40 Real Estate Questions Every Agent Should Know

Anyone setting their mind to become a real estate agent in the US must, among other things, pass the real estate exam. This exam tests applicants’ knowledge of property laws, regulations, and industry practices. 

In this blog, we’ll take a look at 40 of the most frequent real estate questions that you may encounter in the national section of your exam. To learn about state-specific questions, you can visit your state’s regulatory body.

These questions have been adopted from Real Estate License Wizard and Jonathan Goforth’s YouTube channel. The answer key can be found at the bottom of the questions. 

40 Real Estate Questions to Master Before Your Real Estate Exam

1. Regarding deed restrictions, what is not enforceable?

1. Restrictions based on race, ethnicity, or religious preference
2. Verbally issued rules not recorded in the public record
3. Everything listed as being forever
4. All of the above

2. When parties have fully performed the terms of a contract, it is called……

1. Finalized 
2. Closed
3. Executed
4. Executory 

3. Which of the following best describes the term “encroachment?”

1. Intrusion of an individual’s territory
2. A legislative discussion covering zoning adjustments and potential fractions
3. Another word to refer to personal property
4. Failure to complete an agreement

4. Regarding Antitrust Laws, which action can be legally performed by a licensed real estate agent?

1. Conspiracy to Boycott
2. Selling a listed property to a buyer living in a different state.
3. Price Fixing
4. Dividing Territories

5. What is the difference between commingling and conversion in real estate?

1. Commingling refers to mixing a client’s fund with the broker’s own funds, while conversion refers to the unlawful misappropriation and use of a client’s funds. 
2. Conversion refers to the act of transferring property, while commingling refers to the unlawful transfer of property. 
3. Commingling refers to the unlawful misappropriation and use of a client’s funds, while conversion refers to mixing a client’s funds with the broker’s own funds. 
4. Conversion refers to the unlawful transfer of property, while commingling refers to the act of transferring property. 

6. Which is an example of Fair Housing Violation?

1. Severalty
2. Forcing buyers to sign a buyer’s agency before showing them houses
3. Redling
4. Breaching a contract by refusing to close

7. A person is selling a number of dining room items, including chairs, a dinner table, and a piano. What should they use to transfer title? 

1. Deed
2. Settlement Statement
3. Bill of Sale
4. Title Policy

8. Deed restrictions for residential properties can be enforced only by the:

1. Police
2. Board governing the HOA
3. Court
4. HOA

9. A double net is a rental agreement where:

1. Yearly taxes are doubled, but rent is cheaper.
2. Two tenets split the rent.
3. Three or more additional costs are added to your base rent.
4. Two additional costs are added to your base rent.

10. Which of the following is an example of “functional obsolescence” in real estate? 

1. A house in a lower-class area
2. A house with an outdated plumbing system
3. A house without a pool
4. A house no agent can sell

11. Which of the following is an example of severance in real estate? 

1. Paying the last mortgage installment of a property.
2. Receiving a final paycheck after ending collaboration with a brokerage.
3. Cancelling a real estate contract.
4. Cutting a tree in the backyard and selling it.

12. An example of depreciation in the cost approach can be found in……

1. Intangible Deterioration 
2. Functional Obsolescence 
3. Physical Deterioration 
4. Economic Obsolescence 

13. Which of the following is considered a general lien? 

1. Property Tax Lien
2. Real Estate Property Tax Lien
3. Judgment Lien
4. Mechanic’s Lien

14. Which of the following acts granted the EPA greater authority to regulate contaminant levels, enforce legal actions against public water authorities for violations, and mandate periodic water testing and notifications to state authorities and homeowners in contamination cases? 

1. EPA
2. SDWA
3. CWA
4. SARA

15. Acceleration is a term associated with……

1. Leases
2. Mortgages
3. Rental agreements
4. Deeds

16. Which of the following represents the highest form of real estate ownership recognized by law, granting the owner full and indefinite rights to use and enjoy the property?

1. Life Estate 
2. Estate at Will 
3. Fee Simple Absolute 
4. Fee Simple Defeasible 

17. If a person sells one acre of their three-acre property to a friend but reserves an appurtenant easement over the friend’s land for ingress and egress for themselves and their family, the friend’s land is……

1. the servient tenement.
2. the dominant tenement.
3. involuntarily committing tax fraud.
4. subject to a tenement lawsuit.

18. An appurtenance is defined as……

1. an addendum attached to a sales contract.
2. Tenancy in Common.
3. a right that passes with the land.
4. the release of a mortgage after it has been fully paid.

19. Regarding Leasehold estates, which one doesn’t have a written lease? 

1. Estate for years
2. Estate at sufferance 
3. Periodic tenancy
4. Estate at will 

20. Which of the following is not a must in a valid real estate contract? 

1. The contract must have a legal purpose.
2. The contract must include monetary consideration.
3. Both parties must be 18 or older and deemed legally competent.
4. The contract must hold mutual consent or be agreed upon by both parties.

21. The Bundle of Rights includes: 

1. possession, ability, exclusion, enjoyment, disposition
2. possession, control, exclusion, enjoyment, disposition 
3. possession, ability, illusion, enjoyment, disposition
4. possession, control, illusion, enjoyment, disposition 

22. The appraiser is usually hired by the……

1. Lender 
2. Seller
3. Real estate agent
4. Buyer

23. The sudden removal of land is referred to as……

1. Avulsion 
2. Accretion 
3. Encumbrance 
4. Erosion 

24. Mortgages and trust deeds differ in all of the following except……

1. Securities
2. Title
3. Ownership
4. Statute of limitations 

25. Who selects the Board of Directors in a condominium? 

1. The local city council
2. The developer
3. The management company
4. The condominium unit owners 

26. If a person is analyzing a 9-unit building in Cleveland, Ohio, with an asking price of $500,000 and gross annual rents of $75,000, which of the following represents the annual Gross Rent Multiplier (GRM)?

1. 7.66
2. 5.66
3. 6.66
4. 6.00 

27. What form of legal land description uses a plat map? 

1. Rectangular survey system
2. Metes and bounds
3. Public square system
4. Lot and block

28. The ………… refers to the state-specific laws that set forth limits for interest rates in specific types of lending instruments to prevent lenders from imposing unreasonable or predatory interest rates. 

1. RESPA
2. Usury laws
3. Federal National Mortgage Association 
4. Regulation Z

29. If an agent is showing homes to a client but intentionally limits the options to neighborhoods based on the client’s ethnicity, such as only showing homes in Hispanic neighborhoods to make the client feel more comfortable, this practice can be termed as……

1. Streamlining 
2. Blockbusting
3. Redling
4. Steering

30. Which of the following appropriately makes the distinction between a lease option contract and a lease purchase contract? 

1. The lease option only obligates the seller to sell
2. The lease option only obligates the buyer to buy
3. A lease option is only for commercial tenants 
4. A lease purchase is only for residential buyers 

31. Market value is……

1. The price offered by purchasers 
2. The price set by the homeowner
3. The price the property is sold for or an estimate of the present property plus the future potential
4. The price set by an appraiser using the house history to determine its worth

32. All of the following are considered “appurtenant” except……

1. an easement.
2. an inground pool.
3. a set of trees.
4. a trade fixture. 

33. If an elderly man in a nursing home passes away without a will, has no surviving family, and leaves behind money in his savings account and an untouched farm, what happens to his assets under these circumstances?

1. Eminent Domain
2. Escheat
3. Inverse Condemnation
4. Adverse Possession 

34. If a person receives a deed containing the clause “subject to the existing loan” when taking title to a property, which of the following best describes the buyer’s relationship to the existing loan?

1. The loan is paid at closing to give free and clear title.
2. The seller is relieved from any further responsibility after closing.
3. The home might be foreclosed on if the seller fails to make the loan payments.
4. The buyer agrees to assume the loan and make the loan payments directly to the lender.

35. After getting licensed, a new realtor took on a buyer. The realtor was responsible for a chain of events that led to this year’s sale of a property. The realtor is legally the:

1. Benefactor
2. Agent on record
3. Supporting cause
4. Procuring cause 

36. FHA-insured loans are distinguished from conventional loans by all of the following except:

1. Interest rates on FHA loans are generally lower than those on conventional loans. 
2. Conventional loans provide for a lower loan-to-value ratio
3. Conventional loans always permit a deficiency judgment, while FHA loans never do
4. FHA loans generally provide for a longer repayment period

37. Which of the following statements about water rights is true?

1. Water rights are appurtenant. 
2. Ocean rights and lake rights are the two basic forms of water rights.
3. Water rights are double taxed similarly to how corporations are taxed.
4. Water rights are transferred exclusively in quitclaim deeds. 

38. There are three main forms of depreciation. What are they?

1. Seasonal Obsolescence, Quarterly Obsolescence, and Yearly Obsolescence. 
2. Economic Obsolescence, Functional Obsolescence, and Physical Deterioration. 
3. Seasonal Obsolescence, Economic Obsolescence, and Physical Deterioration. 
4. Major Obsolescence, Minor Obsolescence, and Physical Deterioration. 

39. A regulation to give all legal individuals an equal opportunity to apply for a loan is:

1. CCA
2. FHA
3. RRA
4. ECOA

40. Restrictive covenants are also known as

1. Deed restrictions
2. Bonds
3. CCR’s
4. CDO’s