Real Estate Practice Test

Real Estate Real Estate Practice Practice Questions

Real Estate Practice makes up 6 of every 50 questions on a Tigertest Real Estate practice test. Here are 10 of the 24 questions on it, each with the answer and the reason.

Updated 2026-11-10 by the Tigertest team. Weighted to the Pearson VUE national salesperson outline (2025), which matches PSI's. Your state portion is separate.

1. 1. A seller asks the listing salesperson to write a custom clause reserving a life estate in the sales contract. The salesperson should:

   • A.Draft the clause from a similar past contract
   • B.Recommend the seller consult a real estate attorney
   • C.Have the broker write the clause instead
   • D.Add the clause after the buyer signs

   Answer: B. Drafting custom legal language is the unauthorized practice of law, so licensees fill in approved forms and refer legal questions to an attorney. Having the broker draft it is still practicing law without a license.

2. 2. A salesperson receives a buyer's earnest money check with an offer on Friday afternoon. What should the salesperson do with it?

   • A.Deposit it in a personal account until closing
   • B.Give the check directly to the seller
   • C.Keep it in the salesperson's desk until closing
   • D.Promptly turn it over to the employing broker

   Answer: D. Earnest money belongs in the broker's trust or escrow account, so the salesperson delivers it promptly to the broker; exact deposit deadlines vary by state. Handing it to the seller or holding it personally breaches the duty to account for client funds.

3. 3. A broker deposits client earnest money into the brokerage's general operating account. This mixing of funds is called:

   • A.Commingling
   • B.Conversion
   • C.Novation
   • D.Hypothecation

   Answer: A. Commingling is mixing client or customer funds with the broker's own money. Conversion is the more serious act of actually using those funds for the broker's own purposes.

4. 4. A property management broker uses tenant security deposits held in trust to pay the brokerage's office rent. This is:

   • A.Commingling
   • B.Subrogation
   • C.Conversion
   • D.Constructive eviction

   Answer: C. Spending trust money for the broker's own purposes is conversion, which is essentially misappropriation of client funds. Commingling is only the mixing of funds, while conversion is actually using them.

5. 5. A salesperson works as an independent contractor for a brokerage. Who is responsible for supervising the salesperson's real estate activities?

   • A.The state real estate commission
   • B.The local multiple listing service
   • C.The employing broker
   • D.The salesperson alone, as a contractor

   Answer: C. A salesperson may act only under the license of an employing broker, who must supervise that salesperson's real estate activities. Independent contractor status is a tax classification and does not remove the broker's supervisory duty.

6. 6. A home is listed at a 5% commission under an exclusive right-to-sell listing. The owner finds her own buyer at $400,000. The broker is owed:

   • A.$20,000
   • B.Only reimbursed expenses
   • C.$10,000
   • D.$12,000

   Answer: A. An exclusive right-to-sell listing pays the broker no matter who finds the buyer: $400,000 x 0.05 = $20,000. Paying nothing beyond expenses would describe an exclusive agency listing when the owner sells.

7. 7. A property is listed under an exclusive agency listing. The owner sells to a neighbor with no broker involvement. The broker earns:

   • A.Half of the agreed commission
   • B.A commission only if the home was in the MLS
   • C.The full commission
   • D.No commission

   Answer: D. An exclusive agency listing appoints one broker but reserves the owner's right to sell personally without owing a commission. The full commission regardless of who sells describes an exclusive right-to-sell listing.

8. 8. A seller gives open listings to three brokers at once. When the property sells, which broker earns a commission?

   • A.The broker with the highest list price
   • B.Only the broker who was the procuring cause
   • C.All three brokers share it equally
   • D.The broker who signed the first listing

   Answer: B. An open listing is nonexclusive and pays only the broker who is the procuring cause of the sale, meaning the one whose efforts produced the ready, willing and able buyer. Signing first gives no priority under open listings.

9. 9. Under a net listing, a seller requires $300,000 for the home, and it sells for $325,000. The broker's compensation is:

   • A.Nothing, since net listings are void
   • B.$25,000
   • C.$19,500
   • D.$18,000

   Answer: B. In a net listing the broker keeps everything above the seller's net: $325,000 - $300,000 = $25,000. Net listings create a conflict of interest and are illegal or discouraged in many states, but where allowed they are not void; $19,500 wrongly applies a 6% rate the agreement never set.

10. 10. A buyer representation agreement promises the broker 2.5% of the price. The buyer purchases at $480,000, and the seller pays 2%. The buyer owes:

    • A.$9,600
    • B.$0
    • C.$12,000
    • D.$2,400

    Answer: D. The agreement earns $480,000 x 0.025 = $12,000; the seller pays $480,000 x 0.02 = $9,600, so the buyer owes $12,000 - $9,600 = $2,400. Compensation in buyer agency agreements is negotiable and set by the agreement, so the buyer is not automatically released.