- You need 70% on both the national and state portions of the HI-RES exam to pass.
- The exam has 130 scored questions (80 national, 50 state) plus 5-10 unscored items, in 240 minutes.
- National - Contracts carries the heaviest national weight at 19%, so it deserves outsized study time.
- State - Professional Practices and Conduct is the largest state domain and should not be treated as an afterthought.
The Magic Number: What "Passing" Actually Means
If you're preparing for the Hawaii Real Estate Salesperson Exam, the number that matters most is 70%. The Hawaii Real Estate Commission, through its testing administrator PSI Services LLC, requires a score of 70% on each portion of the exam - the national portion and the state portion - separately. Scoring 90% on the national section does nothing to offset a 65% on the state section. Both halves must independently clear the bar.
This two-portion structure is the single most important thing to understand before you build a study plan. It changes how you allocate time, how you interpret practice test results, and how you think about "readiness." A candidate who feels strong on federal-style contract law and agency concepts but has never opened Hawaii's condominium or leasehold statutes is not halfway to passing - they're only prepared for half of the test.
How PSI Scores the HI-RES Exam
The HI-RES exam totals 130 scored multiple-choice questions - 80 covering national real estate principles and 50 covering Hawaii-specific law and practice. PSI may also insert 5 to 10 unscored experimental questions within the same 240-minute testing window. These experimental items are indistinguishable from scored ones on screen, which is why pacing matters more than trying to guess which questions "don't count."
Because the two portions are scored independently, your results report typically shows a pass/fail outcome for each section rather than a single blended percentage. This is a closed-book, computer-based test - no reference materials, no handheld calculators. If you sit at a physical PSI test center you'll receive scratch paper for calculations; if you test via remote proctoring, you receive neither scratch paper nor scheduled breaks, so mental math and question-flagging strategy become more important in that format.
Key Takeaway
Treat the national and state portions as two separate exams that happen to be administered together. Track your practice scores separately for each, not as one combined average.
National Portion vs. State Portion: Two Separate Hurdles
The 80-question national portion draws from broadly applicable real estate concepts you'd see on most U.S. salesperson exams: contracts, agency, financing, valuation, property ownership, and similar topics. The 50-question state portion narrows in on Hawaii Revised Statutes, Commission rules, and practice standards unique to the islands - things like escrow procedures, leasehold and condominium ownership structures, and disclosure obligations specific to Hawaii transactions.
A common mistake candidates make is assuming that because the state portion has fewer questions, it needs less study time. In practice, the opposite is often true: national concepts (contracts, agency, financing) are reinforced repeatedly across prelicense coursework and general real estate knowledge, while Hawaii-specific rules - particularly around material fact disclosure and professional conduct - are encountered less often outside the classroom and the exam itself.
For a full breakdown of every tested subject area, see the HI-RES Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 20 Content Areas, which maps each of the 20 domains to what you're actually expected to know.
Domain Weights and Where Points Live
Weights are published within the national portion, and they tell you exactly where the 80 national questions concentrate. Study time should roughly mirror these percentages - spending equal hours on a 3% domain and a 19% domain is a poor use of limited prep time.
| National Domain | Weight |
|---|---|
| Contracts | 19% |
| Agency | 13% |
| Practice of Real Estate | 12% |
| Property Ownership | 10% |
| Financing | 10% |
| Valuation | 8% |
| Property Disclosures | 7% |
| Real Estate Calculations | 7% |
| Transfer of Title | 6% |
| Land Use Controls | 5% |
| Property Management | 3% |
National - Contracts (19%)
This is the single largest domain on the entire exam. Expect scenario-based questions on offer and acceptance, contingencies, contract remedies, and the distinctions between listing agreements, purchase contracts, and option contracts.
- Master the elements of a valid contract before memorizing niche exceptions
- Practice questions that describe a fact pattern rather than ask for a definition
On the state side, the Commission does not publish numeric weights for the ten state domains, but the largest state domain by content emphasis is State - Professional Practices and Conduct. This domain covers license law, disciplinary standards, and the day-to-day conduct expectations the Commission enforces. Given its size relative to other state domains, it deserves a proportionally larger share of your state-portion study time - alongside State - Contracts, State - Title and Conveyances, and State - Escrow Process and Closing Statements, which round out the heavier state-side topics.
Format, Timing, and Testing-Day Mechanics
You have 240 minutes to complete all 130 scored questions plus any unscored experimental items - a generous window, but one that still rewards a deliberate pace rather than lingering on any single question. Because the exam is closed-book with no handheld calculator allowed, the Real Estate Calculations domain (7% of the national portion) has to be handled with manual math, which is another reason scratch paper access matters if you're testing in person versus remotely.
- Eligibility to sit: at least 18 years old, hold a high school diploma or equivalent, and be a U.S. citizen, U.S. national, or authorized alien worker.
- Prelicense education: completion of the Commission-approved 60-hour salesperson prelicense course, or an accepted education equivalency.
- Fee: $61 covers one or both exam portions.
- Test delivery: computer-based, at a PSI test center or via remote proctoring.
Full eligibility mechanics, including how the education equivalency option works, are broken down in HI-RES Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify. If you're still confirming testing windows and the bulletin's effective date, check HI-RES Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling - the current PSI candidate bulletin takes effect January 16, 2026.
Key Takeaway
If you plan to test remotely, practice working without scratch paper before exam day - do calculation-heavy practice questions using only mental math or on-screen notation, since remote candidates get neither scratch paper nor breaks.
What Happens If You Fail One Portion
Because national and state are scored separately, it's entirely possible to pass one portion and fail the other. In that case, you retake only the portion you failed - you don't have to redo the section you already passed, provided you retest within the validity window.
A passed portion remains valid for two years. That two-year clock is doing double duty: not only must you pass the remaining portion within that window, but you must also file your license application within two years of passing the exam. Letting either deadline lapse means starting the testing process over. If you're weighing whether the overall time and cost investment is worthwhile relative to where the license leads, Is the HI-RES Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 walks through that calculus, and HI-RES Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown lays out every fee involved beyond the $61 exam charge.
Mapping Study Time to the Score You Need
Because passing means clearing 70% on two independently scored sections, your prep should diagnose weakness by portion, not just by overall practice-test percentage. A generic review schedule that blends everything together tends to overinvest in whichever topics feel comfortable and underinvest in Hawaii-specific rules that are easy to skip past.
National heavyweights
- Contracts (19%) and Agency (13%) - the two largest national domains
- Practice of Real Estate (12%) - licensing duties, brokerage relationships, advertising rules
National mid-weight and calculations
- Property Ownership, Financing, and Valuation
- Real Estate Calculations - practice without a calculator to simulate exam conditions
Hawaii state law core
- State - Professional Practices and Conduct, the largest state domain
- State - Contracts and State - Title and Conveyances
Remaining state domains and full simulation
- State - Escrow Process and Closing Statements, Financing, Land Utilization, Types of Ownership, Property Management
- Full-length timed practice tests scored separately by portion
Spaced repetition on definitions is fine for vocabulary-heavy state statute topics, but the exam itself is scenario-driven, so most of your practice reps should be full questions, not flashcards. For a more detailed week-by-week breakdown and resource list, see the HI-RES Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt. To gauge realistically how demanding this test is relative to your current knowledge, How Hard Is the HI-RES Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026 and HI-RES Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows are worth reading before you finalize your timeline.
Running full-length practice sessions on our practice test platform is one of the most reliable ways to see your national and state scores separately, the exact way PSI will report them. Doing this repeatedly on the practice site before exam day helps you catch a lopsided score - strong nationally, weak on state law, or vice versa - while there's still time to fix it.
Key Takeaway
Stop studying by topic popularity and start studying by domain weight. Contracts and Agency alone account for 32% of the national portion - more than a third of that section's questions.
Frequently Asked Questions
You need at least 70% on the national portion and at least 70% on the state portion. Both are scored independently, so a high score on one does not compensate for a low score on the other.
No. PSI may include 5-10 unscored experimental questions within the same testing session, but they are not counted in your pass/fail percentage. Since they're not identifiable on screen, treat every question as scored.
No. You only need to retake the portion you failed, as long as you do so within the two-year validity window for the passed portion.
On the national portion, prioritize Contracts at 19% weight, the largest single domain, followed by Agency at 13%. On the state portion, prioritize Professional Practices and Conduct, the largest state domain.
A passed portion remains valid for two years. You must also submit your license application within two years of passing the exam, so both the retest window and the application deadline share that same two-year clock.