- What This Cheat Sheet Covers
- Exam Format at a Glance
- Fees & Appointment Mechanics
- Passing Score Snapshot
- The 14 Domains in One Table
- National vs. State Portion Breakdown
- Eligibility Checklist Before You Register
- Retake Rules If You Fail a Portion
- Renewal Requirements After Licensing
- One-Week Final Review Plan
- FAQ
- The combined TXRESA appointment runs 240 minutes and costs $43, administered by Pearson VUE.
- You need 56/80 on the national portion and 28/40 on the state portion to pass.
- Agency and Brokerage is the largest state domain, weighted at 25% of that portion.
- Current outlines list 135 total items, though the January 2026 handbook's combined-exam row shows 125 - confirm before test day.
What This Cheat Sheet Covers
This is a condensed, print-and-review reference for the Texas Real Estate Sales Agent Exam (TXRESA) - the licensing exam governed by the Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) and administered through Pearson VUE. It's not a substitute for full preparation; pair it with a complete TXRESA Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt for a study plan and with our full TXRESA Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 14 Content Areas if you need the full breakdown of every subtopic. Use this page the night before your appointment or during a final review session to confirm you have every number, deadline, and domain name locked in.
Exam Format at a Glance
The TXRESA is a computer-based, closed-book exam delivered in a single 240-minute appointment split into two portions: national and state. You may bring an approved financial calculator as long as it does not display alphabet characters; none is supplied at the test center, so bring your own.
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Administering body | Pearson VUE, under TREC governance |
| Total appointment time | 240 minutes |
| Exam fee | $43 |
| National items (per outline) | 85 total (80 scored + 5 pretest) |
| State items (per outline) | 50 total (40 scored + 10 pretest) |
| Combined item total (outline math) | 135 |
| Combined-exam row in Jan. 2026 handbook | 125 (discrepancy - see note below) |
| Test format | Computer-based, closed book |
Fees & Appointment Mechanics
Registration and cost mechanics are straightforward but easy to get wrong if you're comparing notes with someone who took a different exam. The sales exam fee is $43 per appointment, paid when you schedule through Pearson VUE. For a complete pricing walkthrough including education costs, fingerprinting, and application fees layered on top of the exam fee itself, read TXRESA Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown.
Two outline effective dates matter for scheduling purposes: the national content outline took effect March 1, 2025, and the state-law outline takes effect January 1, 2026. If you're testing near that boundary, confirm which version of the state outline applies to your appointment date. Full scheduling windows and deadline logistics are covered in TXRESA Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling.
Passing Score Snapshot
Passing is scored separately by portion, not as a blended total. You must hit both thresholds in the same attempt cycle:
- National portion: 56 correct out of 80 scored items
- State portion: 28 correct out of 40 scored items
Pretest items (5 on the national side, 10 on the state side) are unscored and mixed in without identification, so treat every question as if it counts. For the full explanation of how these thresholds are calculated and what they mean for your margin of error, see TXRESA Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass.
Key Takeaway
Because scoring is separate per portion, a strong national score cannot compensate for a weak state score. Budget your review time to strengthen both sides independently rather than focusing only on whichever feels easier.
The 14 Domains in One Table
TXRESA content is organized into 14 domains split across the national and state outlines. Memorizing the exact domain names helps you map practice questions to the right content area quickly during review.
| # | Domain Name |
|---|---|
| 1 | Real Property Characteristics, Legal Descriptions, and Property Use |
| 2 | Forms of Ownership, Transfer, and Recording of Title |
| 3 | Property Value and Appraisal |
| 4 | Real Estate Contracts and Agency |
| 5 | Real Estate Practice |
| 6 | Property Disclosures and Environmental Issues |
| 7 | Financing and Settlement |
| 8 | Real Estate Math Calculations |
| 9 | Commission Duties and Powers |
| 10 | Licensing |
| 11 | Standards of Conduct |
| 12 | Agency and Brokerage |
| 13 | Contracts |
| 14 | Special Topics |
Domains 1-8 make up the national outline; domains 9-14 make up the state-law outline. For subtopic-level detail on all 14, use TXRESA Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 14 Content Areas as your reference companion to this cheat sheet.
Domain 12: Agency and Brokerage
This is the single largest domain on the current state outline, weighted at 25%. It covers agency relationships, broker-agent duties, and brokerage structure.
- Know the differences between types of agency representation
- Understand sponsoring broker responsibilities
- Expect this domain to appear more frequently than any other state-side topic
National vs. State Portion Breakdown
Think of the exam as two mini-tests stitched into one appointment. The national portion draws on domains 1-8 - property characteristics, ownership transfer, appraisal, contracts and agency basics, practice, disclosures, financing, and math. The state portion draws on domains 9-14 - TREC's own commission powers, licensing rules, standards of conduct, agency and brokerage specifics under Texas law, contract forms, and special topics unique to Texas practice.
Real Estate Math Calculations (domain 8) tends to slow candidates down the most because it requires applied formulas rather than recall. Budget extra practice time here regardless of how confident you feel on definitional content.
Eligibility Checklist Before You Register
Before you can even schedule with Pearson VUE, TREC requires you to clear several eligibility gates. Confirm each of these before paying your exam fee:
- At least 18 years old
- U.S. citizen or lawfully admitted alien
- Meets TREC's honesty and integrity standards
- Completed 180 qualifying education hours across six required 30-hour courses
- Submitted TREC-specific fingerprints and passed the background check
Note that passing the exam does not make your license active - you'll still need a sponsoring broker to activate what starts as an inactive license. For the complete eligibility walkthrough with course sequencing advice, see TXRESA Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify.
Retake Rules If You Fail a Portion
If you fail either the national or state portion, you can retake just that portion rather than the entire exam. However, after three failed attempts on the same portion, TREC requires additional qualifying education before you can attempt it again. This makes your first attempt worth serious preparation rather than a "see how it goes" approach.
If you're trying to gauge realistically how tough the exam is compared to other licensing tests before you sit down, read How Hard Is the TXRESA Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026 and review outcome trends in TXRESA Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows.
Renewal Requirements After Licensing
Passing the exam and activating your license is not the end of the compliance clock. Texas sales agent licenses renew every two years, and the requirements differ between your first renewal and later renewals:
| Renewal Stage | Requirement |
|---|---|
| First renewal | 90 SAE hours plus 8 Legal Update hours |
| Later active renewals | 18 CE hours |
Mark these on a calendar the day your license activates - missing a renewal deadline creates far more paperwork than staying ahead of it.
One-Week Final Review Plan
If your appointment is one week out, don't try to relearn everything. Use the remaining days to reinforce the domains most likely to trip you up and confirm the mechanical facts on this page.
National Weak Spots
- Drill Real Estate Math Calculations (domain 8) with timed practice problems
- Review Financing and Settlement (domain 7) terminology
State Heavy-Hitters
- Focus on Agency and Brokerage (domain 12) since it's the largest state domain at 25%
- Review Licensing and Standards of Conduct (domains 10-11)
Full Simulated Sessions
- Run full-length practice sessions on our practice test platform under timed conditions
- Review missed questions by domain, not just by score
Light Review Only
- Re-read this cheat sheet and the passing score thresholds
- Confirm your calculator is approved and alphabet-character-free
- Avoid cramming new material the day before your appointment
Putting the Numbers to Work
Every figure on this page - the $43 fee, the 240-minute appointment, the 56/80 and 28/40 thresholds, the 25% weight on Agency and Brokerage - exists to help you plan your review time realistically rather than guess. If you're still deciding whether the investment in courses, fingerprinting, and exam fees is worth it relative to career outcomes, Is the TXRESA Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 and TXRESA Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis are useful companion reads. And once you're licensed, browsing TXRESA Jobs can help you understand who's hiring newly sponsored agents in your area.
For hands-on practice that mirrors the domain weighting and question style described above, work through timed sets on the main practice test site before your appointment.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. TXRESA refers specifically to the Texas Real Estate Sales Agent Exam governed by TREC and administered by Pearson VUE. Facts, fees, and domain structures are unique to Texas and should not be confused with similarly named credentials elsewhere.
The national outline totals 85 items and the state outline totals 50 items, adding to 135. The January 2026 handbook's combined-exam summary row instead lists 125. This is an acknowledged discrepancy in TREC's own published tables, so confirm the number shown on your specific appointment confirmation.
You take both portions during the same 240-minute appointment, but each is scored independently against its own threshold (56/80 national, 28/40 state). If you fail one, you can retake just that portion.
TREC requires you to complete additional qualifying education before attempting that portion again. This is why a thorough first attempt, supported by resources like our TXRESA Study Guide 2026, matters more than treating early attempts as practice runs.
Only an approved financial calculator without alphabet characters is allowed, and it is not supplied at the testing center. Bring your own approved model to your appointment.