Bermuda Real Estate Exam common mistakes
Bermuda Real Estate Exam · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
Treating Bermuda's land tenure as identical to a generic common-law system, for example assuming all land is freehold or that leasehold cannot be subdivided, instead of distinguishing Crown land grants, freehold, leasehold, and condominium regimes.
Candidates study general common-law principles and skip the Bermuda-specific mix of Crown leases, freehold grants, and the Condominium Act, so they apply the wrong tenure rule to a scenario.
What to do instead
Build a one-page tenure table listing each estate type, its statutory source, transfer restrictions, and typical Bermuda examples, then answer ten scenario questions that require identifying the tenure before applying any rule.
Confusing the roles of the listing agent and the selling agent in a co-brokerage or dual-agency situation, and failing to identify when a fiduciary duty shifts or when written disclosure and consent are required.
Candidates memorise agency definitions in isolation but do not practise fact patterns where one licensee represents both sides or where a buyer is introduced by a sub-agent.
What to do instead
Work through five dual-agency and co-brokerage scenarios, stating for each who the client is, what disclosure must be given in writing, and which duties (loyalty, confidentiality, full disclosure) are modified or retained.
Drafting or reviewing an offer to purchase without confirming the deposit handling, completion date, conditions, and whether the contract is subject to financing or a building inspection, and assuming a standard form covers Bermuda-specific requirements.
Candidates rely on general contract-law knowledge and do not practise mapping the required terms of a Bermuda sale and purchase agreement, so they miss essential clauses in scenario questions.
What to do instead
Create a checklist of mandatory and recommended clauses for a Bermuda residential sale contract, then redraft a defective offer in a practice exercise, marking each omission and its legal consequence.
Calculating stamp duty and other government charges using the wrong rate band, the wrong consideration base, or ignoring exemptions and reliefs that apply to first-time buyers or family transfers.
Candidates memorise a single headline rate and do not practise graduated or tiered calculations, so they misapply the threshold and produce an incorrect duty figure under exam time pressure.
What to do instead
Practise ten stamp duty computations across different consideration amounts and buyer categories, showing the band-by-band arithmetic and citing the applicable exemption before stating the final payable amount.
Performing a sales comparison or income approach valuation without adjusting comparables for date of sale, location, condition, and size, and without reconciling the indicated values into a final opinion.
Candidates treat valuation as formula substitution and skip the adjustment and reconciliation steps, which are where most marks are awarded in scenario-based valuation questions.
What to do instead
Complete three full valuation write-ups using a grid of at least four comparables, explicitly stating each adjustment in dollars or percentages, and finish with a reconciliation paragraph explaining the weight given to each approach.
Advising on a development or subdivision without checking the applicable zoning, development plan designation, and planning permission requirements, and assuming permitted use follows from the current occupation.
Candidates conflate existing use with permitted use and do not practise reading planning controls, so they miss the need for permission or the existence of a non-conforming use.
What to do instead
For five hypothetical Bermuda properties, identify the zoning designation, list the permitted and conditional uses, and state whether the proposed works require planning permission and why.
Ignoring anti-money-laundering obligations in a transaction scenario, such as failing to conduct customer due diligence on a corporate buyer, identify beneficial owners, or escalate a suspicious transaction.
Candidates treat AML as a separate compliance topic rather than an integral step in every transaction, so they do not spot the trigger facts embedded in agency and conveyancing questions.
What to do instead
Practise ten transaction narratives and for each write the CDD steps, the beneficial ownership analysis, the red flags present, and the exact escalation or reporting action required.
Misstating the mortgage and settlement process, including the order of searches, the role of the bank's attorney, the timing of funds release, and the effect of registration priorities on a purchaser's title.
Candidates learn financing concepts in the abstract and do not sequence the settlement steps, so they cannot answer questions about what must happen before completion or what happens if a prior charge is unregistered.
What to do instead
Draw a settlement timeline from offer acceptance to registration, labelling each party's action and document, then answer five questions about priority disputes and incomplete settlements using that timeline.
Answering ethics questions by choosing the outcome that best serves the client's interest rather than the outcome required by the code of conduct, such as concealing a known defect or acting on an unverified instruction.
Candidates apply commercial instinct instead of the regulatory standard and do not practise identifying the specific rule engaged by each fact pattern.
What to do instead
For each ethics scenario, name the duty engaged (honesty, fair dealing, confidentiality, conflicts), quote the conduct standard in your own words, and state the required action even where it disadvantages the client.
Confusing the remedies available for breach of a sale contract, such as specific performance, damages, forfeiture of deposit, and rescission, and applying the wrong remedy to the facts.
Candidates memorise remedy lists without linking each remedy to its preconditions, so they select a remedy that is unavailable on the facts, for example rescission after completion.
What to do instead
Build a remedy matrix with columns for preconditions, effect on the deposit, and effect on title, then classify ten breach scenarios into the correct remedy and justify the exclusion of the alternatives.