RES EXAM
The Complete RES Paper 2 Revision Guide
Published 7 September 2026
The Complete RES Paper 2 Revision Guide
A structured revision map for the current 2026 RES Paper 2 syllabus, covering Competency Units 3 and 4 and showing what to know, distinguish and practise across every numbered topic.
What counts as Paper 2 for the 2026 RES examination
The 2026 RES examinations use the current RES examination syllabus linked by CEA. That syllabus is version 1.4, issued on 1 January 2026. Under it, Paper 2 tests Competency Unit 3 and Competency Unit 4.[1][2]
From 5 September 2026, each RES examination paper lasts 2.5 hours. Section A contains 60 one-mark multiple-choice questions. Section B contains 20 two-mark multiple-choice questions referring to one or two case studies.[1]
This guide is complete as a revision map of current Paper 2 topics, not as a reproduction of every underlying legal, regulatory, tax, finance or transaction rule. Where a topic depends on changing thresholds, rates, limits, procedures or other current values, use it as a prompt for further revision rather than treating the syllabus heading as the current substantive rule.
The revised RES examination syllabus applies to examinations from 1 January 2027. It therefore does not replace the current syllabus for a candidate preparing for a 2026 examination.[1][2]
CEA states that government policy changes announced or implemented within one month before the RES examination are not tested. This is a specific one-month rule, not a general reason to ignore recent policy or procedural changes when revising.[1]
How to turn syllabus coverage into Paper 2 practice
CEA distinguishes three cognitive levels: Remembering, Understanding and Applying. Level 3 attainment may be tested through direct questions or through practical scenarios or case studies. CEA's sample-question material also maps questions to a Competency Unit, Learning Outcome and Cognitive Level.[1][2][3]
A useful ConfirmPass study method is to work through each topic in three passes:
Identify the scope: be clear about the rule area, concept, transaction stage or calculation named by the syllabus.
Check the distinctions: make sure you can separate the concepts, categories or stages that the topic asks you to understand.
Practise application where appropriate: use a hypothetical fact pattern, sequence or calculation structure to test whether you can use what you revised.
The complete 2026 Paper 2 revision map
Paper 2 is built around Competency Units 3 and 4. Use the official numbered topics below as your revision backbone. The practice column is study guidance designed to turn each syllabus area into something you can actively test.[2]
This map is a study organiser, not an official topic weighting, prediction or list of likely traps. For topics involving changing rules, rates, limits, eligibility conditions, procedures or calculations, check the current substantive rule against current primary-authority material rather than inferring it from a syllabus heading or general contextual material. Practice examples should test only supported distinctions and should not add rules. Deeper-topic links are omitted rather than guessed; their absence says nothing about a topic's importance.
Paper 2 syllabus topic | What you need to know | What to practise |
|---|---|---|
3.1 Regulation of real estate agency industry | Estate Agents (Estate Agency Work) Regulations and CEA complaints-handling mechanisms. | Identify whether a fact pattern engages regulatory compliance or complaints handling. |
3.2 Role and functions of salespersons | Stages of a typical sale or lease transaction, plus verification of ownership and encumbrances. | Walk through a transaction sequence and identify the verification points. |
3.3 Principles of real estate marketing | Market segmentation, potential segments, target-market selection, positioning and marketing mix. | Apply the sequence from segmentation to target market, positioning and marketing mix. |
3.4 Types of listing | Different types of listing, including open and exclusive listings, and their importance. | Classify the listing type from the facts given. |
3.5 Methods of sale | Private treaty and possible sale by public auction or open or closed tender. | Distinguish the named methods without assuming additional procedural rules. |
3.6 Regulations on advertisements | Ethical-advertising requirements, PDPA marketing requirements and the Do Not Call Registry. | Identify which regulatory area a marketing scenario engages. |
3.7 Marketing of residential property | Pricing considerations such as tenure, location and condition, plus selection of a suitable method of sale. | Pick out facts relevant to pricing and method-of-sale reasoning. |
3.8 Marketing of commercial property | Strata versus non-strata classification and considerations for offices, retail shops, commercial schools, childcare centres and kindergartens. | Classify the property before identifying the marketing considerations that require attention. |
3.9 Marketing of industrial property | Types of occupation and tenure, plus operational considerations such as loading facilities, goods lifts and access roads. | Match property characteristics to the stated operational requirement. |
3.10 Marketing of special properties | Conservation properties, URA conservation guidelines and factors relevant to marketing conservation shophouses. | Identify conservation-specific considerations without assuming current detailed URA requirements. |
3.11 Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act | Unfair practices in real estate transactions and consumer recourse. | Separate the unfair-practice issue from the question of available recourse. |
4.1 Sale of uncompleted private properties | Housing Developers legislation and rules, the standard OTP and S&P agreement, and the sub-sale procedure. | Sequence the relevant documents and transaction stages. |
4.2 Sale of completed private properties | Caveat emptor, duty of disclosure, OTP and S&P agreements, and legal completion. | Distinguish the concepts and stages from those relevant to an uncompleted-property sale. |
4.3 Collective sale of private properties | Relevant Land Titles (Strata) Act provisions, requisite consent levels and collective-sale procedure. | Identify the stage or requirement being tested without assuming current numerical values. |
4.4 Sale of HDB flats | Buyer eligibility, EIP and SPR quota checks where applicable, and changing HDB policy and procedure. | Work through buyer, property and verification checks using separately confirmed current values where needed. |
4.5 Leasing of private properties | URA rules on minimum tenancy duration, maximum occupancy and partitioning, plus landlord ownership verification. | Identify the required checks in a leasing scenario without assuming current figures. |
4.6 Renting out HDB flats or bedrooms | Landlord eligibility, tenant eligibility, maximum tenant numbers and tenancy period. | Use a landlord, property and tenant compliance sequence. |
4.7 Foreign worker housing | Statutory accommodation requirements and Ministry of Manpower rules and regulations. | Identify the relevant regulatory area and present-day authority that must be checked. |
4.8 Taxes on property | Stamp duty, property tax, income tax and GST, including BSD, ABSD and SSD at prevailing rates where applicable. | Identify the tax first, then calculate only when current rates and inputs are available. |
4.9 Property finance and financial calculations | Property financing, LTV, MSR and TDSR limits, and calculations involving minimum cash, CPF and maximum loan quantum. | Practise identifying inputs and structuring calculations before inserting current limits or values. |
[2][3]
Competency Unit 3: revise topics 3.1 to 3.11
Competency Unit 3 runs from topic 3.1 through topic 3.11 and covers regulation, salesperson functions, real estate marketing, listing and sale methods, property-type marketing and consumer protection. Keep the official topic numbers as your navigation points rather than replacing them with a new hierarchy.[2]
3.1 Regulation of real estate agency industry
For topic 3.1, separate two revision tasks. First, know that compliance with the Estate Agents (Estate Agency Work) Regulations is within scope. Second, understand CEA's complaints-handling mechanisms. When practising, ask which of those two areas the facts are engaging rather than adding detailed rules that are not part of this revision map.[2]
3.2 Role and functions of salespersons
Topic 3.2 combines transaction process with verification. Understand the stages and process of a typical sale or lease transaction, and the use of available resources to verify property ownership and encumbrances. For practice, walk through a transaction in order and identify what should be done or verified at each stage.[2]
3.3 Principles of real estate marketing
Treat topic 3.3 as a connected sequence: market segmentation, identification of potential segments, selection of a target-market approach, then positioning and the marketing mix for each target segment. For practice, use a hypothetical property-marketing situation and work through that sequence without treating the example as an official or predicted examination question.[2]
3.4 Types of listing
Topic 3.4 requires you to differentiate the various types of listing covered by the syllabus, including open and exclusive listings, and understand their importance. Practise by classifying a listing from the facts stated. Keep the exercise at the level of the supported listing distinction rather than assuming additional contractual consequences.[2]
3.5 Methods of sale
Topic 3.5 covers private treaty and may also include public auction and open or closed tender. Start by recognising and distinguishing the named methods. Add detailed procedures only when the relevant current rules have been separately established.[2]
3.6 Regulations on advertisements
Topic 3.6 brings together the Practice Guidelines on Ethical Advertising for local and foreign properties, PDPA requirements for marketing and the Do Not Call Registry. Practise by identifying which regulatory area a marketing fact pattern engages. Do not reconstruct current detailed advertising requirements from the syllabus entry alone.[2]
3.7 Marketing of residential property
The residential-property topic includes factors affecting pricing, with tenure, location and condition named as examples, and choosing a method of sale suited to the property or circumstances. In a practice scenario, separate the facts that affect pricing from the facts that inform the method-of-sale choice.[2]
3.8 Marketing of commercial property
Topic 3.8 starts with classification: the syllabus requires candidates to ascertain whether a commercial property is strata or non-strata. It also calls for special consideration when marketing offices, retail shops, commercial schools, childcare centres and kindergartens. For practice, identify the property category first, then the considerations relevant to it.[2]
3.9 Marketing of industrial property
Topic 3.9 includes types of occupation and property tenure as well as operational considerations such as loading and unloading facilities, goods lifts and access roads. For practice, take a stated operational requirement and identify which of the named property characteristics matters to it, without adding further regulations that are not established here.[2]
3.10 Marketing of special properties
The special-properties topic centres on conservation properties. Candidates are expected to understand URA conservation guidelines and consider the advantages, disadvantages and factors crucial to marketing conservation shophouses. Revise those conservation-specific dimensions as the topic framework, while checking any detailed current URA requirement separately before relying on it.[2]
3.11 Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act
Topic 3.11 covers the Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act in relation to real estate transactions. Candidates need to determine what constitutes an unfair practice and understand consumer recourse for unfair practices. Revise the issue and the recourse question separately, without assuming current monetary limits or limitation periods from the syllabus wording.[2]
Competency Unit 4: revise topics 4.1 to 4.9
Competency Unit 4 runs from topic 4.1 through topic 4.9 and covers private-property sales, collective sales, HDB transactions, leasing and housing, property taxes and property finance. Some topics are primarily conceptual or procedural, while others expressly require work with prevailing rules or calculations.[2][3]
4.1 Sale of uncompleted private properties
Topic 4.1 includes applying the Housing Developers (Control & Licensing) Act 1965 and Housing Developers Rules, working with the standard OTP and S&P agreement, and understanding the procedure for sub-sale. Revise this as a document-and-stage sequence. Do not add deadlines or procedural values unless you have separately confirmed current support for them.[2]
4.2 Sale of completed private properties
For completed private properties, the syllabus includes caveat emptor, the duty of disclosure, competent use of OTP and S&P agreements and their legal effect, and legal completion of sale. This gives you a useful distinction from topic 4.1, which expressly covers the Housing Developers framework, standard documents and sub-sale procedure for uncompleted properties.[2]
4.3 Collective sale of private properties
Topic 4.3 requires candidates to work with relevant Land Titles (Strata) Act 1967 provisions on collective sales. Requisite consent levels and the collective-sale procedure are within scope. Practise identifying the stage or requirement a scenario engages, but do not infer the current consent percentage or procedural period from the syllabus entry itself.[2]
4.4 Sale of HDB flats
Topic 4.4 includes buyer eligibility conditions and EIP and SPR quota checks where applicable. The syllabus also expects candidates to keep abreast of policy and procedural changes relating to buying and selling HDB flats. For practice, work through the buyer, property and verification checks, but insert current thresholds, grants, periods, fees or process values only after separately confirming them.[2]
4.5 Leasing of private properties
Topic 4.5 includes URA residential-leasing regulations concerning minimum tenancy duration, maximum occupancy and partitioning. It also includes verification of the landlord's legal ownership. In practice, identify which checks the scenario requires, while treating any current occupancy figure or minimum-stay period as something that must be separately confirmed.[2]
4.6 Renting out HDB flats or bedrooms
For HDB renting, the syllabus covers landlord eligibility, tenant eligibility, the maximum number of tenants and the tenancy period. A useful way to organise revision is to check the landlord first, then the property context, then the tenant and tenancy conditions. Current limits and durations still need to be confirmed separately rather than inferred from the syllabus.[2]
4.7 Foreign worker housing
Topic 4.7 includes statutory requirements for foreign-worker accommodation and Ministry of Manpower rules and regulations on foreign-worker housing. Use the syllabus to identify the regulatory area to revise. Because this part of the syllabus contains legacy agency references, check present-day operational details against the relevant current authority before relying on them.[2]
4.8 Taxes on property
Topic 4.8 requires candidates to determine whether stamp duty, property tax, income tax and GST are payable. It also includes deciding whether a sale or subsale is subject to BSD, ABSD and/or SSD at prevailing rates, and computing GST on property sale, lease and agency services. Practise tax classification first, then calculation using separately confirmed current rates and inputs.[2]
4.9 Property finance and financial calculations
Topic 4.9 covers advising on financing of property purchases, LTV, MSR and TDSR limits, and calculations for minimum cash, allowable CPF and maximum loan quantum across different loan, property and buyer categories. The syllabus therefore gives you both a conceptual and a numerical revision task.[2][3]
For numerical practice, first identify the buyer, property, loan category and required output. Then set up the calculation structure before inserting current limits or values. CEA's sample-question material supports linking learning outcomes to the thinking required by questions, but it does not establish a special examination format for this particular topic.[1][2][3]
Revise Paper 2 as connected transactions, not isolated headings
The official topic numbers remain your syllabus anchors, but you can use cross-topic connections to organise revision around the way different issues meet within a transaction. The connections below are ConfirmPass study organisation, not an official CEA hierarchy or indication of examination frequency.
Useful connections to revisit together include:
3.2 with 4.1 and 4.2: connect transaction stages and verification with the documents and completion issues relevant to uncompleted and completed private-property sales.
3.6 with 3.7, 3.8, 3.9 and 3.10: keep general advertising regulation separate from the marketing considerations attached to different property types.
4.4, 4.5, 4.6 and 4.7: treat HDB sales, private leasing, HDB renting and foreign-worker housing as separate regulated contexts rather than assuming one eligibility or compliance framework applies to all of them.
4.8 with 4.9: separate the tax question from the financing question when both arise within the same wider transaction.
[2][3]
Use the map to find weak areas, then practise them
Use each row of the map as a self-check:
Can you identify what the numbered syllabus topic covers?
Can you explain or distinguish the concepts and categories identified for that topic?
Where application is required, can you work through the relevant scenario, sequence or calculation structure?
[2]
If one of those checks exposes a gap, return to that numbered topic instead of rereading Paper 2 indiscriminately. After reviewing the weak area, move into question practice to test understanding and application rather than treating reading alone as completion. This is a study method, not official CEA diagnostic guidance, and it does not guarantee an examination outcome.[1][2][3]
When you are ready to test the weak areas you identified, create or sign in to your ConfirmPass account and start practising Paper 2 questions.