10 exam-style questions with answers and explanations, straight from our 1,030-question bank. Tap an answer to check yourself. When you're ready, take the scored version in the free practice test.
These 10 free CAE questions are organized by exam domain, so you can see how each part of the Certified Association Executive blueprint is tested. Reveal the answer and explanation under each question.
A comparable house sold for $425,000, including movable furnishings independently valued at $15,000. Unlike the subject, it has a pool that contributes $18,000 to value, but it lacks the subject's two-car garage. Paired sales support a $20,000 garage contribution; constructing the garage would cost $45,000. No other adjustments are warranted. What adjusted sale price indicates the subject's real estate value?
Correct answer: B - $412,000
For an office assessment, the governing valuation requirement is the fee simple interest, unencumbered by the existing private lease. The building has eight years remaining on a below-market lease. Reliable market rents and capitalization rates for the required interest are available. How should the income analysis reflect that requirement?
Correct answer: A - Use market rent and a capitalization rate consistent with the fee simple interest.
A building constructed 30 years ago has been renovated. Its supported effective age is 15 years and its remaining economic life is 45 years. Replacement cost new, including all applicable indirect costs and entrepreneurial incentive, is $1,200,000; land value is $240,000. The age-life method is stipulated to capture all improvement depreciation for this assignment. The cost approach indicates a total property value of:
Correct answer: D - $1,140,000
An improved site would have apartments as its highest and best use if vacant. Continued office use supports a current property value of $2.8 million. Apartment redevelopment is legally and physically possible, but its present residual value is $2.4 million after demolition, construction, carrying costs, and required developer return, before land acquisition cost. Both indications concern the same property interest and date. The supported highest and best use as improved is:
Correct answer: A - Continued office use, because it produces the greater current value under the stated alternatives.
A shopping center has stabilized annual effective gross income of $520,000 and annual operating expenses of $160,000 excluding real property taxes. Its owner also pays $90,000 in annual mortgage debt service. Comparable sales support a 7.5% overall capitalization rate derived from income after property taxes and before debt service; reserve treatment is consistent. The jurisdiction assesses 60% of market value and taxes that assessment at 25 mills, without exemptions or caps. Using property-tax loading, what market value is indicated?
Correct answer: C - $4,000,000
A ratio study of a newer, homogeneous subdivision uses verified sales representative of the neighborhood. It reports a median appraisal-to-sale ratio of 1.00, a coefficient of dispersion (COD) of 16.0, and a price-related differential (PRD) of 1.01. Appraisals are intended to reflect full market value. Which interpretation correctly separates assessment level from uniformity?
Correct answer: D - The sample's median is on target, but dispersion exceeds the guidance for this property group.
Bank-owned resales account for 35% of transactions in a residential market. A bank's resale of an undamaged home had normal market exposure, competitive unrelated offers, and typical cash-equivalent terms. The bank faced no order to sell regardless of price, and recorded property characteristics are accurate for both the sale and assessment dates. A reviewer excludes the sale solely because the seller was a lender. What treatment is consistent with IAAO sales-validation guidance?
Correct answer: B - Include it as verified market evidence; lender ownership alone does not invalidate this resale.
During an authorized inspection of a vacant commercial building, an assessment appraiser notices a strong gas odor and hears hissing near a utility room. The building manager reaches for the light switch to investigate. What is the appraiser's immediate priority?
Correct answer: C - Leave with the manager, avoid operating switches, and call 911 from a safe location.
Consider a relief program that credits an eligible household for property tax exceeding 5% of household income, up to a $1,500 annual credit. The program leaves the property's appraisal unchanged and creates no repayment obligation. This relief is classified as:
Correct answer: C - An income-based circuit breaker.
Under a jurisdiction's stated rules, annual growth in taxable value is limited while ownership continues, but a sale resets taxable value to current market value. Two otherwise identical houses are each correctly appraised at $500,000. The long-held house has a taxable value of $280,000; the recently sold house has a taxable value of $500,000. Their nominal tax rates and exemptions are identical. What does this comparison demonstrate?
Correct answer: D - Ownership history can produce unequal taxable bases even when current market-value appraisals agree.
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