Real Estate Exam Cheat Sheet
Everything worth reviewing on the last day, on one page. Print it or keep it open beside the practice questions.
Two honest notes before you use it. There is no PDF: this is a web page built to print cleanly, because a real page that stays current beats a downloadable file that goes stale the day a handbook changes. And a cheat sheet is a revision aid, not a study plan. If you are meeting most of this for the first time, start at how to study for the real estate exam instead.
What the exam is made of
The 11 content areas of the national portion and what each is worth of the 80 scored questions. If you only have an hour, spend it on the top four.
From PSI's published outline. Pearson VUE publishes a different one with eight areas, and the two are not interchangeable. what is on the real estate exam explains why that matters before you rely on this table.
The pairs that decide your score
The exam is built on distinctions, not definitions. You can know both terms in a pair and still miss the question, because the stem is written so the more familiar one is wrong. These are the pairs our question bank tests most, each linking to the full explanation.
Revising this table is the highest-yield hour available to you the night before. Every row is a question the exam is likely to ask in one direction or the other.
Terms worth knowing cold
Ranked by how often candidates search for them, which tracks closely with how often they trip people up. Each links to its full page with exam questions on that term.
- quitclaim deed
- A quitclaim deed transfers whatever interest the grantor happens to hold, with no warranties at all and no promise that any interest exists.
- fair housing act
- The Fair Housing Act is the federal law that prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental, financing and advertising of housing on the basis of seven protected classes.
- periodic tenancy
- A periodic tenancy is a leasehold that runs for successive intervals of the same length and renews automatically until one party gives notice.
- dual agency
- Dual agency is one broker representing both the buyer and the seller in the same transaction, lawful only with the informed written consent of both and stripped of full loyalty and advocacy.
- conditional use permit
- A conditional use permit is approval that lets an owner put land to a use the ordinance already lists as permissible in that district subject to review, such as a church or day care in a residential zone.
- respa
- RESPA is the federal law governing settlement costs and closing disclosures on residential mortgages.
- eminent domain
- Eminent domain is the government power to take private property for public use, provided the owner receives just compensation.
- leasehold estate
- A leasehold estate is a tenant’s right to exclusive possession and use of real property for a limited term while the landlord keeps ownership.
- easement appurtenant
- An easement appurtenant is the right to use a neighbouring parcel that belongs to the land itself rather than to a person, so it transfers automatically with either property.
- easement in gross
- An easement in gross is the right to use someone else’s land that belongs to a person or company rather than to an adjoining parcel.
- trade fixture
- A trade fixture is an item a commercial tenant installs to conduct business, which stays the tenant’s personal property and may be removed before the lease ends.
- escheat
- Escheat is the government power that transfers ownership of property to the state when an owner dies intestate (without a will) and leaves no discoverable heirs, or when property is legally abandoned.
- adverse possession
- Adverse possession is a way of acquiring title by occupying someone else's land openly and without permission for a period set by state law.
- encroachment
- An encroachment is a structure or improvement that physically intrudes onto a neighbour’s land, such as a fence, driveway or roof overhang crossing the boundary.
- equitable title
- Equitable title is the buyer’s beneficial interest in the property, which arises the instant a valid purchase contract is signed while the seller keeps legal title until closing.
- market allocation
- Market allocation is an antitrust violation in which competing brokerages agree to divide up territories, property types or classes of customer so that they stop competing.
- inverse condemnation
- Inverse condemnation is an action brought by an owner to force the government to pay for property it has effectively taken or made unusable without ever filing a condemnation suit.
- fee simple
- Fee simple is the largest ownership interest in real property: full title of unlimited duration that passes to heirs.
- lien
- A lien is a creditor’s claim against real property as security for a debt, giving the creditor the right to force a sale if the debt is unpaid.
- designated agency
- Designated agency is the broker appointing one licensee to represent the seller and a different licensee to represent the buyer in the same in-house sale, so each client keeps a full fiduciary advocate while the supervising broker stays neutral.
- transaction broker
- A transaction broker is a licensee who helps both parties close a sale without representing either one, owing honesty, accounting and disclosure of material facts but no loyalty or advocacy.
- puffing
- Puffing is a licensee’s exaggerated opinion used to promote a property, such as calling a view the best in town, and it stays legal because it asserts no verifiable fact.
- marketable title
- Marketable title is title free of reasonable doubt and serious defects, so an informed buyer would accept it and a lender would lend on it.
- estate for years
- An estate for years is a leasehold that runs for a fixed term with a definite beginning and ending date, so it expires on its own without any notice.
real estate exam vocabulary has the full set, and real estate flashcards drills them.
Numbers that are genuinely national
Short list on purpose. Most numbers candidates try to memorise are state-specific, and memorising another state's figure is worse than knowing none. These hold everywhere:
| Number | What it is |
|---|---|
| 43,560 | Square feet in an acre. One of only two conversions the providers actually name as required. |
| 5,280 | Feet in a mile. The other one. |
| 80 | Scored questions on the national portion, both providers. |
| 1978 | Lead-based paint disclosure applies to housing built before this year. |
| 10 days | The lead-paint inspection opportunity a buyer gets, unless waived in writing. |
| 1% | One discount point, as a share of the loan amount, never the price. The commonest math trap on the exam. |
| 78 / 80 | PMI ends automatically at 78% loan to original value, and a borrower may request cancellation at 80%. |
| 3 days | The Closing Disclosure must be received at least three business days before consummation. The same three-day count is the rescission right on a refinance of a principal dwelling, and it does not apply to a purchase. |
Commonly taught, not actually required: 640 acres per section and 36 sections per township. Neither test provider names them as memorisation, and the Bureau of Land Management itself hedges that a section is usually 640 acres. Learn them if you have the room, but not at the expense of the two conversions above.
The full formula set with worked examples is on real estate math cheat sheet, and the rules on what you may bring to calculate with are on can you use a calculator on the real estate exam, which vary by state rather than by provider.
The four rules for the room
- Never leave a blank. No state exam uses negative marking, so a blank and a wrong answer score identically.
- Say the word NOT to yourself when you see a negative stem. Under time pressure the eye skips it and picks the first true statement, which is guaranteed wrong.
- When two options both look right, the question is about the difference between them. Do not re-read the stem for new information, ask what distinguishes the pair.
- Landing exactly on an option does not mean you are right on a math question. The distractors are built from the specific wrong turns.
how to pass the real estate exam works through why each of these matters with real questions from the bank.
Common questions
Is there a PDF of this cheat sheet?
No. This page is built to print cleanly from your browser, and we would rather keep one page current than ship a PDF that goes stale the moment a candidate handbook changes. Nothing here is behind a signup.
Can I take a cheat sheet into the exam?
No. Every test centre prohibits outside materials, and attempting it ends your exam and can cost you your eligibility. Use this before you go in. Some centres provide an erasable noteboard, though at least one provider prohibits writing on it before the exam starts.
What should I review the night before?
The confusion pairs and the content weights. New material the night before rarely sticks, but a pass over the distinctions you already half-know converts directly into marks.
Does this cover my state portion?
No. Everything here is national. Your state portion tests your own state’s licence law, and your state page links to the commission handbook that sets out its outline.
Where to go next
Sources
Every figure on this page was read from the source listed beside it on the date shown. Candidate handbooks are revised without notice, so check yours before you rely on a number.
Found something wrong? Tell us and we will fix it and say so: editorial policy.