• 64 questions

Real Estate Trivia Questions and Answers

From the size of an acre to a house built out of spite, for an open house or client evening.

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What is the edge of a lot that runs along the street called?

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All 64 questions with answers

Land and how it is measured 12

  • A description of land by landmarks and compass directions walks around the parcel in sequence. Where does it end? Answer: Back at the point of beginning. Source: Wikipedia: Metes and bounds
  • A survey section is about one square mile. How many acres is that? Answer: 640. Source: Wikipedia: Public Land Survey System
  • The first land surveyed under the rectangular system was the Seven Ranges. In which present-day state is it? Answer: Ohio. Source: Wikipedia: Public Land Survey System
  • How many square feet are there in one acre? Answer: 43,560. Source: Wikipedia: Acre
  • If an acre is laid out as a square, about how long is each side? Answer: About 208 feet. Source: Wikipedia: Acre
  • In the rectangular survey of the United States, how many sections make up a township? Answer: 36. Source: Wikipedia: Public Land Survey System
  • Under the act of 1785, section 16 of every township was set aside. For what? Answer: Schools. Source: Wikipedia: Public Land Survey System
  • What is the edge of a lot that runs along the street called? Answer: The frontage. Source: Wikipedia: Land lot
  • When a developer cuts land into lots, on what kind of recorded map is the layout drawn? Answer: A plat. Source: Wikipedia: Land lot
  • Which law created the rectangular survey of public land in the United States? Answer: The Land Ordinance of 1785. Source: Wikipedia: Public Land Survey System
  • Which older system describes a parcel by landmarks, directions and distances, such as a stone wall or a creek? Answer: Metes and bounds. Source: Wikipedia: Metes and bounds
  • Which shape must an acre of land be? Answer: No set shape at all. Source: Wikipedia: Acre

Deeds, titles and the closing 13

  • The "real" in real estate comes from the Latin word res. What does res mean? Answer: Thing. Source: Wikipedia: Real property
  • A lien is a claim on property that secures a debt. The word goes back to a Latin verb meaning what? Answer: To bind. Source: Wikipedia: Lien
  • A stack of lumber in a yard is a chattel. What does the law call it once it is built into a fence on the land? Answer: A fixture. Source: Wikipedia: Fixture (property law)
  • Allodial title aside, which is the amplest form of land ownership in common law? Answer: Fee simple absolute. Source: Wikipedia: Fee simple
  • An indenture was a deed written out in matching parts, one for each party. How were the parts once separated? Answer: By a cut along a wavy line. Source: Wikipedia: Deed
  • By which other name is the closing of a real estate sale known? Answer: The settlement. Source: Wikipedia: Closing (real estate)
  • In the Middle Ages, a coin handed over to bind a bargain went by several names. Which was one of them? Answer: God's silver. Source: Wikipedia: Earnest payment
  • The phrase "signed, sealed and delivered" comes from deeds. Which old practice does it recall? Answer: Fixing a seal to the deed. Source: Wikipedia: Deed
  • What is the deposit called that a buyer puts down to show a serious offer? Answer: Earnest money. Source: Wikipedia: Earnest payment
  • Which document passes ownership of real estate from the old owner to the new one? Answer: A deed. Source: Wikipedia: Deed
  • Which right lets someone use land they do not own, such as a road across a neighbor's lot? Answer: An easement. Source: Wikipedia: Easement
  • Who holds the money while a sale is in escrow? Answer: A third party. Source: Wikipedia: Escrow
  • The word escrow comes from an Old French word. What did it mean? Answer: A scroll or a scrap of paper. Source: Wikipedia: Escrow

House styles by name 13

  • A roof that runs down below the main eave on one side has an animal in its name. What is it called? Answer: A catslide roof. Source: Wikipedia: Saltbox house
  • Brownstone gives a kind of townhouse its name. What sort of rock is it? Answer: Sandstone. Source: Wikipedia: Brownstone
  • By which other name is the long, low ranch-style house known? Answer: A rambler. Source: Wikipedia: Ranch-style house
  • Condominium is a made-up Latin word. What does it mean? Answer: Joint ownership. Source: Wikipedia: Condominium
  • For what purpose were bungalows first built in the United States? Answer: As vacation homes. Source: Wikipedia: Bungalow
  • How are a shotgun house's rooms arranged? Answer: One behind the other, in single file. Source: Wikipedia: Shotgun house
  • In Manhattan, what is an apartment spread over two floors with its own indoor staircase called? Answer: A duplex. Source: Wikipedia: Duplex (building)
  • The name "Cape Cod house" was coined following an 1800 visit to the Cape. What post did the man who coined it hold? Answer: President of a university. Source: Wikipedia: Cape Cod (house)
  • The pent in penthouse has nothing to do with being shut in. The word goes back to an Old French term for what? Answer: An attached building. Source: Wikipedia: Penthouse apartment
  • What is the steep outside staircase of a New York row house called? Answer: A stoop. Source: Wikipedia: Brownstone
  • What marks out a camelback shotgun house? Answer: A rear second floor. Source: Wikipedia: Shotgun house
  • What stands at the center of a traditional Cape Cod house? Answer: A large chimney. Source: Wikipedia: Cape Cod (house)
  • Which New England house, two stories in front and one behind, is named after a slant-lidded wooden box? Answer: The saltbox. Source: Wikipedia: Saltbox house

Leases, zoning and the home inspection 13

  • A "four-point inspection" looks at the roof, the electrical system, the plumbing and what else? Answer: The heating and cooling. Source: Wikipedia: Home inspection
  • A home inspector reports on a house's condition. What does an appraiser determine instead? Answer: What the property is worth. Source: Wikipedia: Home inspection
  • Among large American cities, which one stands alone in having no zoning ordinances? Answer: Houston. Source: Wikipedia: Zoning
  • Eminent domain lets a government take private property. For what kind of use? Answer: Public use. Source: Wikipedia: Eminent domain
  • In a lease, who is the lessee? Answer: The one who pays to use the property. Source: Wikipedia: Lease
  • New York tenements built to the "Old Law" had air shafts pinched into each side. Which shape did that give the floor plan? Answer: A dumbbell. Source: Wikipedia: Tenement
  • The term eminent domain comes from a treatise of 1625. Who wrote it? Answer: Hugo Grotius, a Dutch jurist. Source: Wikipedia: Eminent domain
  • What does a zoning variance give a property owner? Answer: An exception to the zoning rules. Source: Wikipedia: Zoning
  • Which city adopted the first zoning rules in the United States to cover a whole city, in 1916? Answer: New York City. Source: Wikipedia: Zoning
  • Which kind of camera lets a home inspector see where a house loses heat? Answer: An infrared camera. Source: Wikipedia: Home inspection
  • Which kind of tenancy can either the landlord or the tenant end at any time with reasonable notice? Answer: A tenancy at will. Source: Wikipedia: Lease
  • Which of these is a standard home inspection not meant to do? Answer: Check the house against building codes. Source: Wikipedia: Home inspection
  • Zoning that allows one kind of use in each district is called Euclidean. After what? Answer: A village in Ohio. Source: Wikipedia: Zoning

Odd corners of the trade 13

  • At an old-fashioned Southern housewarming called a Food Pounder, what did each guest bring? Answer: A pound of a staple food. Source: Wikipedia: Housewarming party
  • By one story, Boston's Skinny House of 1874 was built by a returning soldier to block the sunlight and the view of whom? Answer: His brother. Source: Wikipedia: Spite house
  • The French name for a housewarming party means the hanging of what? Answer: The chimney hook. Source: Wikipedia: Housewarming party
  • In 1814 a doctor in Frederick, Maryland, learned that no road could be cut where a substantial building was going up. What did he do to stop a road through his land? Answer: Had a foundation poured at once. Source: Wikipedia: Spite house
  • In 1830 a man in Alexandria, Virginia, built a two-story house in the alley beside his home to keep wagons and loiterers out. How wide is it? Answer: 7 feet. Source: Wikipedia: Spite house
  • In Britain, what is gazumping? Answer: A seller takes a higher offer after accepting one. Source: Wikipedia: Gazumping
  • In real estate, what is a holdout? Answer: A property whose owner would not sell to a developer. Source: Wikipedia: Holdout (real estate)
  • Some contracts say a house was sold for "ten dollars and other good and valuable consideration". Why word it that way? Answer: To keep the real price out of the public record. Source: Wikipedia: Peppercorn (law)
  • What do sellers call the look of a property as seen from the street? Answer: Curb appeal. Source: Wikipedia: Curb appeal
  • What is a house called when it is built mainly to irritate a neighbor? Answer: A spite house. Source: Wikipedia: Spite house
  • What is it called in Britain when a buyer cuts the offer at the last moment, just before contracts are exchanged? Answer: Gazundering. Source: Wikipedia: Gazumping
  • Which fruit was an extravagant housewarming gift in Europe and America in the 17th and 18th centuries? Answer: The pineapple. Source: Wikipedia: Housewarming party
  • The word housewarming was once meant literally. What did each guest bring to a new house? Answer: Firewood. Source: Wikipedia: Housewarming party

How it works

How many square feet make an acre, and what did guests once carry to a housewarming? These real estate trivia questions and answers give the reason with every answer and link the page it was checked on.

Read the full guide

Trivia questions about the real estate industry

Land and how it is measured counts acres, sections and townships. Deeds, titles and the closing asks where the words escrow and lien come from. Leases, zoning and the home inspection holds four real estate inspection trivia questions, from the four-point check to the camera that finds lost heat.

Funny real estate trivia questions

Odd corners of the trade is the light round: houses built to annoy a neighbor, a sale price of ten dollars and two British words for a deal gone sour. House styles by name covers the saltbox, the shotgun house, the brownstone and the bungalow.

  • At an office party, run Odd corners of the trade first: nobody needs a license for it.

Questions and answers

What is an easy real estate trivia question?

How many sections make up a survey township? What is the edge of a lot along the street called? What do sellers call the look of a house from the street? The answers are 36, the frontage and curb appeal.

What are some fun real estate trivia questions and answers?

What is a house built to annoy a neighbor called? A spite house. What did housewarming guests once bring? Firewood. What is it called in Britain when a seller takes a higher offer after accepting yours? Gazumping.

How big is an acre?

43,560 square feet, or 4,840 square yards. An acre has no set shape. Laid out as a square, it is about 208 feet on each side, and 640 acres make a square mile.

How were the answers checked?

On October 9, 2026, each against the English Wikipedia article linked beside it, 33 articles in all, from Acre to Zoning. Prices, rates and anything else a market changes were left out.

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