6 reasons why Real Property is so difficult and what to do to prepare

Reasons why Real Property is considered one of the most difficult MBE topics:

• Long fact patterns;
• "Race/Race-Notice" statutes to read and (possibly) apply;
• Multiple conveyances;
• "Dry" subject matter;
• Passage of time since Property course(s) taken in law school;
• Lack of familiarity with mortgages

Long fact patterns.  The effect can be mitigated by skipping questions and coming back to them when done with the rest of the test. 

The more difficult questions contain multiple conveyances, often resulting in the bar taker resorting to sketching out a barely legible chart in the margin.  This may be an effective strategy for these difficult questions, but it wastes time.  Better to know the rule, get your facts straight, pick the answer, and move on.

Most law students take Property 1L year.  It's been a while.

Many younger law students don't have life experience with real estate, mortgages, banks, etc.

The way I think Property is best approached is by breaking it down into a few MAIN categories (the subject of an upcoming post...stay tuned). 

Landlord - Tenant Law, also known as "Leaseholds" or "Leasehold Estates," is straightforward for the most part.  Here is a "skeleton" outline to help you identify the major issues of Landlord/Tenant Law

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Landlord / Tenant Law "Skeleton" Outline

Quickly determining money damages for Contracts on Bar Exam

If you have the ability to extract the two most relevant facts from each fact pattern, you can determine (1) the correct formula to use, and (2) the right dollar amount.  This is an area where a little memorization is key.  You need to know what you are looking for, what formula applies, and what each part of the formula should be calculated as.  Just like algebra.

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