- MD-RES is the Maryland Real Estate Salesperson Exam, delivered by PSI Services LLC for $44 per attempt.
- You must score 56/80 (70%) national and 21/30 (70%) Maryland to pass both portions.
- The exam covers 11 national domains plus 6 Maryland state-specific domains, 17 total content areas.
- Contracts (19%) is the largest national domain; Brokerage Relationships leads the Maryland portion.
What Is MD-RES, Exactly?
MD-RES stands for the Maryland Real Estate Salesperson Exam - the licensing test every prospective real estate salesperson in Maryland must pass before they can legally represent buyers and sellers in the state. It is not a voluntary professional certification you add to a resume for prestige; it is the mandatory gatekeeping exam tied directly to obtaining a Maryland real estate salesperson license through the Maryland Real Estate Commission.
If you've searched for background on this credential elsewhere, be careful: the acronym "MD-RES" is sometimes reused by unrelated programs in other fields. This article, and every other page on this site, refers strictly to the Maryland real estate licensing exam described above - its fees, domains, and rules come only from Maryland's actual licensing framework.
Who Administers the Exam
The exam is overseen by the Maryland Real Estate Commission, part of the Maryland Department of Labor, but the actual test delivery - scheduling, proctoring, and scoring - is handled by PSI Services LLC, a national testing vendor used by many state licensing boards. When you register, pay your fee, and sit for the exam at a testing center or approved remote proctoring session, you're interacting with PSI's systems, while the content and passing standards are set by Maryland regulators.
For a full breakdown of who does what and how the pieces fit together, see MD-RES Certification, which walks through the regulatory relationship in more detail.
Exam Format and Scoring
MD-RES is a computer-based, multiple-choice exam split into two distinct portions that are scored separately:
- National Portion: 80 scored questions, 90 minutes
- Maryland State Portion: 30 scored questions, 30 minutes
- Experimental items: 1-10 unscored questions mixed into your test time (these are being evaluated for future exams and don't count toward your score, but you won't know which ones they are)
The exam fee is $44 per attempt. To pass, you need 70% on each portion independently - that's 56 out of 80 on the national section and 21 out of 30 on the Maryland section. Passing one portion doesn't compensate for failing the other; both must clear the 70% bar. For a deeper look at exactly how scoring works and what a "70%" threshold means in practice, read MD-RES Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass.
| Component | Question Count | Time Allowed | Passing Requirement |
|---|---|---|---|
| National Portion | 80 scored | 90 minutes | 56/80 (70%) |
| Maryland State Portion | 30 scored | 30 minutes | 21/30 (70%) |
| Experimental Items | 1-10 unscored | Embedded in above time | Not scored |
The 17 Content Domains
MD-RES content is organized into 17 domains - 11 under the national portion and 6 under the Maryland state portion. Understanding domain weighting is critical because it tells you where to invest study time.
National Portion (11 Domains)
These questions test general real estate principles applicable across the U.S., though scenarios are often framed in ways that mirror real transactions.
- Property Ownership - 10%
- Land Use Controls - 5%
- Valuation - 8%
- Financing - 10%
- Contracts - 19% (the single largest national domain)
- Agency - 13%
- Property Disclosures - 7%
- Property Management - 3%
- Transfer of Title - 6%
- Practice of Real Estate - 12%
- Real Estate Calculations - 7%
Maryland State Portion (6 Domains)
These domains focus on Maryland-specific statutes, regulatory structure, and licensee conduct rules that don't appear on generic national real estate exams.
- Duties and Powers of the Real Estate Commission
- Licensing Requirements
- Brokerage Relationships - the largest Maryland domain by weight
- Supervision
- Business Conduct
- Ethics
Because Contracts and Agency together make up nearly a third of the national score, and Brokerage Relationships anchors the Maryland side, these three areas deserve disproportionate attention. A full domain-by-domain breakdown, including what specific concepts show up under each heading, is available in MD-RES Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 17 Content Areas.
Key Takeaway
Don't split your study time evenly across all 17 domains - Contracts (19%), Agency (13%), and Practice of Real Estate (12%) carry the most national weight, and Brokerage Relationships dominates the Maryland portion.
Eligibility and Prelicensing Requirements
Before you can even schedule the exam, Maryland sets a few baseline eligibility rules:
- You must be at least 18 years old
- You must be of good character and reputation
- You must complete 60 hours of approved prelicensing education
- You must pass both exam portions within one year of completing your prelicensing course
- You must apply for the license within one year after passing the exam
Note that passing the exam doesn't make you an active agent by itself - to actually practice, you need affiliation with a licensed Maryland broker. Many candidates line up a sponsoring broker before or during their prelicensing coursework so there's no gap between passing the exam and starting work. For the complete eligibility checklist, including how the one-year windows interact, see MD-RES Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify.
Fees, Deadlines, and Licensing Timeline
Beyond the $44 exam fee, budget for the licensing process itself:
- Original salesperson license fee: $98
- Renewal fee: $78 (effective April 27, 2026)
- Continuing education for renewal: 15 hours
If you were initially licensed on or after October 1, 2023, your first renewal must follow the mandatory 15-hour continuing education curriculum specifically designed for first-time renewers. This is a distinct requirement from the standard renewal CE, so don't assume any 15-hour course automatically satisfies it - confirm it matches the required curriculum.
For a complete cost picture - exam fee, licensing fee, renewal fee, and prelicensing course costs bundled together - see MD-RES Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown. If you're trying to plan around specific testing windows or registration cutoffs, MD-RES Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling covers scheduling mechanics through PSI.
Who Hires MD-RES License Holders
Once you've passed MD-RES and secured your salesperson license, you don't work independently - you must affiliate with a licensed Maryland real estate broker to conduct transactions. This means your "employer" in the traditional sense is typically a brokerage: regional firms, national franchise offices operating in Maryland, and independent boutique brokerages all recruit newly licensed salespersons.
Brokerages generally look for candidates who understand agency relationships, contract mechanics, and Maryland-specific disclosure and conduct rules well enough to represent clients competently from day one - which is exactly why the exam weights Contracts, Agency, and Brokerage Relationships so heavily. If you're weighing whether pursuing this license makes financial sense for your situation, Is the MD-RES Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 and MD-RES Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis go into the broader career and earnings picture. For active listings and hiring trends among Maryland brokerages, MD-RES Jobs is a useful companion read.
How to Approach Preparation
Because MD-RES is really two exams in one - a broad national content exam and a narrower Maryland-specific exam - your preparation should treat them differently. The national portion rewards understanding of universal concepts (contract law, agency duties, financing mechanics, valuation approaches) that you can reinforce through repeated practice questions. The Maryland portion rewards memorization of specific statutory language and Commission procedures that won't appear on any other state's exam.
Build the National Foundation
- Work through Contracts, Agency, and Practice of Real Estate first since they carry the most national weight
- Layer in Financing, Property Ownership, and Valuation next
Shift to Maryland-Specific Rules
- Focus on Brokerage Relationships, since it's the largest Maryland domain
- Study Licensing Requirements and Commission powers alongside it, since they overlap conceptually
Full-Length Practice and Weak-Spot Review
- Take timed practice exams that mirror the 90-minute/30-minute split
- Revisit any domain where you're consistently below 70%
Simple techniques like spaced repetition for statutory terms or breaking study sessions into focused blocks can help, but they're only useful when mapped onto MD-RES's actual weighting - spending equal time on Property Management (3%) and Contracts (19%) is a poor use of limited study hours. For a structured, exam-specific plan, see MD-RES Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt, and if you want a sense of how challenging candidates generally find each portion, How Hard Is the MD-RES Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026 is worth reading before you finalize your timeline.
Running full-length timed practice sets on our practice test platform is one of the most direct ways to simulate the real 90-minute national and 30-minute Maryland splits before test day. Reviewing missed questions by domain - rather than just overall score - will show you precisely where your 30% margin for error is being spent.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. MD-RES combines a national content portion (80 questions) with a separate Maryland state-specific portion (30 questions), and you must pass both independently at 70% each.
The exam itself costs $44 per attempt through PSI Services LLC. This is separate from the $98 original license fee and any prelicensing course tuition.
Both portions must be passed within one year of completing your 60-hour prelicensing course. Check current retake policies with PSI, since you'll generally need to retest on whichever portion you didn't pass.
No, you can sit for the exam once you've completed your 60 hours of approved prelicensing education. However, active practice after licensure requires affiliation with a licensed Maryland broker.
Contracts at 19% is the largest national domain, and Brokerage Relationships is the largest Maryland domain - both deserve extra study time relative to smaller domains like Property Management at 3%.