The T-Method: One Setup for Most Real Estate Math
Most exam math — commissions, loan interest, cap rates, tax rates — is one relationship wearing different clothes: a part equals a total multiplied by a rate. The T-method is the standard way to organize it so the setup, not luck, picks the operation.
Enter any two values below and the solver fills in the third, showing the operation it used — the same move you'll make on paper on exam day.
The formula
Part = Total × Rate · Total = Part ÷ Rate · Rate = Part ÷ Total
- Part
- the smaller piece: commission $, annual interest $, NOI, tax due
- Total
- the whole: sale price, loan amount, property value, assessed value
- Rate
- the percentage connecting them
Try it live
Every intermediate step is shown — the goal is that on exam day you can run the same chain on paper.
Solver — enter the two you know
- Setup usedRate = 15,000 ÷ 250,000
- Answer
- 6%
The method, worked in exam style
A property sells for $250,000 and the seller pays a $15,000 commission. What commission rate was charged?
- Identify the pieces: the commission ($15,000) is the Part; the sale price ($250,000) is the Total; the Rate is missing.
- Missing rate → divide the Part by the Total: 15,000 ÷ 250,000 = 0.06.
- Convert to a percentage: 0.06 = 6%.
Answer: 6%
The classic trap
The classic distractor divides the wrong direction — 250,000 ÷ 15,000 ≈ 16.7 — or multiplies when it should divide. If your 'rate' comes out over 100% or your 'part' is bigger than the total, the setup is upside down.
Practice problems
Work each on paper first, then open the solution. If your setup differs from the solution's first line, that — not arithmetic — is what to fix.
1. A lender charges $8,750 annual interest on a $125,000 interest-only loan. What is the interest rate?
Show the solution
- Interest paid is the Part; the loan amount is the Total.
- Rate = Part ÷ Total = 8,750 ÷ 125,000 = 0.07.
Answer: 7%
2. An investor wants $21,600 per year from an investment yielding 8%. How much must be invested?
Show the solution
- The desired income is the Part; the yield is the Rate; the investment is the missing Total.
- Total = Part ÷ Rate = 21,600 ÷ 0.08 = 270,000.
Answer: $270,000
3. A house is assessed at $180,000 and taxed at 2.5% of assessed value. What is the annual tax?
Show the solution
- Assessed value is the Total; the tax rate is the Rate; tax due is the Part.
- Part = Total × Rate = 180,000 × 0.025 = 4,500.
Answer: $4,500
Math is one domain — the diagnostic measures all of them
The free 24-question adaptive diagnostic finds the difficulty level where your setup breaks down — in math and every other blueprint domain — and reports a Readiness Score with a stated confidence range.
Keep going: Commission splits · Cap rate · Real Estate Math on the exam
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