Where this fits on the exam
| Official syllabus topic | Real Estate Practice in Georgia: Listings and Agency |
|---|---|
| Official PSI group | Real Estate Practice in Georgia |
| Published group count | 21 of the 52 Georgia questions |
| Exam portion | Georgia salesperson supplement |
| Source edition | PSI Georgia Candidate Information Bulletin dated July 1, 2026 |
The Rule
PSI publishes 16, 21, and 15 items for the three Georgia groups. It does not publish a guaranteed subtopic count. The statute, current GREC rule, contract, or other cited primary authority controls each lesson.
The lesson
Broker is the contracting party
The engagement is with the broker or licensed firm, even when an affiliated licensee performs most services.
Defined scope
Services, property or search scope, duration, compensation, exclusivity, and termination should be clear enough to apply without inventing authority.
Statutory floor
The parties may change or add duties only in a signed writing, and the engagement cannot waive license-law requirements, duties owed to other parties, or BRRETA's limits on engagement terms.
Compensation is separate
Section 10-6A-11 says payment or a promise of compensation does not by itself determine whether a brokerage relationship exists.
Decision rule
Georgia rule and national contrast
Worked Georgia example
Scenario. A buyer pays a broker a showing fee but signs no buyer brokerage engagement.
Reason it through. Compensation alone does not determine the brokerage relationship under Section 10-6A-11. The broker must look to the actual written engagement and disclosed role.
Answer. The fee by itself does not make the buyer a client.
Common exam traps
- Using payment as the relationship test
- Treating the salesperson as the only contracting party
- Ignoring expiration
- Assuming every clause can waive statutory duties
Original practice questions with detailed explanations
These are original instructional questions mapped to the July 1, 2026 PSI outline. They are not copied from PSI or a live examination. Choose an answer before opening the explanation.
Question 1A buyer pays a Georgia broker a $150 fee to be shown several homes but never signs a buyer brokerage engagement. What is the buyer's status with that broker?
- A. Client, because paying the broker creates the relationship.
- B. Customer, because payment alone does not create a client.
- C. Client, but only for the homes the buyer paid to see.
- D. Customer, unless the broker shows the buyer a second home.
Show answer and explanation →
Answer: B. Customer, because payment alone does not create a client.
BRRETA says paying or promising compensation does not by itself decide whether a brokerage relationship exists. With no brokerage engagement, the buyer is a customer. The plausible mistake is treating the fee as proof of representation.
- A. Incorrect. A fee alone does not create the brokerage engagement needed for client status.
- B. Correct. Without an engagement, the buyer is a customer even though the buyer paid for showings.
- C. Incorrect. Payment for particular showings does not create limited client status for those homes.
- D. Incorrect. A second showing does not change the relationship; an engagement does.
Question 2A salesperson at Oak Realty gets a seller to sign a listing engagement and then moves to Pine Realty a month later. With whom is the listing engagement?
- A. The salesperson personally, who negotiated and signed it.
- B. Pine Realty, because a listing follows the licensee.
- C. The salesperson and the broker together, as co-agents.
- D. Oak Realty, because engagements are made with the broker.
Show answer and explanation →
Answer: D. Oak Realty, because engagements are made with the broker.
A brokerage engagement is a contract with the broker or licensed firm, even when an affiliated licensee does most of the work. The listing stays with Oak Realty when the salesperson leaves. The affiliated salesperson's work does not make that salesperson the contracting broker.
- A. Incorrect. The affiliated salesperson acts for Oak Realty rather than holding the engagement personally.
- B. Incorrect. Changing firms does not automatically assign Oak Realty's contract to Pine Realty.
- C. Incorrect. The engagement is with the broker or firm, not a personal co-agency contract with the salesperson.
- D. Correct. The seller engaged Oak Realty, and the salesperson's departure does not transfer that engagement.
Question 3A listing engagement states that the broker will not present any offer received after the seller accepts a contract. How should a candidate treat that clause?
- A. It cannot override the rule that offers be presented, so they still are.
- B. It controls, because the seller agreed to it in a signed writing.
- C. It controls only if the seller initialed the clause separately.
- D. It turns the listing into a transaction brokerage arrangement.
Show answer and explanation →
Answer: A. It cannot override the rule that offers be presented, so they still are.
BRRETA requires a seller's broker to timely present all offers, even while the property is under contract, and GREC Rule 520-1-.10 separately requires a licensee to promptly tender every signed offer to the client. A listing clause cannot waive a Commission rule. The signed-writing answer is plausible because BRRETA lets the parties change their duties in a signed writing, but that does not override license-law requirements.
- A. Correct. The signed listing cannot excuse the licensee from the Commission's offer-presentation rule.
- B. Incorrect. A signed agreement cannot waive a separate, mandatory GREC requirement.
- C. Incorrect. Separate initials do not override the Commission's prompt-presentation rule.
- D. Incorrect. This clause does not create transaction brokerage or remove the seller-client relationship.
Ready to move on?
You are ready for the next lesson when all of these are true.
- Identify the broker or firm that is the party to the engagement.
- Read the agreed services, term, compensation, and termination provisions.
- Explain why payment alone does not create a client relationship.
- Answer the practice questions without looking back, then explain why the other choices fail.
- Explain the worked example in your own words and identify the fact that decides the answer.
- Retest this topic on another day in a mixed question set.
Recommended next lesson
Continue with Dual Agency and Designated Agency in Georgia. The dual agency article picks up the conflict terms an engagement has to address, showing when one broker may represent both sides with everyone's written consent and how designated agency splits the work between two licensees in the same firm.
Return to the Real Estate Practice in Georgia hub for the complete official branch and the full lesson list for this Georgia group.