What is tested in Financing?
| Official PSI area | Financing |
|---|---|
| Exam portion | National portion |
| Published weight | 10% of the 100-question national portion |
| Published branches | 3 |
| Source edition | PSI Georgia Candidate Information Bulletin dated July 1, 2026 |
| Last verified | August 2, 2026 |
The Rule
The 10% weight covers the entire financing branch. PSI does not promise a particular count for FHA, VA, RESPA, TRID, underwriting, or loan-clause questions.
Why this area matters
Financing questions combine vocabulary, consumer protection, and calculations. The fastest route to accuracy is to separate the evidence of debt, the instrument securing it, the loan program, and the disclosure rule.
Complete official content outline
These are all branches named in PSI's current salesperson outline. The teaching points below unpack each branch so you can move from recognition to application.
A. Basic concepts and terminology
Follow the borrower's obligation from the note through underwriting and the security instrument.
- Points, loan-to-value ratio, private mortgage insurance, interest, and PITI
- Debt ratios, credit scoring, credit history, and general underwriting
- Standard mortgage or deed-of-trust clauses and conditions
- Essential elements of a promissory note
B. Types of loans
Identify how repayment, insurance or guarantee, collateral, borrower, and purpose change the loan.
- Conventional loans
- Fully amortized, partially amortized balloon, and interest-only loans
- Adjustable-rate mortgages
- FHA-insured, VA-guaranteed, and USDA or Rural Development programs
- Owner financing, installment contracts, and contracts for deed
- Reverse mortgages
- Home-equity loans and lines of credit
- Construction loans
- Rehabilitation loans
- Bridge loans
C. Financing and lending
Match the transaction stage and prohibited conduct to the federal law or disclosure system.
- RESPA and kickback prohibitions
- Truth in Lending Act and Regulation Z advertising
- TRID requirements and time frames
- Equal Credit Opportunity Act
- Application through loan closing
- Risky features such as prepayment penalties and balloon payments
Complete lesson sequence
Work in order the first time. Each page connects the official topic to a full lesson, Georgia distinction, worked example, exam traps, original questions, mastery check, and recommended next lesson.
Lesson 70
Financing Instruments and Promissory Notes
Ask whether the document creates the debt, secures the debt, transfers lender rights, or clears the security record.
Lesson 71
Basic Real Estate Financing Concepts
Write the financing formula from the requested quantity, then distinguish debt cost from property value and equity.
Lesson 72
Mortgage Underwriting and Loan Qualification
Separate borrower risk, collateral risk, and program eligibility, then identify what evidence is still conditional.
Lesson 73
Loan Clauses and Default Remedies
Identify whether the fact changes maturity, transfer rights, lien priority, creditor identity, or personal liability.
Lesson 77
Owner Financing and Installment Land Contracts
Identify who is the creditor, who holds title, which liens remain, and who is personally liable on each debt.
Lesson 79
Federal Lending Laws: TILA, RESPA, ECOA, and TRID
Match cost-of-credit disclosure to TILA, settlement services and kickbacks to RESPA, and credit discrimination to ECOA.
High-value distinctions and exam traps
Use these after the complete lesson sequence. Each comparison puts easily confused terms into the same decision table, then tests the controlling fact in a new scenario.
Comparison 188
Mortgage Versus Security Deed Versus Promissory Note
Ask whether the document proves the debt, pledges collateral through a mortgage, or creates Georgia's title-conveying security interest.
Comparison 189
Lien Theory Versus Title Theory
Identify who holds legal title during the debt and what interest the security instrument creates.
Comparison 190
Fully Amortized Versus Balloon Versus Interest-Only Loan
Track how much of each payment reaches principal and whether any principal remains at maturity or after the interest-only period.
Comparison 191
Fixed-Rate Versus Adjustable-Rate Mortgage
Read the initial period, index, margin, adjustment frequency, initial and periodic caps, lifetime cap, and payment consequences.
Comparison 192
Conventional Versus FHA Versus VA Versus USDA Loans
Identify who insures or guarantees the loan, borrower and property eligibility, mortgage-insurance or funding-fee structure, and current program rules.
Comparison 193
PMI Versus FHA Mortgage Insurance
Identify the loan program first, then the insurer, premium structure, governing cancellation or duration rule, and who receives protection.
Comparison 194
Primary Versus Secondary Mortgage Market
Ask whether the event originates credit for a borrower or transfers an already-originated mortgage or security among market participants.
Comparison 195
Acceleration Versus Alienation Versus Defeasance Versus Prepayment
Match the fact to its trigger: default, transfer, full payoff, or early payment.
Comparison 196
RESPA Versus TILA Versus TRID Versus ECOA
Match the problem to settlement services, credit cost, integrated mortgage forms, or discriminatory credit treatment, then check coverage and exemptions.
Comparison 217
Foreclosure Versus Short Sale
Identify who is selling, whether title has passed through foreclosure, whether the lender approved reduced proceeds, and what the documents say about any remaining debt.
Georgia-specific distinction
Worked example: Separate the note from the security instrument
Scenario. A buyer signs one document promising to repay $280,000 and another document pledging Georgia real estate as security for that obligation.
Reason it through. The promise to repay is the promissory note. The Georgia real estate is commonly pledged through a security deed. If the question asks what creates the personal debt, choose the note. If it asks what gives the lender rights in the real estate, choose the security instrument.
Common exam traps
- Calling the promissory note the lien or security instrument
- Confusing FHA insurance with a direct FHA loan
- Using sale price rather than value in the denominator when the problem supplies an appraised value
- Treating RESPA and TILA as interchangeable
- Forgetting that an alienation clause addresses transfer while an acceleration clause makes the debt due
Original practice questions with explanations
Answer each question before opening the explanation. These are original instructional questions mapped to the official outline. They are not copied from PSI or a live exam.
Question 1Which document contains the borrower's promise to repay the loan?
- A. Promissory note
- B. Security deed
- C. Closing disclosure
- D. Title policy
Show answer and explanation →
Answer: A. Promissory note
The note is evidence of the debt and states repayment terms. The security instrument ties the obligation to the real estate.
Question 2A clause permits the lender to demand payment when the borrower transfers the property. Which clause is it?
- A. Defeasance
- B. Subordination
- C. Alienation
- D. Prepayment
Show answer and explanation →
Answer: C. Alienation
An alienation or due-on-sale clause addresses transfer of the property. Acceleration is the mechanism that can make the full balance due after a triggering default or event.
Question 3Which federal law most directly prohibits settlement-service kickbacks?
- A. ECOA
- B. RESPA
- C. ADA
- D. Sherman Act
Show answer and explanation →
Answer: B. RESPA
RESPA addresses settlement practices, including prohibited kickbacks and referral-fee arrangements involving covered settlement services.
Mastery tracking
Mark this area mastered only when every statement below is true.
- I can explain every official branch in plain English without notes.
- I can identify the Georgia distinction before reading the answer choices.
- I can solve a new scenario and state which fact controlled the answer.
- I can explain why each tempting distractor is wrong.
- I meet my accuracy target in mixed practice on at least two different days.
- I know which lesson to reopen when this area weakens.
Related lessons
Mortgage loan types
Compare repayment patterns and loan programs.
Georgia security deeds
Store the Georgia instrument separately from national terminology.
Financing formulas
Practice LTV, points, interest, and PITI.
Recommended next lesson
Continue with Contracts. Learn how financing terms, contingencies, and default rights enter the agreement.