Washington State Real Estate Exam
Questions and All Actual Detailed
Answers 2025-2026 Updated.
Abandonment - Answer The voluntary and permanent cessation of use or enjoyment with no
intention to resume or reclaim one's possession or interest. May pertain to an easement or a
property.
Abrogation - Answer Tenants cannot sign away their rights in advance of signing the lease.
Abstract of Title - Answer A condensed version of the history of title to a particular parcel of
real estate as recorded in the county clerk's records; consists of a summary of the original grant
and all subsequent conveyances and encumbrances affecting the property.
Abutting - Answer The joining, reaching, or touching of adjoining land. Abutting parcels of land
have a common boundary.
Accelerated Depreciation - Answer A method of calculating for tax purposes the depreciation
of income property at a faster rat than would be achieved using the straight-line method.
Note** any depreciation taken in excess of that which would be claimed using the straight-line
rate is subject to recapture as ordinary income to the extent of gain resulting from the sale.
Acceleration Clause - Answer A provision in a written mortgage, note, bond, or conditional
sales contract that, in the event of a default, the whole amount of principal and interest may be
declared to be due an payable at once.
Accretion - Answer An increase or addition to land by the deposit of sand or soil washed up
naturally from a river lake or sea.
Accrued Depreciation - Answer The actual depreciation that has occurred to a property at any
given date; the difference between the cost of replacement new (as of the date of appraisal)
and the present appraised value.
Acknowledgment - Answer A declaration made by a person to a notary public, or other public
official authorized to take acknowledgments that an instrument was executed by that person as
a free and voluntary act.
,Actual Notice - Answer Express information or fact; that which is know; actual knowledge.
Adjustable-rate Mortgage - Answer A mortgage in which the interest rate changes at
predetermined intervals. The mortgage has caps, or a ceiling, that limits the amount it can
change at the predetermined intervals.
Administrator - Answer The party appointed by the county court to settle the estate of a
deceased person who died without leaving a will.
Ad Valorem Tax - Answer A tax levied according to value; generally used to refer to real estate
tax. Also called the general tax.
Adverse possession - Answer The right of an occupant of land to acquire title against the real
owner, where possession has been actual, continuous, hostile, visible, and distinct for the
statutory period.
Affidavit - Answer A written statement signed and sworn to before a person authorized to
administer an oath.
Agent - Answer One who represents or has the power to act for another person (called the
principal). The authorization may be express or implied. A fiduciary relationship is created under
the law of agency when a property owner, as the principal, executes a listing agreement or
management contract authorizing a licensed real estate broker to be the owner's agent.
Agreement of sale - Answer A written agreement whereby the purchaser agrees to buy certain
real estate and the seller agrees to sell, upon terms and conditions set forth in the agreement.
Air Lot - Answer A designated airspace over a piece of land. Air lots, like surgace property, may
be transferred.
Air Rights - Answer The right to use the open space above a property, generally allowing the
surface to be used for another purpose.
Alienation - Answer The act of transferring property to another. Alienation may be voluntary,
such as by gift or sale; or involuntary, such as through eminent domain or adverse possession.
, Alluvion - Answer New deposits of soil as the result of accretion.
Amenitites - Answer The tangible and intangible features that increase the value or desirability
of real estate.
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) - Answer A federal law that became effective in 1992. It
is designed to eliminate the discrimination against individuals with disabilities by mandating
equal access to jobs, public accommodations, public transportation, telecommunications and
government services.
Amortization - Answer The liquidation of a financial burden by installment payments.
Amortized Loan - Answer A loan in which the principal, as well as the interest, is payable in
monthly or other periodic installments over the term of the loan.
Antitrust Laws - Answer The laws designed to preserve the free enterprise of the open
marketplace by making illegal certain private conspiracies and combinations formed to minimize
competition. Violations of antitrust laws in the real estate business generally involve either price
fixing (brokers conspiring to set fixed compensation rates) or allocation of customers or markets
(brokers agreeing to limit their areas of trade or dealing to certain areas or properties).
Appraisal - Answer An estimate of the quantity, quality, or value of something. The process
through which conclusions of property value are obtained; also refers to the report setting forth
the process of estimation and conclusion of value.
Appraised Value - Answer An estimate of a property's present worth.
Appreciation - Answer An increase in the worth or value of a property due to economic or
related causes that may prove to be either temporary or permanent; opposite of depreciation.
Appurenant - Answer Belonging to; incident to. Ex: a garage is appurtenant to a house. The
common interest in the common elements of a condominium is appurtenant to each
apartment.
Arbitration - Answer A means of settling a controversy between two parties through the
Questions and All Actual Detailed
Answers 2025-2026 Updated.
Abandonment - Answer The voluntary and permanent cessation of use or enjoyment with no
intention to resume or reclaim one's possession or interest. May pertain to an easement or a
property.
Abrogation - Answer Tenants cannot sign away their rights in advance of signing the lease.
Abstract of Title - Answer A condensed version of the history of title to a particular parcel of
real estate as recorded in the county clerk's records; consists of a summary of the original grant
and all subsequent conveyances and encumbrances affecting the property.
Abutting - Answer The joining, reaching, or touching of adjoining land. Abutting parcels of land
have a common boundary.
Accelerated Depreciation - Answer A method of calculating for tax purposes the depreciation
of income property at a faster rat than would be achieved using the straight-line method.
Note** any depreciation taken in excess of that which would be claimed using the straight-line
rate is subject to recapture as ordinary income to the extent of gain resulting from the sale.
Acceleration Clause - Answer A provision in a written mortgage, note, bond, or conditional
sales contract that, in the event of a default, the whole amount of principal and interest may be
declared to be due an payable at once.
Accretion - Answer An increase or addition to land by the deposit of sand or soil washed up
naturally from a river lake or sea.
Accrued Depreciation - Answer The actual depreciation that has occurred to a property at any
given date; the difference between the cost of replacement new (as of the date of appraisal)
and the present appraised value.
Acknowledgment - Answer A declaration made by a person to a notary public, or other public
official authorized to take acknowledgments that an instrument was executed by that person as
a free and voluntary act.
,Actual Notice - Answer Express information or fact; that which is know; actual knowledge.
Adjustable-rate Mortgage - Answer A mortgage in which the interest rate changes at
predetermined intervals. The mortgage has caps, or a ceiling, that limits the amount it can
change at the predetermined intervals.
Administrator - Answer The party appointed by the county court to settle the estate of a
deceased person who died without leaving a will.
Ad Valorem Tax - Answer A tax levied according to value; generally used to refer to real estate
tax. Also called the general tax.
Adverse possession - Answer The right of an occupant of land to acquire title against the real
owner, where possession has been actual, continuous, hostile, visible, and distinct for the
statutory period.
Affidavit - Answer A written statement signed and sworn to before a person authorized to
administer an oath.
Agent - Answer One who represents or has the power to act for another person (called the
principal). The authorization may be express or implied. A fiduciary relationship is created under
the law of agency when a property owner, as the principal, executes a listing agreement or
management contract authorizing a licensed real estate broker to be the owner's agent.
Agreement of sale - Answer A written agreement whereby the purchaser agrees to buy certain
real estate and the seller agrees to sell, upon terms and conditions set forth in the agreement.
Air Lot - Answer A designated airspace over a piece of land. Air lots, like surgace property, may
be transferred.
Air Rights - Answer The right to use the open space above a property, generally allowing the
surface to be used for another purpose.
Alienation - Answer The act of transferring property to another. Alienation may be voluntary,
such as by gift or sale; or involuntary, such as through eminent domain or adverse possession.
, Alluvion - Answer New deposits of soil as the result of accretion.
Amenitites - Answer The tangible and intangible features that increase the value or desirability
of real estate.
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) - Answer A federal law that became effective in 1992. It
is designed to eliminate the discrimination against individuals with disabilities by mandating
equal access to jobs, public accommodations, public transportation, telecommunications and
government services.
Amortization - Answer The liquidation of a financial burden by installment payments.
Amortized Loan - Answer A loan in which the principal, as well as the interest, is payable in
monthly or other periodic installments over the term of the loan.
Antitrust Laws - Answer The laws designed to preserve the free enterprise of the open
marketplace by making illegal certain private conspiracies and combinations formed to minimize
competition. Violations of antitrust laws in the real estate business generally involve either price
fixing (brokers conspiring to set fixed compensation rates) or allocation of customers or markets
(brokers agreeing to limit their areas of trade or dealing to certain areas or properties).
Appraisal - Answer An estimate of the quantity, quality, or value of something. The process
through which conclusions of property value are obtained; also refers to the report setting forth
the process of estimation and conclusion of value.
Appraised Value - Answer An estimate of a property's present worth.
Appreciation - Answer An increase in the worth or value of a property due to economic or
related causes that may prove to be either temporary or permanent; opposite of depreciation.
Appurenant - Answer Belonging to; incident to. Ex: a garage is appurtenant to a house. The
common interest in the common elements of a condominium is appurtenant to each
apartment.
Arbitration - Answer A means of settling a controversy between two parties through the
