Ownership and title practice test

Estates, how title moves from one owner to the next, and what recording does.

9 scored items on the national portion 11% of the exam 18 practice questions here
Ownership and title Question 1 of 10

A property carries a first mortgage recorded in 2019, a mechanic’s lien from 2023 and unpaid general property taxes. On a foreclosure sale, who is paid first?

What this area asks

Two halves. The first is the shape of ownership: freehold estates from fee simple absolute down through the defeasible fees and the life estate, leasehold estates, concurrent ownership, and where liens sit in priority against all of it. The second is transfer — the elements that make a deed valid, voluntary and involuntary alienation, and the recording system, which is the part most people under-study. Recording does not create title. It gives constructive notice, and constructive notice is what decides who wins.

Forms of ownership and concurrent estatesFee simple absolute and defeasible feesLife estates and the bundle of rightsLeasehold estates and lease typesLiens and lien priorityElements of a valid deedVoluntary and involuntary alienationRecording, constructive notice, chain of titleMarketable title, cloud on title, title insurance

The topic list above is taken from the exam’s own published content outline, where this area appears as Forms of ownership, transfer, and recording of title.

Frequently asked

How many ownership and title questions are on the real estate exam?
9 of the 80 scored items on the national portion — about 11% of it. The published content outline calls this area "Forms of ownership, transfer, and recording of title".
Is there a passing score for the real estate exam?
Not a national one. Each state commission sets its own, and states express it differently — Texas publishes a raw number of correct answers, California a percentage of the whole exam.
Is this the official exam?
No. These are original practice questions written for study, built to the exam’s published content outline. The exams themselves are delivered by Pearson VUE and PSI under contract to state commissions.

The other content areas

Each one draws only from its own bank, so a weak area can be worked until it is not one. The number beside each is how many of the exam’s 80 scored items it carries.

Sources

Every figure on this page comes from one of the documents below, with the date it was read. Requirements change; if a source has moved on since that date, the source is right and this page is out of date.

Independent exam preparation. Real Estate Exam Bank is not a state-approved pre-licensing course and completing anything here does not satisfy any state education requirement. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or authorized by any state real estate commission, Pearson VUE, or PSI. Practice questions here are original study material, not the official exam.