Colorado · Real estate exam prep
Practice Colorado real estate questions free below. RealReady has 1,095 questions in the bank covering both national real estate principles and Colorado state law. Pay $17.99 once and own it forever. No subscription like the other prep services.
The Colorado real estate broker exam is one of the toughest in the country. Colorado is the only state that issues a single broker-level license. There is no salesperson tier, so every new licensee sits the same examination. The Division of Real Estate (DRE) contracts with PSI to deliver it as an 80-question National portion (120 minutes) and a 74-question State portion (110 minutes), scored separately with a 60-of-80 and 53-of-74 cut respectively.
State-specific prep matters more here than almost anywhere else. Colorado's mandatory Transaction-Broker default relationship under C.R.S. §12-10-407, the state-mandated Contract to Buy and Sell Real Estate and other Commission-approved standard forms, designated brokers, the 168-hour qualifying education requirement, the Errors and Omissions insurance mandate under C.R.S. §12-10-204, the Colorado Foreclosure Protection Act, water rights and well disclosures, and the three-tier Associate, Independent, and Employing Broker structure all show up on the State portion. None of that looks like the material a candidate in a neighboring state studies. A generic real estate practice test won't cut it. You need Colorado-specific practice questions.
Below are 20 free Colorado real estate test questions and answers from RealReady's full Colorado bank. Each tests a specific topic with the correct answer and a plain-English explanation under the card. Read each one, commit to an answer, then reveal. Treat it like a real DRE practice test, and the ones you miss show you what to focus on next.
Get the RealReady app on iPhone, iPad, or Android for the rest of the Colorado question bank. The full app includes short articles that walk you through the why behind each topic, detailed explanations on every question, a missed-question drill mode, and progress tracking that shows your per-category accuracy.
Practice
Use this like a free Colorado real estate practice test: read the question, commit to an answer, then tap to reveal the correct answer and a plain-English explanation. The ones you miss tell you where to focus next.
Correct: B 5 members
The Colorado Real Estate Commission consists of 5 members appointed by the Governor with Senate confirmation — 3 must be licensed brokers and 2 must be public members.
Correct: C There is only a broker license
Colorado has one license type — broker. There is no separate salesperson or agent license. New licensees work under an employing broker.
Correct: B Errors and omissions insurance
Colorado requires all active licensees to maintain errors and omissions (E&O) insurance. The Commission negotiates a group policy, but licensees can obtain their own equivalent.
Correct: B Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act
The Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA) is the state's fair housing law. It is enforced by the Colorado Civil Rights Division (CCRD) within DORA.
Correct: D Transaction-brokerage
Colorado's default brokerage relationship is transaction-brokerage. Unless the broker and client agree in writing to a different relationship, the broker acts as a transaction-broker.
Correct: D The employing broker's name or trade name
Colorado requires all advertising to include the employing broker's name or licensed trade name. Blind ads without broker identification are prohibited.
Correct: B The employing broker
The employing broker is responsible for ALL licensed activities conducted under their supervision, including compliance with trust accounts, advertising, and real estate law.
Correct: A A demand (checking) account
Trust accounts must be demand (checking) accounts at a Colorado financial institution. Savings, money market, and investment accounts are not permitted.
Correct: B False — it is voluntary, not mandatory
Colorado does NOT have a mandatory seller disclosure statute. The Commission-approved SPD form is commonly used as part of the contract, but sellers can choose not to disclose.
Correct: C Four: residential, income-residential, commercial, land
The Division of Real Estate publishes four primary Commission-approved Contract to Buy and Sell forms: CBS1 (Residential), CBS2 (Income-Residential), CBS3 (Commercial), and CBS4 (Land). Two additional Foreclosure Protection Act variants (CBSF1, CBSF4) bring the full family to six.
Correct: A The property sells, no matter who finds the buyer
An exclusive right-to-sell listing guarantees the broker's commission regardless of who procures the buyer — even if the seller finds the buyer independently.
Correct: D Colorado Real Estate Commission
The Colorado Real Estate Commission approves standard forms for use in real estate transactions. Licensees are required to use these Commission-approved forms.
Correct: C Arrears
Colorado property taxes are paid in arrears — the seller owes taxes for the period they owned the property, and these are prorated at closing.
Correct: C General warranty deed
A general warranty deed provides the broadest protection — the grantor warrants title against all defects, including those that arose before the grantor owned the property.
Correct: D Prior appropriation
Colorado follows the prior appropriation doctrine — 'first in time, first in right.' Water rights are separate from land ownership, unlike riparian rights states.
Correct: B Department of Regulatory Agencies
The Commission operates within the Division of Real Estate (DRE), which is part of the Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA).
Correct: A An employing broker
New licensees must work under an employing broker — the broker responsible for supervising all brokers in the firm. The Commission does not directly supervise individual licensees.
Correct: B Obtain equivalent coverage independently
Licensees can use the Commission's group E&O policy or obtain their own equivalent coverage from another insurer. The key requirement is maintaining equivalent protection.
Correct: A Colorado Civil Rights Division
CADA is enforced by the Colorado Civil Rights Division (CCRD), which operates within DORA. The Real Estate Commission handles licensing discipline, not fair housing enforcement.
Correct: C Reasonable skill and care
A transaction-broker must exercise reasonable skill and care, present offers, account for money, and disclose material facts — but does not owe loyalty or confidentiality regarding negotiating positions.
The RealReady app has all 1,095 questions covering both national real estate principles and Colorado-specific law. The full app also includes:
Unlike other real estate prep apps, we don't cut off access or charge a monthly subscription fee. Once you buy, it's yours forever.
FAQ
The Colorado Real Estate Broker Examination has 154 scored multiple-choice questions. 80 are on the National portion covering real estate principles common to every state, and 74 are on the State portion covering Colorado law, Commission rules, position statements, and the state's standard forms and contracts. PSI also includes 5 to 10 unscored experimental items that aren't identified to candidates.
You need 60 of 80 correct on the National portion (75%) and 53 of 74 correct on the State portion (about 72%). The two portions are scored separately and you must pass both. If you pass one and fail the other, you only have to retake the one you failed, and a passing score on either part is valid for one year.
PSI charges $44.95 for a first attempt covering both portions and $42.50 for any retake. Fees are paid directly to PSI when you schedule and are not refundable. The exam fee is separate from the Division of Real Estate's broker license application fees and the cost of the Errors and Omissions insurance every active licensee must carry.
230 minutes total. You get 120 minutes for the 80-question National portion and 110 minutes for the 74-question State portion. Both are taken at the same PSI test center or via PSI's remote-proctor option, and your score is reported on screen at the end of the sitting.
First-time pass rates on the National portion sit around 65%, and the State portion typically runs lower at about 50 to 58%. The questions aren't tricky for the sake of being tricky. They're written to test whether you actually understand Colorado real estate law and the state's contract forms in practice. Most candidates who fail aren't lazy; they underestimated how much Colorado-specific material is on the State portion, particularly the 23 questions on Colorado Forms and Contracts and the 11 on brokerage relationships, and over-prepared on national principles. Honest practice on a Colorado-specific practice exam is the difference between passing on the first try and rebooking the $44.95 sitting.
The 80-question National portion covers eleven areas. Contracts is the heaviest at about 19%, followed by agency at 13%, practice of real estate at 12%, property ownership at 10%, financing at 9%, valuation at 8%, property disclosures at 7%, transfer of title and real estate math each at about 6%, and land use controls and property management each at about 5%. The 74-question State portion is dominated by Colorado Forms and Contracts at 23 items (Contract to Buy and Sell, listing agreements, counterproposals, deeds of trust, disclosures), followed by Brokerage Relationships at 11 items (transaction brokerage, single agent, designated brokers), Requirements Governing Licensee Activities at 11 items, Closing and Settlement at 10 items, Additional Topics at 7 items (Landlord-Tenant Act, water rights, Colorado taxes, Fair Housing Act, Foreclosure Protection Act), Licensing Requirements at 5 items, Record Keeping and Trust Accounts at 5 items, and Duties and Powers of the Real Estate Commission at 2 items.
After finishing your 168-hour qualifying education, the highest-leverage thing you can do is grind through Colorado-specific practice questions with honest feedback on every miss. The National portion is the same content you'd see on any PSI real estate exam, but Colorado's State portion is dense and the topics are narrower than the national syllabus, particularly the state's standardized contract forms and the transaction-broker default. The RealReady app gives you the full bank of Colorado questions, plus progress tracking and a missed-question mode so you can drill what you're weak on. Most users study 30 to 60 minutes a day for 2 to 4 weeks before sitting the PSI exam.
