RE Salesperson Exam Cheat Sheet 2026: Everything to Memorize

Most real estate exam questions recycle a surprisingly small set of numbers, formulas, and definitional contrasts. A passing score of 70% is commonly required, and you must complete pre-licensing education hours before you can even sit for the exam — so the goal here is efficiency: master the handful of items below that generate the most questions. Keep this page open while you drill, or grab the printable RE Salesperson cheat sheet for offline review.

The Numbers to Memorize Cold

70% — the passing score commonly required on the salesperson exam.
20% — private mortgage insurance (PMI) is generally required on conventional loans when the down payment is less than 20% of the purchase price.
1 point = 1% of the loan amount — discount points are prepaid interest paid at closing to lower the note rate.
360-day banker's year, 30-day months — many exams prorate with this convention, so the daily rate is the annual amount divided by 360.
7 federally protected classes — race, color, religion, national origin, sex, familial status, and disability.
Under 18 — familial status protects households with children under eighteen, plus pregnant persons.
4 or fewer units — the owner-occupied "Mrs. Murphy" exemption threshold (with major limits — see the traps section).

Math Formulas With Worked Examples

Commission

Sale price × commission rate = commission. A $300,000 sale at 6% yields an $18,000 commission, which is then split between the listing and selling brokers per their agreement.

Loan-to-Value (LTV)

Loan amount ÷ the lesser of appraised value or purchase price. A $240,000 loan on a $300,000 property is an 80% LTV, and the down payment equals the remaining 20%. The word "lesser" is where exam writers hide wrong answers.

Proration

Proration divides shared expenses — taxes, rent, interest — between buyer and seller based on each party's ownership portion, using the closing date as the dividing point. Direction matters: for prepaid expenses the buyer reimburses the seller for the unused portion; for expenses paid in arrears the seller credits the buyer for the seller's share. Compute the daily rate with the 360-day year unless told otherwise.

Investment Quick Math

Gross rent multiplier (GRM) = sale price ÷ monthly gross rent.
Income capitalization = net operating income ÷ capitalization rate = estimated value.

Agency: OLD CAR and the Client/Customer Line

An agency relationship arises when a principal authorizes an agent to act on their behalf in dealings with third parties. The fiduciary duties owed to a client are summarized by OLD CAR: Obedience, Loyalty, Disclosure, Confidentiality, Accounting, and Reasonable care.

Loyalty means placing the principal's interests above the agent's own and avoiding conflicts of interest.
Confidentiality survives termination of the agency — you may never reveal the seller's lowest acceptable price, even after the listing ends.
Accounting prohibits commingling client money with the agent's own funds.
Customers (non-represented parties) are owed only honesty, fair dealing, and disclosure of known material defects — not fiduciary duties.
Dual agency is legal only with the informed written consent of both parties, and the dual agent cannot advocate for one party against the other.

Agency terminates by completion, expiration, mutual agreement, revocation, renunciation, or operation of law such as death or incapacity.

Listings: Three Types, One Classic Trap

A listing agreement is an employment contract authorizing a broker to market a property and find a ready, willing, and able buyer. The exam tests the three types as a contrast set:

Exclusive right to sell — broker earns the commission if the property sells during the term regardless of who procures the buyer, including the seller.
Exclusive agency — broker earns nothing if the seller personally finds the buyer.
Open listing — non-exclusive; only the procuring broker is paid, and the seller may list with multiple brokers.

Contracts: Elements and Deal-Killers

A valid real estate contract requires competent parties, mutual assent, consideration, a lawful object, and — under the Statute of Frauds — a signed writing. Then know these three question generators:

Counteroffer: any change to an offer's terms rejects and terminates the original offer. The original offeror is free.
Earnest money is a good-faith deposit held in the broker's trust account.
Contingencies (financing, inspection, appraisal) let the buyer cancel and recover the deposit if the condition fails.
"Time is of the essence" makes stated deadlines strictly enforceable — missing the date is a breach.

Deeds and Title: Rank the Protection

A deed is the written instrument conveying title from grantor to grantee. Validity requires competent parties, words of conveyance, an adequate legal description, and the grantor's signature — and the deed must be delivered to and accepted by the grantee to transfer title. Rank the deed types by protection:

General warranty — greatest protection; warrants against all title defects arising at any time, even before the grantor owned the property.
Special warranty — warrants only against defects arising during the grantor's ownership.
Quitclaim — conveys only whatever interest the grantor may have, with no warranties; used to clear clouds on title.

Recording provides constructive notice to the world and establishes priority, generally protecting the first to record. Title insurance covers losses from defects that existed but were unknown when the policy issued. Marketable title is title free from reasonable doubt or serious defects that a prudent buyer would accept.

Financing Essentials

A mortgage or deed of trust pledges the property as security for repayment of a promissory note.
Lien theory vs. title theory: in lien-theory states the borrower keeps title and the lender holds a lien; in title-theory states the lender or trustee holds title until the debt is repaid.
Loan types: conventional loans are not government-backed; FHA loans are insured by the FHA; VA loans are guaranteed by the VA for eligible veterans. (Insured vs. guaranteed is a favorite distractor.)
Fixed vs. ARM: fixed keeps one rate for the term; an ARM adjusts periodically based on an index plus a margin.
Amortization: early payments go mostly to interest, later payments mostly to principal.
Due-on-sale clause: lets the lender demand full repayment on sale, blocking loan assumption without lender approval.

Fair Housing: Two Laws, Three Prohibited Practices

The federal Fair Housing Act — part of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, amended in 1988 — bans discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of housing across the seven protected classes listed above. Separately, the Civil Rights Act of 1866 prohibits all racial discrimination in property transactions with no exemptions. Name the practices precisely:

Steering — channeling buyers toward or away from neighborhoods based on a protected class.
Blockbusting — inducing owners to sell by suggesting people of a protected class are moving in.
Redlining — denying loans or insurance in certain areas based on protected characteristics.

The Traps Test-Writers Love

Seller-sells-it-himself: under exclusive right to sell, the broker is still paid; under exclusive agency, the broker gets nothing. Read which listing type the question gives you.
LTV denominator: use the lesser of appraised value or purchase price, not automatically the purchase price.
Mrs. Murphy limits: the owner-occupied four-or-fewer-units exemption never applies to race and cannot be used with discriminatory advertising or a licensee. And advertising that indicates a preference based on a protected class is illegal even if the transaction itself would be exempt.
Confidentiality after closing: the duty survives termination of the agency — "the listing expired" is not permission to reveal the seller's bottom line.
Counteroffer = rejection: once terms change, the original offer is dead and cannot be later "accepted."
Quitclaim ≠ proof of ownership: it conveys only whatever interest the grantor may have, possibly nothing.
Assumption questions: a due-on-sale clause is the reason a buyer can't simply take over the loan without lender approval.

Drill these until recall is automatic, then take the printable RE Salesperson cheat sheet into your final review sessions for spaced repetition.