National Real Estate Concepts
What national questions actually test
National items cluster around durable ideas: forms of ownership and how title passes; the bundle of rights and its limits (easements, encroachments, zoning, covenants); contract formation and remedies; agency and fiduciary duty; fair housing; financing and the note/mortgage distinction; valuation approaches; and settlement. Learn the concept, then learn how exam writers distort it.
Ownership and title
Fee simple absolute is the most complete estate; a life estate ends at death or a stated event. Concurrent ownership turns on the words used. Joint tenancy requires the four unities (time, title, interest, possession) and carries survivorship; a tenancy in common has neither requirement. Distinguish an easement appurtenant, which runs with and benefits a dominant parcel, from an easement in gross, which is personal to its holder. A license is revocable and creates no interest in land.
Agency and contracts
A listing agreement is an employment contract. Fiduciary duties are care, obedience, loyalty, disclosure, accounting, and confidentiality. Ask who the agent represents, not who pays the commission. Contracts need offer, acceptance, consideration, capacity, and legality; land sales must be in writing under the statute of frauds. Novation substitutes a party and releases the original; assignment does not.
Financing and math
The note is the promise to pay; the mortgage pledges the property. LTV = loan amount ÷ value.
Worked example: a $250,000 sale at 6% yields $15,000. Split 50/50 between brokerages and 60% to the listing salesperson: 15,000 × 0.5 × 0.6 = $4,500. Multiply sequentially; errors come from combining percentages in the wrong order.
Traps
Absolute words (always, never), swapping assessed value for market value, and fair-housing answers that sound helpful but describe steering or differential treatment.