South Dakota · Real estate exam prep
20 free South Dakota practice questions with no signup required. When you're ready for more, the full RealReady bank has 980 questions for the 2026 exam that cover both national principles and South Dakota law.
Practice
Use this like a free South Dakota 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: A Licensing and disciplining property managers
The commission licenses and disciplines property managers alongside brokers, broker associates, auctioneers, residential rental agents, and home inspectors. Property manager is a restricted broker's license issued under SDCL 36-21A-47. Mortgage rates, tax assessments, and zoning belong to other agencies.
Correct: D Broker associate
South Dakota calls its entry-level license broker associate; the supervising license is responsible broker. Most states use salesperson and broker for the same two rungs, which makes this terminology a common source of exam confusion.
Correct: D Writing insufficient funds checks
Writing NSF checks within the calendar year before application is specifically listed as grounds for denial under SDCL 36-21A-33. This reflects concerns about financial responsibility in handling client funds.
Correct: D $15,000
The fund pays actual and direct loss up to $15,000 (SDCL 36-21A-104). That ceiling is also the fund's total exposure for one licensee's acts, so several victims of the same licensee share a single $15,000 pool (SDCL 36-21A-112).
Correct: D Before receiving the license
Proof of coverage must be filed before an active license is issued, again on renewal, and again on reactivation (ARSD 20:69:15:02). Coverage comes through the commission's group plan or a certified independent policy.
Correct: D Only one party with full fiduciary duties
A single agent represents only one party to the transaction and owes that client the full duties of reasonable skill and care, good faith, loyalty, and fidelity (SDCL 36-21A-1(18), 36-21A-132).
Correct: D First legal banking day after acceptance
Trust money goes into a special trust account at a federally insured financial institution on the first legal banking day after the contract is accepted (SDCL 36-21A-80). A Thursday acceptance means a Friday deposit unless the parties agreed otherwise in writing.
Correct: B The responsible broker
The responsible broker is responsible for the real estate activities of every affiliated licensee, whether they are employees or independent contractors (SDCL 36-21A-79). That covers trust accounts, license law compliance, and transaction paperwork.
Correct: D The name of the firm the licensee is associated with
Every advertisement must clearly state the name of the firm the individual licensee is associated with (SDCL 36-21A-72(1)). An ad naming only the agent is a blind ad, and the rule reaches print, internet, and social media alike.
Correct: D Residential real property of 1 to 4 units
The statement is required for residential real property of no more than four dwelling units, all contained in one structure (SDCL 43-4-37). It applies whether the seller uses an agent or sells the property directly.
Correct: B A written management agreement with the client
A property manager and client must sign a written management agreement specifying the duties and conditions of service before the manager performs any services (ARSD 20:69:14:06). Unlike an agency agreement, it may auto-renew if it allows written cancellation.
Correct: C In writing and signed by the parties
Real estate contracts must be in writing and signed to satisfy the statute of frauds. Brokerage-service agreements must also be on forms substantially the same as those the commission prescribes (ARSD 20:69:17:01), and every signer gets a copy.
Correct: C Title companies or attorneys
South Dakota closings are typically conducted by title companies or attorneys. They can take place at the broker's office, title company, or lending agency, and may be conducted as round-table (all parties present) or by mail/escrow.
Correct: B Prior appropriation
South Dakota allocates water by prior appropriation — the earliest priority date holds the better right (SDCL 46-1-3). Domestic use is the one exception: it is the highest use and comes ahead of all appropriative rights.
Correct: C The SDREC
Home inspectors are licensed and registered through the commission, so a complaint about a negligent inspection goes to the SDREC. The commission also covers brokers, broker associates, property managers, auctioneers, and residential rental agents.
Correct: A Residential rental agent
A residential rental agent may be licensed with no education and no examination — just an approved application and the $60 fee (ARSD 20:69:14.01:05). The agent works under a broker or property manager and still owes 12 hours of continuing education each cycle.
Correct: C Failure to maintain trust account records
Failure to maintain proper trust account records is one of the most common violations in South Dakota. Other common violations include incomplete agency agreements, missing disclosure forms, advertising violations, and failure to supervise licensees.
Correct: D A civil judgment against the licensee
The fund is a last resort: the claimant needs a final judgment for fraud, deceit, dishonesty, or conversion of trust funds and must show diligent efforts to collect it (SDCL 36-21A-104). The verified application then goes to circuit court in Hughes County.
Correct: B $100,000 per claim / $500,000 aggregate
The minimum is $100,000 single-limit coverage per claim and a $500,000 annual aggregate per licensee (ARSD 20:69:15:03). The deductible may not exceed one percent of the single limit — $1,000 — with a like amount for defense and investigation.
Correct: A Informed written consent from both parties
A limited agent may act only with the informed written consent of all parties (SDCL 36-21A-140). The limited agent may not reveal that a buyer would pay more, that a seller would take less, either party's motives, or their flexibility on financing.
The RealReady app has all 980 questions covering both national real estate principles and South Dakota-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. It's a one-time $17.99, and it's yours forever.
About the exam
South Dakota grades its national and state-law portions separately, so a strong national score won't carry you if your grasp of South Dakota law is thin. Roughly a third of everything you are graded on is South Dakota law, and passing comes down to how well you know the rules the Commission actually enforces. That takes South Dakota-specific prep, not just national principles.
South Dakota tests you on the duties and disciplinary powers of the Real Estate Commission, the brokerage relationships and agency disclosures spelled out in state law, how a licensee must handle trust accounts and earnest money, the seller's property condition disclosure statement, and the licensing rules in SDCL chapter 36-21A and the Commission's administrative code. 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 South Dakota-specific practice questions.
FAQ
The South Dakota broker associate exam has 142 scored multiple-choice questions, split into a 90-question national portion and a 52-question South Dakota state portion. PSI may also add a handful of unscored experimental questions that don't count toward your result. The two portions are graded separately, so you have to pass both.
You need a scaled score of 75% on each portion. The national and state sections are scored independently, so a strong national score won't rescue a weak state score. If you pass one portion and fail the other, you only have to retake the section you failed, not the whole exam.
The South Dakota Real Estate Commission lists the registration fee at $105, paid to PSI when you schedule your appointment. The fee is not refundable or transferable, and it covers both the national and state portions of the combined broker associate exam.
You get 270 minutes total, broken into 150 minutes for the 90 national questions and 120 minutes for the 52 South Dakota questions. That is a four-and-a-half-hour testing block, so pacing matters. PSI delivers it on computer at test centers in Sioux Falls, Rapid City, and Madison, and your score is shown on screen before you leave.
The South Dakota Real Estate Broker Associate Examination is administered by PSI for the South Dakota Real Estate Commission. You register and schedule your exam date through PSI.
It has a reputation for being demanding, mostly because the South Dakota state portion is dense with statute-specific detail and you have to clear 75% on it on its own. The questions aren't tricky for the sake of being tricky. They are written to check whether you actually understand South Dakota real estate law and the duties the Commission enforces. Most people who fail didn't slack off. They over-prepared on national principles and underestimated how much South Dakota-specific material is on the test. Honest practice on South Dakota-specific questions is usually the difference between passing on the first try and paying to retake a portion.
The 90-question national portion covers contracts (about 19%), agency (about 13%), practice of real estate (about 12%), property ownership (about 10%), financing (about 9%), valuation (about 8%), property disclosures (about 7%), and smaller shares for transfer of title, land use controls, property management, and real estate math. The 52-question South Dakota portion breaks down into the duties and powers of the Real Estate Commission, licensing requirements, and the statutory rules governing how licensees operate, with that last group making up the bulk of the state questions.
After you finish your 116-hour pre-license course, the highest-leverage thing you can do is grind through South Dakota-specific practice questions with honest feedback on every miss. Generic national practice tests help with principles like contracts and financing, but they won't catch you on South Dakota's Commission rules, agency disclosures, and trust account requirements. The RealReady app gives you the full bank of South Dakota 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 two to four weeks before sitting the exam.
The 20 South Dakota practice questions on this page are free, no account or signup needed. Unlocking the rest of the South Dakota bank is a single in-app purchase you pay once and own, with no recurring charge and no time limit on access.
Yes. RealReady has a dedicated South Dakota question bank built for the South Dakota real estate exam, covering the national principles every candidate sees plus the South Dakota law that trips people up, like the brokerage relationships and agency disclosures spelled out in state law, the seller's property condition disclosure statement, and the licensing rules in SDCL chapter 36-21A.
No. RealReady is exam practice, not a pre-license course, so it doesn't count toward South Dakota's required pre-license education hours. Use it after or alongside your coursework to drill realistic practice questions and find your weak spots before exam day.
