The Florida real estate sales associate exam covers 19 topics. The topics (and their subtopics) are summarized below, along with what percentage of exam questions come from each topic.

1. Real estate brokerage activities and procedures (12%)

• Brokerage offices
• Advertising
• Escrow or trust accounts – general rules
  • Broker held
  • Attorney/title company held
  • Commingling
• Broker’s commission
  • Anti-trust laws
  • Lien law on real property
  • Sales Associate Commission
    • Math-Commission
  • Kickbacks
  • Change of employer
• Types of business entities that may or may not register
  • Sole proprietorship
  • Partnership
  • Corporation
  • LLC
• Trade names
• Unlicensed personal assistants

2. Real estate contracts (12%)

• Preparation of contracts
• Essentials of a contract
• Statute of frauds
• Statute of limitations
• Transfer of real property
• Contract categories
• Contract negotiation
• Termination of contracts
• Contracts important to real estate
  • Listing contracts
  • Buyer-broker agreement
  • Option contracts
  • Sale and purchase contracts
  • Mandatory disclosures
    • Material defects
    • Radon gas
    • Lead-based paint
    • Energy efficiency brochure
    • Home Owners Association
    • Property tax
    • Building code
    • Community Development District disclosure

3. Residential mortgages (9%)

• Legal theories of mortgages
• Loan instruments
• Mortgage clauses
• Types of mortgage loans
  • FHA
  • VA
  • Conventional
• Methods of purchasing mortgaged property
• Other types of financing
• Qualifying buyers
• Math-Finance

4. Property rights: estates, tenancies, condominiums, HOAs, and time-sharing (8%)

• The nature of property
  • Physical components
  • Personal property
• General property rights
• Estate and tenancies
  • Fee simple
  • Life estate
  • Tenancy at will
  • Tenancy at sufferance
  • Tenancy in common
  • Joint tenancy
  • Tenancy by the entireties
• Homestead
  • Protection of homestead
  • Tax exemption
• Cooperatives, condominiums, and time sharing

A few confusing phrases which are commonly found in many contracts are “in consideration of the foregoing”, “subject to the foregoing”, and “notwithstanding the foregoing”. I wrote a short article explaining what each of those phrases mean.

5. Real estate appraisal (8%)

• Appraisal regulation / USPAP
• Market value
• Approaches to estimating real property value
  • Sales comparison approach
  • Cost-depreciation approach
  • Income capitalization approach
• Comparative Market Analysis (CMA)
• Broker Price Opinion (BPO)

6. Authorized relationships, duties, and disclosures (7%)

• Law of agency
• Brokerage relationships in Florida
  • Transaction broker
  • Single agent
  • No brokerage relationship
  • Transition to Transaction broker
• Misrepresentation and fraud
• Professional ethics
• Sales associate to broker

7. Titles, deeds, and ownership restrictions (7%)

• Title to real property
• Acquiring legal title
  • Voluntary alienation
  • Involuntary alienation
  • Types of notice
  • Condition of title
• Deeds
  • Deed clauses
  • Statutory deeds
  • Special purpose deeds
• Ownership limitations and restrictions
  • Easements
  • Leases
  • General and specific liens
  • Public/government restrictions
  • Deed restrictions

8. License law and qualifications for licensure (6%)

• Historical perspective of Florida real estate license law
• Statutes and rules important to real estate
• General licensing provisions
• Sales associate qualifications for licensure
• Post-licensing education
• Continuing education
• Broker requirements
• Registration and licensure
• Real estate services
• Individuals who are exempt from a real estate license

9. Real estate related computations and closing of transactions (6%)

• Computations math
• Closing statements

10. Legal descriptions of real estate (5%)

• Purposes of legal descriptions
• Types of legal descriptions
  • Metes and bounds
  • Lot and block
  • Government survey system
  • Legal descriptions math

11. Types of mortgages and sources of financing (4%)

• The mortgage market and money supply
• Federal regulatory bodies
• Primary mortgage market
• Secondary mortgage market
• Mortgage fees

12. Violations of license law, penalties and procedures (3%)

• Complaint process – seven steps
• Violations and penalties
  • Grounds for denial
  • Grounds for suspension
  • Grounds for revocation
• Types of penalties
• Real estate recovery fund
• Legal terms to know
• Disciplinary guidelines

13. Federal and state laws pertaining to real estate (3%)

• Federal and state fair housing law
• Federal laws regarding land and the environment
• Federal laws regarding mortgage lending
• Florida Residential Landlord and Tenant Act
  • Security Deposit
  • Advance Rentals

14. Taxes affecting real estate (3%)

• City and county property taxes
  • tax math
• Federal income taxes

15. Real estate license law and commission rules (2%)

• Florida Real Estate Commission
• Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR)
  • Real estate regulation

16. Real estate investments and business opportunity brokerage (2%)

• Real estate as an investment
• Analyzing investment properties
• Assessment of risks
• Leverage
• Business brokerage

17. The business of real estate (1%)

• Introduction to the real estate business
• Real estate brokerage
• Development and construction
• The role of government
• Professional organizations

18. Real estate markets and analysis (1%)

• Characteristics of the real estate market

19. Planning and zoning (1%)

• Local planning agency
• Florida’s Growth and Community Planning Act
• The planning process
• Zoning laws and code enforcement