Alaska Real Estate Broker Exam Practice Test
Frequently asked questions
How many Alaska Real Estate Broker Exam practice questions are here?+
A full bank of original Alaska Real Estate Broker Exam practice questions across the official content areas, weighted like the real exam, with explanations. Free, no signup.
What is the Alaska Real Estate Broker Exam exam like?+
About 140 questions, 240 minutes, and you need 75% to pass. Practice by topic here, then take the full timed mock exam to gauge readiness.
Are these the real exam questions?+
No. Every question is 100% original, written from public primary sources with explanations. We never copy real exam questions or paid prep material.
Can I study in Chinese or Spanish?+
PrepPass practice is in English, 中文 and Español. The official exam is in English — switch the question language to English any time to rehearse the exact terminology you'll see on test day.
Sample practice questions
A few real questions from this free bank, with full explanations. Use the practice tool above for the whole set.
- 1. Property Ownership
A commercial tenant bolts custom display shelving to the walls to run a retail store. Absent any agreement to the contrary, what is the usual character of that shelving?
- a.A permanent fixture that automatically belongs to the landlord
- b.Real property that must be conveyed with the building
- c.A trade fixture the tenant may remove before the lease ends
- d.An easement appurtenant to the leased space
Answer: c
Explanation: Items a commercial tenant installs to conduct business are trade fixtures. Even though they are attached, the law lets the tenant remove them before the lease ends (repairing any damage), because the tenant's intent was to use them in the business, not to improve the landlord's property permanently. This is an exception to the general rule that attached items become part of the realty. It is not an easement, which is a right to use another's land, not an object.
- 2. Valuation and Market Analysis
An apartment building produces annual net operating income of $48,000, and comparable sales indicate an 8% capitalization rate. Using the income approach, the indicated value is:
- a.$384,000
- b.$540,000
- c.$600,000
- d.$960,000
Answer: c
Explanation: The income approach uses Value = Net Operating Income / capitalization rate. Here $48,000 / 0.08 = $600,000. Note that a lower cap rate would produce a higher value and a higher cap rate a lower value, so cap rate and value move inversely. Net operating income is income after operating expenses but before debt service and income taxes, which is why financing terms do not change this calculation.
- 3. Financing
A settlement service provider offers a broker a cash payment for each buyer the broker refers, with no service performed in return. Under RESPA this arrangement is:
- a.Permitted if disclosed in the listing agreement
- b.Permitted because referral fees are always legal
- c.Permitted only for commercial transactions
- d.Prohibited as an illegal kickback for a referral
Answer: d
Explanation: RESPA prohibits kickbacks, fee-splitting, and unearned fees for referrals of settlement services on federally related mortgage loans. Paying or receiving anything of value merely for a referral, with no bona fide service rendered, is an illegal kickback, and mere disclosure does not cure it. A broker must police the office against such arrangements because a RESPA violation can expose the firm to serious penalties, making this a core risk-management duty.
- 4. Contracts
Under the statute of frauds, why must a contract for the sale of real estate generally be in writing to be enforceable?
- a.Because oral contracts are automatically void
- b.Because the statute requires certain contracts, including land sales, to be written and signed to be enforceable
- c.Because only written contracts contain consideration
- d.Because the buyer cannot take possession under an oral agreement
Answer: b
Explanation: The statute of frauds requires that certain contracts, including those for the sale of an interest in real estate, be in writing and signed by the party to be charged in order to be enforceable in court. An oral land-sale contract is not automatically void; it is unenforceable, meaning a court will generally not enforce it if a party objects. Consideration can exist in oral contracts too. Written form is what makes the agreement enforceable, which is why brokers document terms carefully.
- 5. General Principles of Agency
The fiduciary duties an agent owes a client are often remembered as OLD CAR. Which duty requires the agent to keep the client's motivation and bargaining position private, even after the transaction?
- a.Confidentiality
- b.Obedience
- c.Accounting
- d.Disclosure
Answer: a
Explanation: Confidentiality requires the agent to protect the client's private information, such as the client's motivation, financial position, or the highest price a buyer will pay, and this duty generally survives the end of the transaction. Obedience is following lawful instructions; accounting is properly handling the client's money and documents; and disclosure is revealing material facts to the client. A broker must train agents that leaking a client's bargaining position, even casually, breaches the fiduciary duty of confidentiality.
- 6. Property Disclosures
An agent tells a buyer, 'This home has the best sunset view in the whole city.' The buyer later complains the statement was untrue. This kind of statement is:
- a.Actionable fraud
- b.An illegal misrepresentation
- c.A violation of fair housing law
- d.Puffing, which is a legal opinion
Answer: d
Explanation: Calling a view 'the best in the city' is puffing: exaggerated opinion or sales talk that a reasonable buyer would not treat as a statement of verifiable fact. Puffing is legal. It becomes a problem only when an agent states a false material fact (for example, misstating the lot size or concealing a known defect), which can be misrepresentation or fraud. A broker should teach agents the line between harmless opinion and false factual claims to manage the firm's risk.
- 7. Practice of Real Estate
Two competing brokerages agree over lunch to both charge a 6% commission so neither undercuts the other. This agreement is:
- a.Legal, because commissions are customary
- b.Legal, if disclosed to clients
- c.Illegal price fixing under antitrust law
- d.Legal, because each firm sets its own policy
Answer: c
Explanation: An agreement among competing firms to set commission rates is price fixing, a per se violation of federal antitrust law, and it is illegal regardless of custom or disclosure. Commission rates must always be negotiated independently between each broker and client and are never set by agreement among competitors. Other antitrust violations include market allocation, group boycotts, and tie-in arrangements. A broker must train agents never even to discuss setting rates with competitors, since such talk alone invites liability.
- 8. Practice of Real Estate
How long must a brokerage keep its transaction and trust-account records?
- a.For the retention period set by the state's license law
- b.Only until the transaction closes
- c.Exactly one year in every state
- d.There is no requirement to retain records
Answer: a
Explanation: Brokers must keep transaction and trust-account records for the retention period established by their state's license law, and those periods vary by state, which is why the safe answer is 'the period set by state law' rather than a specific national number. Records typically must be produced on request during audits or investigations. Because retention rules differ, a broker sets office procedures to keep complete files for the required time. This question also models why the exam avoids inventing a single nationwide figure.
- 9. Commission Law
Under AS 08.88, an Alaska broker who operates a brokerage must:
- a.Maintain a definite place of business and be responsible for supervising affiliated licensees and trust funds
- b.Personally close every transaction the firm handles
- c.Hold a separate license in each borough where property is listed
- d.Renew the license every 12 months
Answer: a
Explanation: An Alaska broker who runs a brokerage must maintain a place of business and is responsible for supervising the firm's affiliated licensees and for the proper handling of trust funds. The broker need not personally close every deal, licenses are statewide rather than per-borough, and Alaska real estate licenses renew on a two-year cycle.
- 10. Recovery Fund
The Alaska Real Estate Surety Fund (recovery fund) is used to:
- a.Pay the Commission's staff salaries
- b.Reimburse a consumer who obtains an unsatisfied court judgment against a licensee for conduct that violated the licensing law
- c.Guarantee a minimum commission to brokers
- d.Provide grants to real estate schools
Answer: b
Explanation: The Alaska Real Estate Surety Fund reimburses members of the public who obtain a final court judgment against a licensee for a violation of AS 08.88 (such as fraud or misappropriation of trust funds) that they cannot otherwise collect. It is a consumer-protection fund, not a source of staff pay, guaranteed commissions, or school grants.