How to Pass the Arkansas Real Estate
Exam in 2026

About 10 questions test how Arkansas defines real property: land, improvements permanently affixed, and the bundle of rights conveyed with title. Expect fixture tests (intent, method of attachment, adaptation), the difference between real and personal property, legal descriptions, estates, and encumbrances such as liens and easements. Arkansas rural transactions frequently involve mineral, oil, and gas rights that can be severed from the surface estate. Pitfall: candidates miss trade-fixture scenarios and overlook severed mineral rights when valuing land. Example: a farm sold without its previously severed mineral rights conveys only the surface estate. Click2CE drills classification, legal descriptions, and encumbrance questions until the fixture tests become automatic, then layers in Arkansas mineral-rights scenarios the AREC exam tends to test.

About 12 questions cover Arkansas agency. Arkansas recognizes seller agency, buyer agency, and dual agency with informed written consent, and requires agency disclosure to consumers. Fiduciary duties — loyalty, obedience, disclosure, confidentiality, accounting, and reasonable care — apply to represented clients, while honesty and disclosure of known material defects are owed to all parties. Pitfall: candidates confuse a customer with a client and assume dual agency is permitted without written consent from both parties. Example: representing both the buyer and seller without disclosed written consent is a prohibited undisclosed dual agency that can trigger AREC discipline. Designated agency within a firm is also tested. Click2CE drills the disclosure timing and the duties owed under each Arkansas relationship.

About 12 questions cover contract formation (offer, acceptance, consideration, capacity, legal purpose), purchase agreements, contingencies, and remedies. The statute of frauds requires real estate contracts to be in writing. Pitfall: candidates assume verbal modifications bind the parties and confuse a counteroffer (which rejects and replaces the original) with a simple inquiry. Earnest-money handling, contingency deadlines, and the difference between liquidated damages and specific performance are tested. Arkansas requires a residential Property Condition Disclosure for most seller-occupied resales, making accurate disclosure timing a frequent exam topic. Example: a seller who returns a buyer's offer with new terms has made a counteroffer, freeing the buyer to accept or walk. Click2CE walks through formation, contingencies, and disclosure rules with Arkansas-specific scenarios.

About 10 questions cover mortgage instruments, qualification, government-backed loans (FHA, VA, USDA), and federal disclosure law (TILA, RESPA, TRID). Arkansas allows both mortgages and deeds of trust and provides a statutory non-judicial power-of-sale foreclosure process under the Statutory Foreclosure Act, as well as judicial foreclosure. Pitfall: candidates confuse front-end ratio (housing only) with back-end ratio (total debt) and assume all foreclosures go through court. Example: a borrower with $5,000 monthly income and a 28% front-end limit qualifies for about $1,400 in PITI. Points are 1% of the loan each. Click2CE's AI Tutor walks through qualification ratios, points, and the difference between judicial and statutory non-judicial foreclosure step by step.

About 8 questions test the federal Fair Housing Act and Arkansas civil-rights protections. Federal protected classes are race, color, religion, national origin, sex, familial status, and disability. Pitfall: candidates over-apply the Mrs. Murphy exemption, which only covers owner-occupied buildings of four or fewer units when no agent is used and no discriminatory advertising appears. Steering, blockbusting, redlining, and discriminatory advertising are heavily tested. Example: telling a family with children that a quiet "adult" neighborhood would suit them better is illegal steering regardless of intent. Reasonable accommodations and modifications for disabled tenants also appear. Click2CE flags every advertising trap and walks through HUD complaint procedures so the prohibited-practice questions become predictable.

This is the largest section — about 18 questions on the Arkansas Real Estate Commission (AREC), license law, trust-account handling, the Real Estate Recovery Fund, advertising rules, and the required Property Condition Disclosure. AREC rules require brokers to deposit trust funds promptly and to keep client money separate from operating funds. Pitfall: commingling trust funds and missing disclosure-delivery requirements. Example: earnest money must be deposited into the broker's trust account rather than an operating account, and a Recovery Fund claim may compensate consumers harmed by licensee misconduct after they obtain a judgment. Advertising must not be misleading and must identify the brokerage. Click2CE drills AREC rule citations and recent disciplinary trends until they are second nature.

About 12 calculation questions cover the three approaches to value (sales comparison, cost, income), CMA mechanics, commission splits, prorations, and investment returns. Memorize the T-formula (Part = Rate × Whole), GRM (price ÷ gross monthly rent), and cap rate (NOI ÷ value). Pitfall: mixing the 360-day banker's year with a 365-day calendar year — read each question carefully, as Arkansas items often use a 360-day year unless stated. Example: a property with $30,000 NOI sold at a 10% cap rate is worth $300,000; annual taxes of $3,600 on a 360-day year equal $10 per day. A licensee's CMA is not an appraisal — only licensed appraisers appraise. Click2CE's math worksheets show every step so you learn the pattern, not just the answer.

About 8 questions cover the closing process, settlement statements (the Closing Disclosure and ALTA settlement statement), title insurance (owner's vs. lender's policies), and escrow. Arkansas closings are commonly handled by title companies and escrow agents rather than attorneys. Pitfall: candidates forget the TRID three-business-day rule — the Closing Disclosure must reach the borrower three business days before consummation, and certain changes restart the clock. Example: switching from a fixed to an adjustable rate triggers a new three-day waiting period. Owner's title insurance protects the buyer against title defects; the lender's policy protects the loan amount. Click2CE walks through real settlement-statement line items and escrow procedures so the timing and math feel familiar.