NV Real Estate cheat sheet

The Nevada Real Estate Division (NRED), part of the Department of Business and Industry, administers licensing, examinations, investigations, and enforcement; the Real Estate Commission sets policy, adopts regulations, and imposes discipline.

License categories include salesperson, broker, and broker-salesperson; a broker must also hold a separate property management permit to manage property for others for compensation.

A salesperson may not accept compensation directly from a client or cooperating broker; all commissions flow to and through the employing broker.

Pre-license education in Nevada is 90 hours for a salesperson and 120 hours for a broker, followed by a post-license course and the state exam.

Licenses renew on a two-year cycle and require 36 hours of continuing education per period, including required Nevada law/legislation and ethics hours.

Client funds must be held in a separate trust account; commingling with operating funds and conversion of trust money are grounds for revocation and possible criminal liability.

Commission discipline ranges from letters of reprimand and education orders to suspension, revocation, and administrative fines, imposed after notice and hearing under the state administrative procedure act.

All advertising must identify the brokerage name, and a licensee may not advertise another licensee's listing without that broker's permission.

Nevada agency types are seller's agent, buyer's agent, dual agent, and no agency; the relationship is best established by a written brokerage or agency agreement.

The 'Duties Owed by a Nevada Real Estate Licensee' disclosure must be provided at the first substantive contact and before the client signs any document.

Fiduciary duties are summarized as OLD CAR: obedience, loyalty, disclosure, confidentiality, accounting, and reasonable care.

Dual agency requires the prior informed written consent of all parties; the dual agent may not advocate for one side over the other and must not reveal confidential information of either party.

Confidentiality survives termination of the agency relationship and continues to protect information the client asked to keep secret.

The broker is responsible for the licensed acts of affiliated salespersons and broker-salespersons performed on behalf of the brokerage.

Compensation does not by itself create agency; a licensee may be paid by one party while representing another only with full written disclosure and consent.

Material facts affecting value or desirability must be disclosed to all parties regardless of which party the licensee represents.

Elements of a valid contract: competent parties, mutual assent (offer and acceptance), lawful objective, and consideration.

Nevada's statute of frauds requires real estate purchase agreements, deeds, and leases longer than one year to be written and signed by the party to be charged.

A counteroffer operates as a rejection and terminates the original offer; acceptance must be communicated to the offeror to be effective.

Earnest money is evidence of good faith and is not required to create a binding contract; it is held in escrow and typically credited to the buyer at closing.

Contingencies (financing, appraisal, inspection, sale of buyer's home) must be satisfied or waived within stated deadlines, and a time-is-of-the-essence clause makes dates enforceable.

Liquidated damages provisions in the standard Nevada residential purchase agreement typically limit the buyer's default exposure to the earnest money deposit.

Assignment transfers contract rights and duties to a third party; novation substitutes a new party and extinguishes the original obligation.

The limitations period for a written contract action in Nevada is six years.

Freehold estates: fee simple absolute, fee simple defeasible (determinable or subject to condition subsequent), and life estate; leasehold estates are personal property interests.

Leasehold tenancies: estate for years, periodic tenancy, tenancy at will, and tenancy at sufferance.

Tenancy in common has separate, unequal, freely transferable shares and no survivorship; joint tenancy requires the four unities and carries survivorship.

Nevada is a community property state; property acquired during marriage by either spouse is presumptively community property owned equally, while separate property stays separate.

Easements may be appurtenant (benefits a neighboring parcel) or in gross (personal benefit), and may arise by express grant, implication, necessity, or prescription.

Private restrictions and CC&Rs run with the land when there is intent, notice, a common plan, and touch-and-concern with the land.

Nevada water rights follow prior appropriation: the earliest priority date holds the first right to available water, and rights are obtained by permit.

Government powers over land are police power (zoning), eminent domain, taxation, and escheat; a variance relieves a hardship while a conditional use permit allows a special use.

General warranty deed warrants title against all defects, including those created by prior owners; special warranty covers only defects arising during the grantor's ownership.

Bargain and sale deeds imply no warranties but recite consideration; quitclaim deeds convey whatever interest the grantor holds with no warranty.

A valid deed requires a grantor with capacity, a named grantee, words of conveyance, a legal description, signature of the grantor, and delivery accepted by the grantee.

Delivery with intent to convey, not recording, transfers title; recording provides constructive notice to later purchasers and creditors.

Nevada imposes a real property transfer tax at a statutory rate per $500 of value, with county add-ons, and exempts transfers such as gifts, spouse-to-spouse conveyances, and certain foreclosure transfers.

An owner's title policy protects the owner for a one-time premium; a lender's policy covers only the lender's interest and declines as the loan balance falls.

Nevada adverse possession generally requires five years of possession, payment of all taxes, and color of title or a claim of right.

At closing, debits are amounts charged to a party and credits are amounts owed to a party; taxes, rent, and interest are prorated as of the closing date.

Loan-to-value ratio = loan amount divided by the lesser of purchase price or appraised value; the down payment is the complement of the LTV.

FHA loans allow 3.5% down with mortgage insurance premium; VA loans allow 0% down with a funding fee; conventional loans generally require 5-20% down.

Qualifying ratios commonly used are 28/36 for conventional underwriting and 31/43 for FHA, comparing housing expense and total debt to gross monthly income.

One discount point equals 1% of the loan amount and is prepaid interest used to buy down the note rate; origination points compensate the lender for making the loan.

Nevada security instruments are deeds of trust involving a trustor (borrower), beneficiary (lender), and trustee, which permits nonjudicial foreclosure without a court action.

Nonjudicial foreclosure follows a notice of default, a statutory reinstatement period, a published notice of sale, and a trustee's sale.

Federal disclosure rules require the Loan Estimate within three business days of application and the Closing Disclosure at least three business days before consummation.

PITI (principal, interest, taxes, insurance) is the standard measure of monthly housing payment; impound accounts collect taxes and insurance with each payment.

An adjustable-rate mortgage has initial, periodic, and lifetime caps that limit how much the rate can change.

The sales comparison approach is primary for residential resale; the cost approach fits new construction and special-purpose property; the income approach fits income-producing property.

Adjustment rule: if the comparable is superior to the subject, subtract value; if inferior, add value, always adjusting the comparable toward the subject.

Gross rent multiplier = sale price divided by monthly rent; estimated value = subject monthly rent multiplied by the market GRM.

Capitalization rate = net operating income divided by value; value = net operating income divided by the cap rate.

Depreciation is classified as physical deterioration, functional obsolescence, or external (economic) obsolescence; land is not depreciated.

Market value assumes a willing buyer and seller, both informed and under no undue pressure, with a reasonable exposure time.

Highest and best use must be legally permissible, physically possible, financially feasible, and maximally productive.

In Nevada, appraisers are credentialed and overseen through the Real Estate Division and must follow USPAP, including reconciliation of value indicators into a final opinion.

In Nevada, a broker must hold a property management permit from the Division to manage rental property for another person for compensation.

Nevada residential security deposits may not exceed three months' rent, and the landlord must return the deposit with an itemized accounting within 30 days after termination.

A month-to-month tenancy in Nevada is terminated on 30 days' written notice; a fixed-term lease ends on its stated date.

Landlords must maintain habitable premises, including working smoke detectors, and retaliation against a tenant who complains is prohibited.

Property managers must keep owner and tenant funds in a trust account, provide periodic owner statements, and disclose any interest in vendors or affiliated services.

Common-interest communities are governed by NRS 116; the Real Estate Division includes an Ombudsman for Owners in Common-Interest Communities.

Nevada grants an association a superpriority lien for up to nine months of delinquent assessments that can survive foreclosure of a first deed of trust.

Governing document hierarchy in a common-interest community: declaration (CC&Rs), then bylaws, then rules and regulations, all subject to statute.

Nevada sellers of most residential property of one to four units must deliver the Seller's Real Property Disclosure form covering known defects and conditions.

Common exemptions from the seller disclosure form include new homes never occupied, transfers by court order, foreclosure sales, gifts, and transfers between co-owners.

Federal law requires lead-based paint disclosure and the EPA pamphlet for housing built before 1978.

The 'Duties Owed by a Nevada Real Estate Licensee' disclosure must be delivered at first substantive contact and before any document is signed.

Federal fair housing protects race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status, and national origin; Nevada law adds protections including sexual orientation and gender identity or expression.

An 'as-is' sale does not eliminate the duty to disclose known material defects or liability for intentional misrepresentation.

Affiliated business arrangements and referral fees must be disclosed in writing, and undisclosed compensation is a license law violation.

Advertising must be truthful, must identify the brokerage, and may not use words or images that discriminate or steer buyers by protected class.

Total commission = sale price x commission rate; each side's share = total commission x that side's split percentage.

Loan amount = sale price x LTV; down payment = sale price minus loan amount; points cost = loan amount x points percentage.

Acreage conversions: 1 acre = 43,560 square feet; 1 square mile = 640 acres; 1 mile = 5,280 feet.

Proration: annual amount divided by 365 gives a daily rate; charge the seller for days owned through the day of closing and the buyer thereafter.

Seller net proceeds = sale price minus loan payoff, closing costs, prorated debits, and commission, plus prorated credits.

Estimated value from income: value = net operating income divided by capitalization rate; gross income multiplier = price divided by gross monthly rent.

Monthly payment on an amortizing loan = principal x [i(1+i)^n] divided by [(1+i)^n - 1], where i is the monthly rate and n the number of payments.

Percentage change in value = (new value minus old value) divided by old value; appreciation compounds year over year when applied repeatedly.

Transfer tax = taxable value divided by $500, multiplied by the applicable per-$500 rate for the county.