California Real Estate Salesperson Course Notes

If a question asks whether an item transfers with the property, start with attachment and intent. A fountain plumbed into the yard, a built-in bookcase, or a fixture attached to the land usually points to real property under California fixture rules. A removable birdbath, movable furniture, or item specifically excluded in the agreement points toward personal property or a negotiated exception.

• Calling a permanently attached item personal property just because it started as movable personal property; California fixture questions care about attachment and intent.

• If the item is plumbed, built in, cemented, rooted, or permanently attached, think fixture and real property.

Agency questions ask who the salesperson represents and what duty flows from that relationship. If the salesperson represents the seller, loyalty, obedience, disclosure, reasonable care, accounting, and confidentiality run to the seller. If the salesperson represents the buyer, those same fiduciary duties run to the buyer. The exam usually punishes answers that put convenience, commission, or friendship ahead of the client's interest.

• Thinking dual agency is cured by assigning different salespersons inside one brokerage; the broker still needs informed written consent from both sides.

• If one broker touches both buyer and seller representation, look for dual agency disclosure and written consent.

Contract questions usually ask whether an offer became binding or whether a response changed the deal. Acceptance must match the offer; a changed price, closing date, deposit, or contingency is a counteroffer. If the facts say the seller changed a term, the buyer must accept that counteroffer before a contract exists.

• Calling a changed offer an acceptance; any material change to price, deposit, closing, contingency, or deadline creates a counteroffer.

• A changed term is a counteroffer, not acceptance.

Finance questions often separate the promise to repay from the instrument that secures repayment. A promissory note is the borrower's written promise to pay. A deed of trust or mortgage connects the debt to real property as security. Do not choose promissory note when the facts ask what creates the lender's security interest in the property.

• Confusing the promissory note with the deed of trust; the note is the promise to pay, while the deed of trust secures the debt with real property.

• Promise to repay means promissory note; security for the debt means deed of trust or mortgage.

Escrow questions ask who holds documents and money while conditions are being satisfied. The escrow holder is a neutral stakeholder following written instructions, not an advocate for either side. If the question says funds or deeds should be released before instructions are met, the answer is usually that escrow must follow the instructions exactly.

• Thinking the escrow officer can favor the buyer or seller; escrow follows written instructions as a neutral stakeholder.

• Escrow officer means neutral holder following written instructions.

Final review questions are built to see whether the student can identify the duty hidden inside the story. If the facts mention trust money, think delivery, separation, and broker control. If the facts mention a known defect, hazard, roof leak, fault line, or neighborhood issue, think disclosure and avoid answers that hide or soften the fact.

• Missing the hidden duty in a story question and choosing the business-friendly answer instead of the legally protective action.

• If the facts mention deposits, advance fees, or client money, think trust-fund handling first.