Escrow, Title, and MATH!
In California, the standard formula to calculate the County Documentary Transfer Tax on a real estate transaction is this dollar amount per $1,000 of purchase price (excluding any assumed loans).
What is $1.10 per $1,000 (or $0.55 per $500)?
In the MREA economic model, this is the approximate number of closed transactions per year used to illustrate how an agent can net one million dollars in income, assuming typical splits and expenses.
What is 320 closed transactions?
Adopted in 1913, the NAR Code of Ethics replaced this Latin caveat that had long governed real estate transactions.
What is Caveat Emptor (let the buyer beware)?
Triggered by AB 2992, any Buyer Representation and Broker Compensation Agreement (BRBC) executed in California is strictly capped at this maximum duration, otherwise making the agreement legally void and unenforceable.
What is 90 days?
Under the California Residential Purchase Agreement, this is the default number of days a Buyer has to provide the Seller with evidence of the Earnest Money Deposit being placed into escrow.
What is three (3) days?
This type of title insurance policy is typically paid for by the Buyer to protect their lender's lien priority, as opposed to the CLTA policy which usually protects the owner.
What is an ALTA (American Land Title Association) Policy?
This component of Command is specifically designed to automate follow-up with contacts using prebuilt or custom workflows, often triggered by tags or pipeline stage changes.
What are SmartPlans?
Article 12 requires that all advertising and representations to the public be this — the single most important standard governing marketing, social media, and listing copy.
What is truthful (honest / not misleading)?
Enforcement for this federal agency’s new Anti-Money Laundering (AML) reporting requirement began on March 1, 2026, requiring escrow companies to report all-cash residential purchases made by legal entities or trusts.
What is FinCEN (Financial Crimes Enforcement Network)?
Per Paragraph 11 of the current RPA, the Seller must deliver all statutory disclosures, questionnaire responses, and lead-based paint records to the Buyer within this many days after Acceptance.
What is seven (7) days?
A home closes escrow in California on April 1st. The Seller has already paid their property taxes for the current installment period. Escrow will credit the Seller and debit the Buyer for property taxes covering April 1st through this specific end-of-fiscal-year date.
What is June 30th?
In the MREA Economic Model, if an agent wants to find their net income, they must subtract these two major expense categories from their Gross Commission Income (GCI).
What are Cost of Sales (COS) and Operating Expenses (OPEX)?
Article 16 prohibits a REALTOR® from engaging in any practice inconsistent with this type of agreement that another REALTOR® has with their client.
What is an exclusive representation agreement?
Starting January 1, 2026, California real estate professionals who use AI or advanced digital tools to stage, remove structures, or materially alter listing photos must include this specific thing on the listing.
What is a clear disclosure of modification (and access/link/QR code to the original, unedited photo)?
If a Buyer removes their loan contingency but later fails to close because the property appraises low, this specific paragraph and clause dictate whether the Seller can legally retain the EMD without proving actual damages.
What is the Liquidated Damages provision (Paragraph 25 / Liquidated Damages Clause, provided both parties initialed it)?
Under FIRPTA and Cal-FIRPTA rules, if a foreign seller does not qualify for an exemption, the standard combined federal and state withholding rates default to these two percentages of the gross sales price.
What are 15% (Federal) and 3.33% (California)?
This KW model breaks an agent’s focus into three key numbers—appointments, agreements, and closed units—and is often used to reverse-engineer a GCI goal from lead generation activities.
What is the economic model / appointments-to-closings model?
The Motto of the Realtor Code of Ethics.
What is "Under all is the Land"
Under California Civil Code § 1102.19, if a property is located in a High or Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, the seller must provide documentation proving compliance with local or state ordinances regarding this type of property clearing.
What is Defensible Space (or vegetation management)?
If a Seller issues a Notice to Buyer to Perform (NBP), the contract stipulates this minimum amount of time the Buyer has to comply, which can be delivered no earlier than this many days prior to the expiration of the applicable contingency.
What is 2 days (48 hours) to comply, and 2 days prior to the expiration?
Cal-FIRPTA — California's state withholding cousin — requires this percentage withholding on the sales price when the seller is an out-of-state resident and no exemption applies.
What is 3.33%?
Within the KW Profit Share system, this is the maximum number of "vertices" or "levels" deep an agent's downline can go to collect a percentage of the profit generated by the market center.
What is seven (7) levels?
When commission disputes between REALTORS® can't be resolved, Article 17 requires they submit to this binding process administered by the local board rather than litigation.
What is arbitration?
Under the famous California Supreme Court ruling Easton v. Strassburger, a real estate broker has a fiduciary duty to conduct a competent and diligent visual inspection of all accessible areas, establishing the statutory basis for this mandatory California form.
What is the AVID (Agent Visual Inspection Disclosure)?
In a situation where a Buyer intends to assign the contract to a brand new LLC they own, the Buyer must request this assignment using the C.A.R. AOAA form no later than this many days after Acceptance.
What is seventeen (17) days?