National real estate exam study guide for Illinois candidates

Official source: PSI Illinois Candidate Information Booklet dated June 24, 2026. The percentages sum to the 100 scored national questions.

If you have recent diagnostic results, start with the largest weak area. Without results, begin with Contracts, Agency, and Practice of Real Estate. Together they account for 44 questions. Then cover Property Ownership and Financing, which add 20 more.

Weight is not the only factor. Calculations may need spaced repetition, while a five-question Land Use area can be reviewed efficiently once public and private controls are separated. Give every area at least one recall session and one mixed-practice session.

PSI checklist

• Real and personal property and conveyances
• Metes and bounds, lot and block, and government survey descriptions
• Linear, square-foot, and land measurement
• Liens, easements, rights of way, licenses, and encroachments
• Adverse possession, leases, probate, and other possible encumbrances
• Surface, air, water, mineral, and subsurface rights
• Severalty, tenancy in common, joint tenancy, common-interest ownership, trusts, estates, business entities, and life estates

Example: A utility company's recorded right to cross a parcel is an easement issue, not a lease simply because another party uses the land.

PSI checklist

• Property taxes and special assessments
• Eminent domain, condemnation, and escheat
• Government controls such as zoning
• Deed conditions and private restrictions
• Subdivision covenants, conditions, and restrictions
• Condominium and owner-association rules or bylaws

Example: A city setback requirement points to public land-use control. A subdivision ban on detached sheds points to private covenants.

PSI checklist

• Appraisal purpose and the general appraisal process
• When a licensed or certified appraiser is required
• Economic principles and property characteristics that affect value
• Sales comparison, cost, and income approaches
• Appropriate use of each valuation approach
• CMA, BPO, appraisal, and automated valuation distinctions

Example: The income approach is usually central when buyers acquire a stabilized apartment property for its income stream.

PSI checklist

• Points, loan-to-value ratio, private mortgage insurance, interest, and PITI
• Debt ratios, credit scoring, and the underwriting process
• Promissory notes and mortgage or deed-of-trust clauses
• Conventional, amortized, balloon, interest-only, and adjustable-rate loans
• FHA, VA, and USDA loan distinctions
• Owner financing, reverse mortgages, home equity, construction, rehab, and bridge loans
• RESPA, TILA and Regulation Z, TRID, and ECOA and Regulation B
• The lending path from application through closing

Example: If a question asks for the document containing the borrower's promise to repay, choose the promissory note, not the mortgage.

Federal sources: CFPB Regulation X and RESPA, CFPB TRID overview, and CFPB Regulation B and ECOA. The current Regulation B resource incorporates the amendment effective July 21, 2026.

PSI checklist

• Contract elements, validity, enforceability, and the Statute of Frauds
• Offers, counteroffers, acceptance, notice, delivery, and execution
• Void, voidable, and unenforceable agreements
• Bilateral, unilateral, and option contracts
• Electronic signatures and paperless transactions
• Rights, obligations, breach, remedies, termination, rescission, and cancellation
• Purchase agreements, leases, lease-purchase agreements, and lease types
• Contingencies and methods for satisfying them
• Addenda, amendments, multiple offers, and counteroffers

Example: A seller who changes price while signing a buyer's offer has made a counteroffer, not an acceptance.

PSI checklist

• How agency and non-agency relationships begin
• Listing, buyer, and tenant representation agreements
• Transaction brokers, facilitators, and other general relationship models
• Powers of attorney and assignments of authority
• Termination of agency and brokerage-service agreements
• Fiduciary duties to clients
• Honesty and good-faith duties to customers and non-clients
• Agency, conflict-of-interest, and self-interest disclosures

Example: Receiving compensation from one side does not by itself answer who the licensee represents. Look for the relationship and agreement.

PSI checklist

• Seller property-condition disclosure requirements
• Conditions that may warrant an inspection or survey
• Land-use red flags that warrant further investigation
• Environmental disclosure issues
• Federal, state, and local property-disclosure requirements
• Material facts and material defects

Example: A visible foundation crack can trigger disclosure or an inspection recommendation without making the broker a structural engineer.

Federal source: EPA Lead-Based Paint Disclosure Rule.

PSI checklist

• Procuring and qualifying prospective tenants
• Fair housing and ADA compliance in property management
• Market analysis used to set rent or lease rates
• Landlord and tenant rights and obligations

Example: A neutral income standard must be documented and applied consistently rather than adjusted according to a protected characteristic.

PSI checklist

• Types of deeds
• Title searches and title-insurance policies
• Potential title problems and resolutions
• Marketable and insurable title
• Delivery, acceptance, recordation, closing, and transfer timing
• Home and new-construction warranties
• Foreclosure, short-sale, and probate transfer issues

Example: Recording is important for notice and priority, but recording alone is not a substitute for valid delivery and acceptance.

PSI checklist

• Federal Fair Housing Act principles, exemptions, and protected classes
• Steering, blockbusting, redlining, disparate treatment, and discriminatory advertising
• Gender-identity and sexual-orientation protections
• ADA accessibility and reasonable-accommodation duties
• Employee and independent-contractor status
• Antitrust, including price fixing, group boycotts, and market allocation
• Do Not Call compliance
• Social media and internet communication
• Confidential information, money, and transaction due diligence

Example: Two competing firms agreeing on a minimum commission is a price-fixing issue even if they call the amount customary.

Federal sources: HUD Fair Housing rights and obligations, U.S. Department of Justice antitrust overview, and FTC telemarketing guidance.

PSI checklist

• Seller net proceeds
• Buyer funds needed at closing
• Property-tax and other prorations
• Real-property transfer fees
• Estimated PITI from loan rate and term
• Equity and rate of return or capitalization rate
• Loan-to-value ratio
• Discount points and loan-origination fees

Example: An 80% loan-to-value ratio on a $300,000 value indicates a $240,000 loan before any separate cost question is considered.

Continue with the Illinois real estate exam math guide for the complete formula sheet, worked examples, calculator rules, and ten original practice checks.

National questions test broadly shared principles and federal rules. Illinois questions test the state's specific license structure, License Act, additional laws, and disclosure duties. Do not overwrite one outline with the other.

Continue with the Illinois state portion study guide when you are ready to map the four state areas, or use the national versus Illinois comparison for exam timing, passing scores, and retake distinctions.

This sequence is preparation advice, not a PSI requirement.

1. Take a diagnostic. Record all 11 area scores instead of relying on one total.
2. Build Contracts and Agency together. They share agreements, authority, duties, disclosures, and termination.
3. Add Practice of Real Estate. Study fair housing, antitrust, advertising, privacy, money, and due diligence as separate legal patterns.
4. Connect Ownership and Land Use. Separate estates and encumbrances from public and private controls.
5. Connect Valuation and Financing. Pair value reasoning with underwriting, loan structure, and federal lending rules.
6. Add Disclosures, Management, and Title. Use people, triggers, documents, and timelines.
7. Practice math throughout. Short, repeated drills beat one long calculation session.
8. Finish with mixed timed sets. Classify the topic before applying the rule.

These original checks test classification and reasoning. They are not copied or reconstructed live exam questions.

PSI controls the national broker outline used for Illinois candidates. Federal agencies control the federal rules summarized in the related sections.

• PSI Illinois Candidate Information Booklet
• HUD Fair Housing rights and obligations
• CFPB Regulation X and RESPA
• CFPB TRID overview
• CFPB Regulation B and ECOA
• U.S. Department of Justice antitrust overview
• FTC telemarketing guidance
• EPA Lead-Based Paint Disclosure Rule

Pass Illinois is independent exam prep. It is not affiliated with PSI or IDFPR, does not replace required education, and does not provide legal advice or reproduce live exam questions.