steal hours from agency and disclosures. And remember, a national-only practice test won’t touch any of this.

Category	Items	What to know
Agency Definitions and Relationships	12	Broker-salesperson relationships and compensation, limited service, disclosure of agency, agency duties, designated and dual agency, unrepresented parties
Disclosure Requirements	10	Property disclosure (including the Chesapeake Bay Act), aircraft noise and crash, septic, Megan’s Law, stigmatized properties, HOA and POA disclosures, advertising rules
Licensing	8	Qualifications, broker’s supervisory requirements, disciplinary procedures and sanctions, records and audits, license types and activities requiring a license, license maintenance
Virginia Fair Housing Law and Regulations	4	Virginia Fair Housing Law and its regulations
Specific Acts Pertaining to Real Estate Practice	4	Condominium Act, Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, Underground Utility Damage Prevention Act, Property Owners’ Association Act
Escrow Accounts	2	Escrow accounts

Your 4-Week Virginia Exam Study Plan

This is the same plan you’ll find in our Virginia real estate license exam study guide PDF. It covers the national portion first and Virginia law second, following PSI’s official outline. Plan on 17 to 23 hours a week for the first three weeks and 10 to 13 hours in Week 4. Study Monday through Saturday and keep Sundays off, except in Week 3.

1. Week 1 (17 hours) builds your national foundation. You’ll cover Property Ownership, Land Use Controls, Valuation, Transfer of Title, Property Management, and Practice of Real Estate, which includes fair housing. Together they make up 44% of the national portion, about 35 of 80 questions. Start with Property Ownership, because it shows up inside almost everything else.
2. Week 2 (21 hours) takes on the heavier national topics. That means Contracts, Agency, Property Disclosures, Financing, and Real Estate Calculations, about 56% of the national portion, or roughly 45 questions. Contracts gets the most time, and Agency sets you up for next week. Work every math problem by hand.
3. Week 3 (23 hours) belongs to Virginia. Open with Agency Definitions and Relationships and Disclosure Requirements, which together carry more than half of the state portion. Then move through Licensing, Virginia Fair Housing Law and Regulations, and the Specific Acts. Escrow Accounts gets one short session at the end, since it’s only 2 items. It’s the heaviest week, so it’s the only one that uses Sunday.
4. Week 4 (10 to 13 hours) is about speed and confidence. Take a full national practice exam timed at 105 minutes and a separate state practice exam timed at 45 minutes, and review each one on its own. Then walk through the state outline line by line, clean up your weakest spots, and keep the day before your exam light.

One last thing. The one-year window to apply for your license starts on the date you take each portion, and your fingerprint results are only valid for a limited time once you’re fingerprinted. So book your exam when your plan is done, and apply soon after you pass.

Virginia-Specific Topics to Focus On

The Virginia Real Estate Board licenses salespersons, brokers, and firms, and it enforces the license law and its own regulations. It can fine a licensee up to $2,500 per violation, and it can suspend or revoke a license. Broker supervision lives in the same Licensing category. In Virginia, every office, branch office, and real estate team must have a supervising broker.

Agency is where Virginia gets very specific. A buyer’s agent must sign a brokerage agreement before showing property, and a brokerage agreement with no end date expires 90 days after it’s signed. Dual agency needs everyone’s written consent after a written disclosure. Designated agency lets the broker assign a different agent to each client in the same deal.

Disclosures follow a “buyer beware” model. The seller gives the buyer the Real Estate Board’s residential property disclosure statement. “Notification” means telling the buyer about the required disclosures on the Board’s website, or delivering them. The big exception is a home in a military air installation’s noise or accident potential zone, which the owner must actually disclose.

Virginia’s fair housing law protects 12 classes. It adds elderliness, source of funds, sexual orientation, gender identity, and military status to the federal seven. And the small-owner exemption never covers a real estate licensee, even one selling their own home.

Specific Acts bring in rentals and community living. Under the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, a security deposit can’t be more than two months’ rent. For condos and HOAs, the association has 14 days after the seller’s written request to deliver the resale certificate.

Escrow has its own clock. Earnest money goes into the firm’s escrow account by the end of the fifth business banking day after ratification, unless all principals agree otherwise in writing.

Virginia Real Estate Exam Study Tips

Study Virginia law as its own subject, not as an add-on to the national material. A national-only practice test won’t prepare you for the state portion, because it never touches Virginia law. Give agency and disclosures the biggest share of your state hours, since they make up 22 of the 40 questions.

Treat the two portions as two separate exams. The state portion leaves you a much smaller cushion, and a great national score can’t rescue a weak state score.

Practice under PSI’s clock, 105 minutes for national and 45 for state, and score each portion on its own. Do your math by hand, too. Handheld calculators are prohibited, so prorations and Virginia’s grantor and recordation taxes should feel automatic before exam day.

Read the actual law, not just summaries. PSI lists the Virginia license law, the Board’s regulations, and the state’s fair housing, disclosure, condominium, landlord-tenant, and property owners’ association laws as study materials.

Finally, think about timing. Once you’ve tested, your application has one year to reach the Board. So test when you’re ready, then apply soon after.

🎯 Once you have a plan, it helps to see where you stand. Take our free Virginia real estate practice exam, or start your Virginia real estate exam prep when you’re ready for the full question bank.

Virginia Real Estate Exam Requirements

Here’s your quick-reference checklist as a Virginia salesperson applicant.

• Be at least 18 years old.
• Have a high school diploma or its equivalent.
• Complete the 60-hour “Principles of Real Estate” course, approved by the Board.
• Pass both portions of the exam, with 70% on the national portion and 75% on the state portion.
• Pay PSI $60 for each exam attempt.
• Get fingerprinted. At a PSI Virginia site, it’s $52, and your results are only valid for a limited time, so apply soon after.
• Send your application to DPOR within one year of the date you first took each portion. The fee is $244.50.
• Affiliate with a firm to work actively. Your principal or supervising broker signs your application and takes responsibility for your real estate activities. If you apply without a firm, you’ll get an inactive license.
• Complete 30 hours of post-license education within your first year.

For the full picture, see our guide to Virginia real estate license requirements and the Virginia Real Estate Board page at DPOR.

Download Your Free Virginia Real Estate Exam Study Guide PDF

Want everything in one place? Our free VA real estate license exam study guide puts it all in a single PDF. You’ll get a topic-by-topic breakdown of both portions, the Virginia state portion checklist, key terms in plain English, the full 4-week study plan, and a final review checklist for exam week. It’s free, there’s no sign-up, and you can print it and keep it right next to your course notes.

📥 Download the free Virginia real estate exam study guide PDF, then take our free Virginia practice exam to see where you stand. When you’re ready for the full question bank and progress tracking, start your Virginia real estate exam prep.