WA-BROKER · Syllabus & Exam Outline 2026
Washington Real Estate Broker
In short
The Washington Real Estate Broker exam consists of 140 multiple-choice questions with a 3.5-hour time limit. It covers 11 domains including real estate practice, contracts, agency principles, and property ownership. Candidates must achieve a scaled score of 70 to pass. Free practice questions and a full study plan are below.
- Questions
- 140 multiple-choice questions (130 scored, 10 pretest)
- Time limit
- 3.5 hours
- Passing score
- 70 scaled score on each portion
- Cost
- $210
- Format
- multiple-choice
- Delivery
- In-person at PSI testing centers
- Calculator
- Silent, non-programmable calculators without alpha keys or printing capabilities are allowed.
- Prep time
- ~100 hours
Exam overview
The Washington Real Estate Broker exam is the mandatory licensing test for entry-level real estate professionals in Washington state, administered by PSI. It assesses a candidate's readiness to protect consumers and legally navigate property transactions. The examination seamlessly integrates a national portion covering overarching real estate principles and a state-specific portion focusing exclusively on Washington statutes, rules, and licensing requirements. All questions are intermixed throughout the single 3.5-hour testing session. Preparing for the exam requires a deep dive into eleven core domains, ranging from fundamental property ownership concepts and intricate contract laws to critical state-mandated practices. A significant portion of the test emphasizes the practical application of the Washington Real Estate Brokers Act (Ch. 18.85 RCW) and the handling of trust accounts. To streamline your preparation, Only Ever maps every domain from the official syllabus into digestible, 15-minute study topics, ensuring that you can master the required knowledge base efficiently and comprehensively.
Exam domains & weighting
Each domain's share of the exam — study deepest where the weight is highest. Open one for how to study it and its objectives.
How to study this domain
Focus on distinguishing between real and personal property and how titles are conveyed. Memorize the different types of tenancies and ownership structures, as well as the major legal methods of property description.
Key objectives
- Real and Personal Property Conveyances
- Legal Property Descriptions
- Measuring Structures and Land
- Liens, Easements, and Encumbrances
- Surface, Subsurface, Air, and Water Rights
- Basic Types of Ownership and Tenancy
- Common-Interest, Trusts, and Business Ownership
Readiness self-check
Tick off everything you can confidently explain. Anything left unchecked is your study list — tap “Review” to jump straight into that domain.
Quick reference
Real Estate Acronyms
Essential abbreviations explicitly referenced in the Washington Real Estate Broker exam outline.
- LTV
- Loan-to-Value RatioA financial term used by lenders to express the ratio of a loan to the value of an asset purchased.
- PMI
- Private Mortgage InsuranceInsurance required for conventional loans with an LTV greater than 80%.
- PITI
- Principal, Interest, Taxes, and InsuranceThe components that make up a typical monthly mortgage payment.
- CC&Rs
- Covenants, Conditions, and RestrictionsRules established by developers or homeowners associations governing property use.
- RESPA
- Real Estate Settlement Procedures ActFederal law regulating the disclosure of settlement costs and prohibiting kickbacks.
- TRID
- TILA-RESPA Integrated DisclosureThe combined mortgage disclosure forms required by the CFPB.
- COALD
- Care, Obedience, Accounting, Loyalty, and DisclosureThe traditional common-law fiduciary duties an agent owes to a principal.
Frequently asked questions
Good to know
- The exam is administered via computer at designated PSI Test Centers.
- The test includes 10 unmarked 'pretest' questions which do not impact your final score.
- Candidates are required to provide biometric verification of their identity (e.g., photography or fingerprint scan) upon check-in.
- No personal items, smart devices, or programmable calculators are allowed in the testing room. Soft lockers are provided for wallets and keys.
- The national and state portions are intermixed during the single 3.5-hour testing session.
Reading isn’t remembering.
Washington is a broker-entry state — its exam pairs the national real estate core with a distinctive state section covering the Real Estate Brokers Act, Washington's statutory brokerage-relationships (agency) law, and heightened firm, trust-account, and supervision rules — and most materials muddle the two.
Only Ever teaches the shared national core once, then layers Washington state law — the Real Estate Brokers Act and Real Estate Commission, licensing and education, statutes governing licensee conduct and advertising, trust/earnest-money accounts and recordkeeping, the designated-broker supervision of affiliated licensees and teams, the statutory agency law (Ch. 18.86 RCW), and property management — as focused 15-minute topics.