Free RES practice paper — 20 questions with full explanations

Answer: B

The rule. Incapacity renders an agreement void. An innocent misrepresentation renders it voidable, and the party misled may elect to set it aside.

Why B is correct. (i), (ii) and (iii) hold. (iv) is false — the second is voidable, not void.

The other options.

• A and D carry the false (iv).
• C drops the correct (i).

Exam note. Two agreements, two different rungs of the ladder. The question is testing whether you can hold both at once.

Answer: A

The rule. A counter-offer destroys the original offer, which cannot revive. A subsequent proposal at the original figure is a fresh offer.

Why A is correct. Mr Lee's initial offer of $790,000 was a new offer because it did not match Mrs Tan's advertised price and thus destroyed any previous standing offer. Subsequent offers are treated independently unless they explicitly revive an earlier offer that has since lapsed.

The other options.

• B is incorrect as the counter-offer by Mrs Tan effectively terminated Mr Lee's initial offer, making it impossible to revive the original position.
• C is false because Mr Lee’s subsequent offer of $805,000 does not constitute an acceptance of Mrs Tan’s counter-offer; instead, it is a new offer.
• D is incorrect as advertisements are generally treated as invitations to treat and do not create binding offers until there is an actionable proposal.

Answer: B

The rule. A gift is a voluntary transfer with no consideration; even $1 of consideration destroys its character as a gift. Duty on the transfer is assessed on the market value of the property, not on any token sum, and it is payable whether or not the transfer is a gift.

Why B is correct. Duty is charged on the house's market value. Handing over $1 would not remove the duty; it would only turn the gift into a transaction for value, defeating the very thing the grandson was trying to preserve.

The other options.

• A assesses duty on the $1. The base is market value, not the token consideration.
• C treats a gift as duty-free. Duty is payable on the market value of a gifted property.
• D claims the $1 removes the duty while keeping the gift — wrong on both counts.

Exam note. Duty follows market value regardless of a nominal price, and $1 does not save it — it merely destroys the gift.

Answer: C

The rule. In situations where clients have cognitive impairments or other vulnerabilities, real estate agents are expected to exercise greater care and diligence over the transaction and recommend seeking independent legal advice before proceeding with major decisions.

Why C is correct. Mr. Lee should ensure Mrs. Tan takes independent legal advice due to her known cognitive impairments, which makes it necessary for him to take additional steps beyond what he would do in a standard case.

The other options.

• A suggests rushing the transaction despite potential risks to Mrs. Tan’s best interests.
• B involves Mrs. Tan's daughter without considering whether involving her is appropriate or helpful given the client's vulnerabilities.
• D minimizes the agent's responsibilities, ignoring the need for greater care and diligence when dealing with vulnerable clients.

Exam note. The correct answer requires applying the rule to the specific scenario rather than making assumptions about standard procedures.

Answer: D

The rule. Where a landlord hands over possession before the fixed term begins — for example, a rent-free fitting-out month — the early period is a tenancy at will, which ends when the fixed term starts. A tenancy at will need not be rent-free; it is defined by having no certain term.

Why D is correct. The early month, granted before the 1 March start, is a tenancy at will that ends when the fixed term begins. It is not part of the two-year term, nor a mere licence.

The other options.

• B folds the month into the fixed term. The fixed term begins on 1 March, as agreed.
• C calls it a licence. The tenant has possession of the premises; it is a tenancy at will.
• A makes it a periodic tenancy. It does not roll on; it ends when the fixed term starts.

Exam note. Possession before the term starts is a tenancy at will, ending when the term begins. Rent-free does not make it a licence.

Answer: D

The rule. Approval is needed to change from one use class to another, and between a use class and an unclassified use. No approval is needed to change within the same use class, absent special conditions. A funeral parlour is an unclassified use.

Why D is correct. Applied to his shop, all four hold: the restaurant is a different class, the funeral parlour is an unclassified use, another shop stays within the same class, and the funeral parlour falls within none of the classes.

The other options.

• A, B and C each drop one true statement, most temptingly the within-class exemption or the funeral-parlour example.

Exam note. Crossing a class boundary needs approval; staying within a class does not. The funeral parlour is the stock example of a use that fits no class at all.

Answer: C

The rule. In "Residential with Commercial at 1st storey", the commercial use belongs on the first storey with homes above. The arrangement may not be reversed.

Why C is correct. He may not reverse it; commercial goes on the first storey, homes above.

The other options.

• A allows any arrangement.
• B and D allow a reversal on a location or a floor-area condition the zoning does not carry.

Exam note. The zoning fixes the arrangement: shops at street level, homes above. It is not a free mix of the two uses.

Answer: D

The rule. An advertisement in a newspaper inviting offers is an invitation to treat rather than a binding offer. Once the advertiser updates their terms, any previous responses are no longer valid unless explicitly accepted by the advertiser.

Why D is correct. Ms Lee's letter of 13 April constitutes an offer based on the original advertised price. Mr Tan remains free to accept or reject this offer, even after updating his advertisement to a new price.

The other options.

• A incorrectly suggests that Ms Lee’s acceptance was not an offer because her acceptance does constitute an offer but is no longer valid due to the updated terms.
• B implies that Ms Lee's previous acceptance remains valid despite the update, which it does not since Mr Tan can now accept or reject this offer as he chooses based on his new price listing.
• C misunderstands that an advertisement cannot be a standing offer binding the advertiser to specific terms indefinitely.

Exam note. An advertisement is always an invitation to treat; understand who makes offers and when they remain valid.

Answer: C

The rule. An estate in fee simple and an estate in perpetuity are both freehold in duration. They differ in what comes attached: an estate in perpetuity is subject to terms implied by the legislation, among them the State's rights in respect of oil and other deposits, rights of way for neighbours with no other access, the duty to maintain boundary marks, and free access at all times for officers and workmen laying or repairing pipes and sewers.

Why C is correct. Both are freehold in duration; only number 16 carries the implied conditions.

The other options.

• A and B treat the two titles as identical, one by denying the conditions and the other by extending them to both.
• D gets the conditions right and then wrongly denies that an estate in perpetuity is freehold in duration, which is the very thing that makes it worth having.

Exam note. Two variables — duration and conditions — permuted across four options. Fix duration first, since both titles share it, and only two options survive.

Answer: A

The rule. The tenant's security deposit may be transferred from the outgoing landlord to the incoming landlord on a sale, but the transfer requires the tenant's consent — it is, after all, the tenant's money.

Why A is correct. The deposit can be handed over to the new landlord, but only with the tenant's consent; the two landlords cannot simply deal with it between themselves.

The other options.

• B passes it freely between the landlords. The tenant's consent is needed.
• C requires a refund and a fresh deposit. Transfer with consent is the normal course.
• D leaves it with the outgoing landlord. It may be transferred, with consent.

Exam note. Transferring the deposit on a sale needs the tenant's consent. It is the tenant's money, not the landlords' to move at will.

Answer: A

The rule. A mistake going to the substance of the bargain renders an agreement void. A mistake shared by both parties about how the agreement is recorded may be corrected by amending the document. Neither is a stamping question.

Why A is correct. (i), (ii) and (iv) hold. (iii) is false — these are not stamping defects.

The other options.

• B and D carry the false (iii).
• C drops the correct (ii), the common-mistake limb.

Exam note. Distinguish a defect in the *bargain* from a defect in the *record of* the bargain. The first may destroy it; the second is usually fixable.

Answer: B

The rule. The implied remedies for breach of a lease include claims for damages, specific performance to compel the tenant’s compliance with the lease terms, and an injunction if necessary. A residential lease dispute where the term does not exceed two years may be taken to the Small Claims Tribunal.

Why B is correct. Mr Lee can claim damages for unpaid rent, seek specific performance to compel Ms Tan's compliance with the lease terms, and obtain an injunction if necessary. (i), (ii) and (iii) are all remedies available under a commercial tenancy agreement.

The other options.

• A incorrectly states that it involves a residential flat within two years of its expiry; this is not applicable to the scenario as Ms Tan rents a commercial shop.
• C omits specific performance and injunction, which are remedies available in addition to claiming damages for unpaid rent.
• D incorrectly suggests he cannot claim damages for unpaid rent because Ms Tan’s tenancy is commercial; he can indeed claim damages as well as seek specific performance and an injunction.

Answer: A

The rule. An item on hire purchase is not fully owned by the seller — the finance company may repossess it — so it cannot be sold with the property and should not go on the inventory list.

Why A is correct. It should be removed from the list as Mr. Tan does not yet own it outright.

The other options.

• B treats possession as ownership, disregarding the hire purchase status of the air conditioner.
• C and D attempt to save the listing with additional agreements or objections, but the seller cannot pass an item he does not fully own regardless of these arrangements.

Exam note. Verify that listed items are fully paid for; what the seller does not own outright should not be included in the sale inventory.

Answer: D

The rule. Before acting for a donee, the agent must, in order: obtain the original lasting power of attorney or a certified copy; have a lawyer confirm it is valid and unrevoked; and obtain a doctor's report that the donor has lost capacity. Only then may he act.

Why D is correct. (i), (iii) and (iv) are the three steps; (ii) — acting on the donee's word alone — is exactly what the steps rule out.

The other options.

• B and A carry the false (ii).
• C drops the true (i).

Exam note. Three steps, and all three are required. The document alone is not enough; it must be confirmed valid and the capacity loss certified.

Answer: B

The rule. Any lease, regardless of length or lessor identity, remains a leasehold.

Why B is correct. The property is still classified as leasehold despite its long-term and private freeholder origin.

The other options.

• A misinterprets the duration as converting it to freehold.
• C incorrectly assumes 999 years or more makes it effectively freehold.
• D suggests that extending the term could change its status, which is incorrect.

Answer: C

The rule. The estate agency agreement operates between the estate agent — the licensed firm — and the client. The salesperson signs for the firm but is not a party in their own right.

Why C is correct. Real Estate Solutions Pte Ltd (the licensed firm) and Mr Tan are the parties to the agreement, while Ms Lee is merely acting on behalf of the firm.

The other options.

• A incorrectly suggests that the salesperson's involvement alone makes her a party to the agreement.
• B proposes an incorrect remedy for terminating the agency relationship; there is no automatic refund required if no sale was secured.
• D incorrectly implies that Mr Tan can charge Ms Lee, who acts on behalf of Real Estate Solutions Pte Ltd, rather than through the licensed firm itself.

Exam note. Only the licensed estate agent firm may hold the appointment with the client, and this is why only the firm can be a party to the agreement.

Answer: B

The rule. Where an owner sells the parcel that needs the right and keeps the parcel over which it runs, the easement is granted to the buyer. Where he sells the burdened parcel and keeps the benefited one, it is reserved for himself.

Why B is correct. Mr Ang sold lot 119, which has no frontage and needs the strip, and kept lot 118, over which the strip runs. The right therefore went out with the parcel he sold: a grant.

The other options.

• A transposes grant and reservation.
• C treats the absence of a registered memorial as fatal, which the next question deals with.
• D puts the benefit on the lot that already has the whole road frontage and needs nothing.

Exam note. Identify which parcel is useless without the right. That is the dominant tenement, and the label follows from whether the seller kept it or sold it.

Answer: D

The rule. Where a subdivision has been approved and its plan submitted showing land set apart for access and drainage, easements of way and drainage over that land are implied for each lot, and they are enforceable without any memorial or notification on the folios.

Why D is correct. (i), (ii) and (iii) are right, and each of the first two is stated in the narrative. (iv) is false: these implied rights bind without any entry on the folios, which is precisely why Madam Rosnah's clean title tells her nothing.

The other options.

• A, B and C all carry the false (iv), which restates the general rule for registered land and then applies it to one of the exceptions to it. B also drops (i).

Exam note. Two facts in the narrative make this work and they sit ten lines apart: subdivision approval was obtained, and the plan showed the strip set apart. Neither is repeated.

Answer: A

The rule. An easement over registered land is extinguished by union of tenements, by release, or by order of the court. Non-use, however prolonged, is not by itself a mode of extinguishment.

Why A is correct. Nine years of using the rear gate ended nothing. The right survived and Mr Gopal's return to the strip in 2022 needed no revival.

The other options.

• B applies a fixed abandonment period, which is the most widely believed wrong answer in this topic.
• C treats the bricking-up of the rear gate as an election, when the gate was never the easement.
• D has the two events the right way round chronologically and the wrong way round legally.

Exam note. Nine years, a rear gate, a closure and a bricking-up are all in the narrative to build a story of abandonment. Ask instead which of the three recognised modes has occurred, and the answer is none of them.

Answer: C

The rule. Two different things are going on and they fall differently. The owner of the burdened land may not obstruct the way — that duty is hers alone, and the hedge is an obstruction. But where easements are implied on an approved subdivision, a covenant to contribute to the cost of maintenance or repair is implied with them, binding everyone who enjoys the benefit and running to successors in title.

Why C is correct. The hedge is Madam Rosnah's to cut back, because it is her land and she may not narrow the way. The cost of making good the drain and the pothole is shared, because Mr Gopal enjoys the benefit and the implied covenant reaches him.

The other options.

• B is the intuitive answer and the one the deck-level version of this rule produces: her land, her problem, all of it. It is right about obstruction and wrong about cost.
• A and D both put the duty not to obstruct on the wrong party — Mr Gopal cannot obstruct a way across land that is not his.

Exam note. Split the question in two before answering. "Who must not block it" and "who pays to keep it up" have different answers, and an option that gets one right is designed to carry you past the other.