Standalone Coverage Map: National and Ohio Topics
Key Takeaways
- The Ohio exam has two independently scored portions: National (80 scored questions) and Ohio State (40 scored questions); you must pass both.
- The National portion is concept-driven, the Ohio portion is memorization-driven, so split your study tactics accordingly.
- Agency and contracts together are about 30% of the National portion; prioritize them first.
- Ohio license law (ORC 4735) and Ohio agency disclosure dominate the State portion; study them last so exact rules stay fresh.
- Use the blueprint-to-chapter table to target remediation instead of rereading the whole guide.
The Ohio real estate salesperson exam is delivered by PSI in two separate, independently scored portions: a National portion of 80 scored questions and a State (Ohio) portion of 40 scored questions. You must pass both portions to be licensed. Treating the exam as one undifferentiated blob is the most common reason candidates underperform, because the two portions test different things and reward different study habits.
The National portion covers principles that apply in every U.S. jurisdiction: agency relationships, property ownership, contracts, financing, valuation, federal fair housing, and real estate math. It is concept-heavy and rewards understanding over memorization. Expect application questions where you reason through a scenario rather than recall a single fact. Roughly two-thirds of your total scored questions live here, so it carries the heaviest weight.
The Ohio State portion is narrower and more memorization-driven. It covers Ohio license law (Ohio Revised Code Chapter 4735), the Ohio Division of Real Estate and Professional Licensing, the Ohio Real Estate Commission, agency disclosure requirements specific to Ohio, the recovery fund, and state-mandated forms and timelines. These are exact rules: dollar amounts, day counts, and who-does-what. There is little to reason out, so flashcards and repetition win here.
The table below maps each exam blueprint area to the chapter in this guide that covers it, and shows whether the material is National (N) or Ohio-specific (OH). Use it to plan your study sequence and to triage weak areas before exam day.
| Blueprint Area | Portion | Approx. Weight | Guide Chapter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property ownership & land use | N | ~10% | Ch. 1 |
| Laws of agency & fiduciary duty | N | ~13% | Ch. 2 |
| Contracts & purchase agreements | N | ~17% | Ch. 3 |
| Financing & mortgages | N | ~10% | Ch. 4 |
| Valuation & appraisal | N | ~8% | Ch. 5 |
| Federal fair housing | N | ~8% | Ch. 6 |
| Property management & leases | N | ~4% | Ch. 7 |
| Transfer of title | N | ~6% | Ch. 8 |
| Real estate math | N | ~4% | Ch. 9 |
| Ohio license law (ORC 4735) | OH | ~30% | Ch. 10 |
| Ohio agency disclosure & forms | OH | ~25% | Ch. 11 |
| Ohio Real Estate Commission & Division | OH | ~20% | Ch. 12 |
| Ohio recovery fund & discipline | OH | ~15% | Ch. 13 |
| Ohio fair housing additions | OH | ~10% | Ch. 14 |
Recommended study sequence: Start with the National concept chapters (1 through 6) because they are foundational and the largest scoring block. Agency and contracts together account for roughly 30% of the National portion, so invest early and revisit them often. Layer in valuation, property management, title, and math (Chapters 7 through 9) once the core concepts feel stable.
Then pivot to the Ohio chapters (10 through 14). Study these in the final third of your prep window so the exact numbers stay fresh: the recovery fund payout caps, the timelines for delivering agency disclosure, post-license education hours, and continuing-education requirements. Ohio law also extends fair housing beyond the federal classes, so Chapter 14 builds directly on Chapter 6 rather than replacing it.
In your last week, run mixed practice sets that interleave National and Ohio questions to simulate the real exam's two-portion structure. If you score below 75% on either portion in practice, return to the mapped chapter rather than rereading everything. The map exists so you can spend remediation time precisely where the points are.
How the two portions are scored and timed
You sit both portions in a single PSI session, but each is graded on its own scale and you receive a separate pass/fail result for each. The National portion gives you 80 scored questions; the Ohio portion gives you 40 scored questions. PSI also embeds a handful of unscored pretest items that look identical to scored ones, so never assume a hard question "doesn't count." A passing score is 70% on the National portion (56 of 80) and 75% on the Ohio portion (30 of 40) under current standards.
If you pass one portion and fail the other, you re-test only the failed portion within the retake window — another reason to track your practice scores by portion, not as a single blended number.
Budget your reading time. Math and proration questions on the National side eat clock; Ohio statute questions are fast recall. A good pace is roughly one minute per National question and forty seconds per Ohio question, leaving a review buffer. Flag-and-return is your friend: answer every fast recall item first, then spend remaining minutes on multi-step math.
Using this map to triage
Treat the weight column as a points-per-hour signal. Ohio license law plus agency disclosure together approach 55% of the State portion, so a candidate who is weak there is leaving the most points on the table. On the National side, contracts and agency dominate; a single hour spent mastering the six fiduciary duties (OLD CAR) or the three listing types pays back across a dozen questions.
After each full practice exam, write your two portion percentages at the top of this page and circle the three lowest blueprint rows. Return only to those mapped chapters. Re-reading chapters you already score 85%+ on feels productive but moves no needle. The map turns a vague "I need to study more" into a precise "I need Chapter 11 agency forms and Chapter 4 financing clauses" — and that precision is what separates a first-attempt pass from a costly retake.