WY Real Estate cheat sheet

The Wyoming Real Estate License Act, W.S. 33-28-101 et seq., is administered by the Wyoming Real Estate Commission, whose members are appointed by the Governor.

Wyoming licenses brokers, associate brokers, and salespersons; associate brokers and salespersons must be affiliated with a responsible broker.

Compensation for brokerage services is paid to the brokerage; a salesperson may not accept a commission directly from a client or from another broker.

Advertising and signage must identify the brokerage name as registered with the Commission; a salesperson may not advertise as though operating an independent brokerage.

Trust funds must be held in a separate trust account, must not be commingled with operating or personal funds, and must be accounted for at all times.

Grounds for discipline include fraud or misrepresentation, commingling or conversion of trust funds, undisclosed dual agency, failure to account, and incompetence.

Sanctions available to the Commission include reprimand, fines, probation with conditions, additional education, suspension, and revocation.

Licensees must complete 24 hours of Commission-approved continuing education during each two-year license cycle.

Fiduciary duties owed to a principal: loyalty, obedience, disclosure, confidentiality, accounting, and reasonable care and skill.

Agency disclosure must be in writing and given to the consumer before the consumer reveals confidential information or relies on the licensee's advice.

Dual agency requires the written informed consent of both buyer and seller; undisclosed dual agency is prohibited and is a disciplinary ground.

Even a disclosed dual agent may not reveal that a seller would accept less than the listed price, or that a buyer would pay more than the offer.

Unrepresented parties (customers) are owed honesty, fairness, good faith, and disclosure of known material adverse facts.

Confidentiality survives termination of the agency; a licensee may not later use a former client's confidences against that client.

Known material adverse facts about the property must be disclosed to all parties regardless of whether they ask.

Ministerial acts - delivering documents, providing lists of inspectors or lenders - may be performed for an unrepresented party without creating an agency relationship.

Statute of frauds: contracts for the sale of real property, and leases exceeding one year, must be in writing and signed by the party to be charged.

A purchase and sale agreement should identify the parties, the legal description, price and financing terms, closing and possession dates, and contingencies.

Earnest money is held in the broker's trust account, credited to the buyer at closing, and disbursed on default only as the contract specifies.

Wyoming's usual security instrument is the deed of trust, which carries a power of sale and supports nonjudicial foreclosure.

Deeds must be recorded with the county clerk of the county where the land is located to give constructive notice to later purchasers.

Wyoming imposes no state or local real estate transfer tax.

Closing is normally handled by a title company or escrow agent; Wyoming does not require attorney supervision of closings.

Prorations at closing - property taxes, rents, HOA dues - are computed on a per-diem basis and allocated between buyer and seller.

Wyoming is a race-notice recording state: a later purchaser for value prevails over an earlier unrecorded interest only if it lacks notice and records first.

Freehold estates include fee simple absolute and life estates; leaseholds are possessory interests held for a term of years.

Concurrent ownership: tenancy in common (no survivorship, unequal shares allowed) and joint tenancy (equal shares with right of survivorship).

Easements may be appurtenant or in gross, and may arise by express grant, implication, necessity, or prescription.

Lien priority generally follows recording order, except property tax liens, which take statutory priority over other liens.

Water rights follow prior appropriation - first in time, first in right - and are administered by the Wyoming State Engineer.

Wyoming property tax: assessed value equals fair market value times the statutory ratio - 9.5 percent residential, 11.5 percent commercial and industrial.

Counties and municipalities exercise planning, zoning, and subdivision approval authority; covenants run with the land where intent, notice, touch and concern, and privity exist.

RESPA/TRID timing: the Loan Estimate is delivered within 3 business days after application; the Closing Disclosure at least 3 business days before consummation.

Wyoming nonjudicial foreclosure: notice of sale published once a week for four consecutive weeks in a county newspaper, with the sale held at the courthouse.

Mortgage loan originators are licensed under the Wyoming Residential Mortgage Practices Act, administered by the State Banking Division.

LTV = loan amount divided by the lesser of the sale price or appraised value; PMI is generally required above 80 percent LTV on conventional loans.

PITI = principal + interest + taxes + insurance; impound accounts collect one-twelfth of the annual tax and insurance amounts each month.

APR includes certain lender fees and points, so it measures the cost of credit better than the note rate alone.

Loan types: conventional (no government insurance), FHA (lower down payment with mortgage insurance premium), VA (eligible veterans, funding fee).

A licensee may prepare a comparative market analysis; a formal appraisal developed under USPAP must be performed by a Wyoming-certified appraiser.

Sales comparison approach: adjust each comparable's price for differences from the subject - the adjustment is made to the comparable, not to the subject.

Cost approach: replacement cost new minus depreciation, plus land value; most reliable for new construction or special-purpose property.

Income approach: value = net operating income divided by the capitalization rate.

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

GRM = sale price divided by gross rent; use it as a screening tool, not as a complete valuation.

Brokers must maintain transaction files, agency disclosures, and trust-account records, retain them at least three years, and produce them for Commission inspection.

Price-per-square-foot comparisons are only a rough check; they mislead when properties differ in condition, lot size, or features.