Minnesota Real Estate Exam Study Guide 2026

Over the past few weeks, I've had a handful of people from Minnesota reach out asking about their state exam specifically. The same questions kept coming up: what makes the Minnesota portion different, what topics show up the most, and where people tend to lose points. I figured if this many people are asking, it's worth putting my answers in one place.

Minnesota's real estate salesperson exam has 120 questions, a 240-minute time limit, and a 75% passing score. That means you need 90 correct answers. The state portion alone has 40 questions covering rules you won't find in any national study guide, and those 40 questions are where most people lose.

The state requires 90 hours of pre-license education before you can sit for the exam. That's on the higher end compared to other states. You'll take the exam through Pearson VUE, and you need to be sponsored by a licensed broker before you can get your license.

The national portion covers the same eight topics you'd see on any state's exam: property ownership, land use controls, valuation, financing, agency, contracts, closing procedures, and general practice. If you've studied these for any state, you have a foundation. The Minnesota-specific section is where the exam gets interesting.

Wells and Septic Systems: The Questions Everyone Gets Wrong

Minnesota has strict environmental disclosure requirements that show up on the exam repeatedly. Two rules trip people up because they sound similar but work differently.

The well disclosure rule requires sellers to provide a well disclosure certificate before a buyer signs the purchase agreement. Not at closing. Before the purchase agreement. The exam will try to trick you with answer choices that say "at closing" or "within 10 days of closing." Those are wrong.

Septic system rules (called Subsurface Sewage Treatment Systems, or SSTS) work differently. Sellers disclose what they know about the system's condition, but a licensed professional must conduct a separate compliance inspection. The seller's disclosure and the professional inspection are two different things. The exam tests whether you understand that distinction.

If you remember nothing else from this section: wells require disclosure before the purchase agreement. Septic requires both a seller disclosure and a professional inspection. The exam will mix these up in the answer choices to see if you're paying attention.

Dual Agency in Minnesota

Every state handles dual agency differently, and Minnesota's version has a specific wrinkle the exam likes to test. When a broker represents both buyer and seller in the same transaction, the broker cannot disclose confidential information about either party to the other.

The three categories of confidential information are: the price the party is willing to accept (or pay), terms they're willing to agree to, and their motivation for buying or selling. The exam will give you scenarios and ask which piece of information the dual agent can share. If it falls into price, terms, or motivation, the answer is that the agent cannot disclose it.

This isn't optional. Both parties must give written consent to dual agency, and the confidentiality limitations apply even after consent is given.

Trust Accounts: Minnesota's Unusual Rule

Most states require brokers to hold earnest money in a trust account. Minnesota does too. The difference is what happens with the interest.

Minnesota requires pooled interest-bearing trust accounts, and the interest doesn't go to the broker or the client. It goes to the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency. Quarterly. This is unusual enough that it shows up on the exam regularly.

If you see a question about who receives interest from a broker's trust account in Minnesota, the answer is the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency. Not the buyer. Not the seller. Not the broker.

Protective Covenants and the 72-Hour Rule

Minnesota has specific timing requirements for protective covenants (also called CC&Rs or restrictive covenants). When a buyer purchases property subject to protective covenants, the seller must deliver a copy of those covenants within 72 hours.

The exam also tests the override provision: protective covenants in Minnesota have a maximum override period of six months. This is a detail that national study materials don't cover, and Minnesota's exam expects you to know it.

The 80/40 Split: How to Study

The exam's 80 national questions cover broad concepts that any decent study program will prepare you for. Property ownership, financing calculations, agency relationships. These are standardized and predictable.

The 40 state questions are where your score lives or dies. Minnesota's state section focuses heavily on:

Minnesota Commission regulations and the specific powers the Commerce Department has over licensees. Licensing law details, including continuing education requirements (30 hours every two years). Trust account rules, especially that interest provision. The Code of Ethics as it applies in Minnesota specifically. And dispute resolution procedures.

If you're splitting your study time, spend 60% on state-specific material and 40% on national. You probably already know more national content than you think from your pre-license courses. The state rules are what the exam uses to separate people who studied from people who just showed up.

One More Thing

I review exam content across all 50 states, and Minnesota's exam is one of the more detail-oriented ones. The state-specific questions aren't trying to trick you with obscure edge cases. They're testing whether you actually learned Minnesota's rules or just memorized generic real estate concepts.

The well disclosure timing, the septic inspection distinction, the trust account interest rule, the dual agency confidentiality categories. These are specific, testable facts. Know them cold and you'll pick up points that other test-takers are guessing on.

Your passing score is 75%. That's 90 out of 120. You have room to miss 30 questions and still pass. Focus your energy on the state material where you can gain the most ground.