About Real Estates

No one will ever answer with certainty all of the questions on the California Real Estate Broker’s Exam. That means that everyone, sooner or later, will have to guess at a few answers. So here are some strategies to help you come up with the best guess.

First, if there are two choices that mean essentially the same thing, and the correct answer does not appear to be “all of the above,” eliminate those two choices. You can’t choose between them because they refer to the same thing. For example, if answer choice “A” offers “purchase contract,” and answer choice “C” offers “deposit receipt,” you can eliminate “A” and “C.” The answer can’t be either one of them.

In many situations, when you look at a question where you do not know the correct answer, just because of your general knowledge, you should be able to eliminate two of the choices. Two of the choices will not seem plausible or won’t make sense. That leaves your guess between two, which raises the odds of getting it right. Before choosing, you should read the premise of the question one more time. That reading might tip the scale in the direction of one or another.

Some other tips worth paying attention to are these. “B” and “C” are probably the most commonly used correct answer choices. “All of the above” is not usually correct on the Broker’s Exam. It is on the salesperson’s exam, but they want you to notice the nuances and see the distinctions on the Broker’s Exam. “None of the above” is not usually the correct answer choice. It is used as a default answer. Think about it like this. You are writing test questions, and you come up with a concept and you have the right answer in mind. You come up with two incorrect answer choices that are plausible (they must be plausible, right?), and you’re trying to think of a third, but it’s tough. You just can’t think of one. Ah, “None of the Above” will do. You are now finished and can move onto the next question.

“Not enough information given,” is tempting-it appeals to our egos-but I have never seen it to be correct. And if you see an answer choice that offers two of the other answer choices as the answer, like “D: A and B,” that may have a good shot at being correct, just because it’s a really elaborate ruse, and chances are the test writer didn’t go that far to trick you.

Now all of these tips are based on observations over many years. They are not airtight, but they are a valid trend. Always answer what you know for sure-then apply this information. And happy testing!