California Real Estate Broker Cheat Sheet.
The night-before summary, built like the exam.

Memorize the OLD CAR fiduciary duties: Obedience, Loyalty, Disclosure, Confidentiality, Accounting, and Reasonable care. Know that a valid contract requires mutual assent, consideration, competent parties, and a lawful object, and that the Statute of Frauds requires real estate sale contracts and leases over one year to be in writing. Also lock in the seven federal Fair Housing protected classes: race, color, religion, national origin, sex, familial status, and disability.

Know that one discount point equals one percent of the loan amount and works as prepaid interest that buys down the rate. Remember that private mortgage insurance is typically required on conventional loans when the down payment is under twenty percent, and that TILA's Regulation Z grants a three-day right of rescission on certain refinances of a principal residence. Finance questions love turning these thresholds into quick math problems.

Watch for counteroffer questions: any material change to an offer's terms rejects and kills the original offer, so the first buyer cannot later accept it. Do not confuse void, voidable, and unenforceable contracts, and remember dual agency is allowed only with the informed written consent of both parties. In fair housing questions, keep blockbusting, steering, and redlining straight, and remember race discrimination under the Civil Rights Act of 1866 has no exemptions.

Remember that a general warranty deed gives the greatest protection because the grantor warrants title against all defects arising at any time, while a quitclaim deed carries no warranties and conveys only whatever interest the grantor may have. Recording a deed gives constructive notice to the world and establishes priority. One heavily tested exception: property tax liens and special assessments generally jump ahead of all other liens regardless of recording date.

Use it as a final memory check, not as a first study tool. Read through each section once, quiz yourself out loud on the acronyms and thresholds, and flag anything that still feels shaky for one last targeted review. Then stop and get a full night's sleep; a rested brain retrieves the OLD CAR duties and the three approaches to value far better than a tired one.

No, a cheat sheet condenses the must-know rules but cannot teach you to apply them the way exam questions demand. Broker questions test judgment in scenarios, like recognizing when an agent's duty of confidentiality survives after the agency ends, so pair this summary with full-length practice questions and explanations. Use the cheat sheet to reinforce what practice reveals you keep forgetting.