California Real Estate Broker License Examination

A special agent (the usual classification of a real estate broker) is authorized to conduct a single transaction or a series of transactions not involving continuity of service, while a general agent is authorized to conduct a series of transactions involving continuity of service and tends to be an integral part of a business enterprise.

A grant deed generally conveys any after-acquired title the grantor obtains after the conveyance is executed, whereas a quitclaim deed transfers only the interest the grantor holds at execution and conveys no after-acquired title.

Actual authority focuses on what the agent is led to believe, while ostensible authority is that which the principal intentionally, or by want of ordinary care, causes or allows third persons to believe the agent possesses.

Police power regulates private property use (zoning, building codes, environmental regulations) to promote public health, safety, morals and general welfare without compensating the owner, while eminent domain requires just compensation for taking property for public use.

Breach of a covenant results in damages or an injunction, while breach of a condition subsequent gives the grantor power to terminate the estate (forfeiture/reverter) — and because the law abhors forfeitures, courts construe ambiguous restrictive provisions as covenants unless intent to create a condition is plain.

Replacement cost new values the building as if rebuilt with modern methods, design and materials providing the same utility, while reproduction cost new is the cost of constructing an exact replica in actual design and materials.

Direct capitalization converts income from a single annual period into an opinion of value, while yield capitalization measures the present worth of a series of income payments occurring over the multi-year life of the investment.

Utility value is directed toward a particular use or specific person and is frequently termed subjective value, while market value is the amount for which property can be sold in prevailing market conditions and is termed objective value.

Both divide the comparable's sales price by an income figure, but the GRM uses gross monthly rent while the GIM uses annual income.

Joint tenancy's most important characteristic is the right of survivorship (survivors take, excluding the decedent's heirs/devisees) and requires the four unities of interest, title, time and possession, while tenancy in common has no survivorship and is the presumed form when a conveyance to two or more persons does not specify joint tenancy, partnership, or community property.

Under an exclusive agency listing the broker's commission is protected against other brokers but is defeated if the owner sells the property on his or her own; the exclusive right to sell is a bilateral contract in which the seller promises compensation and the broker promises due diligence, and withdrawal by the owner during the term is a de facto revocation giving the broker a cause of action for the agreed compensation.

A deed executed in blank with the grantee's name inserted without the grantor's authorization is void and passes no title even to a bona fide purchaser, whereas a deed from a person of unsound mind whose incapacity has not been judicially determined (or from certain minors prior to 1972) is only voidable.