How You Can Pass Your Real Estate License Exam on Your First Try
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150 questions, 3 hours, at least a 70%? You got this! If you’re a prospective real estate agent, then one of the first steps to launching your career as an agent or broker is to pass the real estate exam in your state. And if you’re looking for a way to ace that exam then you have come to the right place.
For today’s blog, exclusive for our Core members, we will be sharing with you our tips, tricks, and study habits that are most useful when preparing for the licensure exam. But before we get into that you must be wondering just how hard is the real estate exam.
The real estate license exams are designed to be difficult to pass, so they can weed out people who are not going to be skilled agents. Though the pass rate varies based on the state exam, they hover around 50% across the country. This means only about half of the people who take a state licensing exam pass. Sometimes, when applying for a real estate license, applicants will fail the test because they are not good test-takers.
These applicants would be better advised to get a degree in real estate so they know the material. For those who can’t afford the fee, it’s best not to fail. The bottom line is clear: many people fail the real estate exam on their first try. Does that mean that the real estate exam is hard? In a way it does, but it is also much more complicated than that. The real estate exam is a knowledge test. It does not test applicants on information that they will intuitively know. In other words, you must study to pass this exam.
Yes, studying for the exam is very much important. But there are some misconceptions that you need to know first. You might think that you need to read every single word while studying, and just be the best student in the class. Though this certainly helps on the test, especially the reading each word one, it is not absolutely necessary. It is not the smartest and best way to use your time. There are a lot of topics in the course that you won’t see on your actual exam, plus most of them will not show up when you’re actually working as a real estate agent.
If you find yourself getting burned out from reading all your real estate courses, just take it easy. Know that you can skim some of your study materials and still do extremely well on your license exam. Because the last thing that we want to happen is you getting burned out during the course, or, worse, never finishing it because of all the reading. Don’t worry, the fun part begins when you start studying for the actual exam because this is where what you study and how you study really makes a difference.
So, If you’re putting pressure on yourself to perform, then it’s time to ease up the gas and apply these tips to help you study smarter and better. The first thing that you’d want to do is to create a study schedule. A study schedule will help you take the time to focus on the material. As an example, you can study from Monday to Friday from 6:00 to 8:00 PM. You can also opt for different studying days like Monday, Wednesday, and Friday where you can set your own schedule because it’ll be your responsibility.
The reason why study schedules are so effective is that it’s a commitment to studying. Studying without a schedule will make you feel lost and it will make studying hard. When something is hard, we tend to procrastinate to avoid doing it. To stay focused during study hours, go somewhere private and do not use your phone or any other distractions. You need to know that it is important to be there with your books and your work, forgetting everything else around you.
You can set up your schedule to learn different topics based on the date or time. For example, for the first two weeks of your schedule, focus on real estate principles, followed by the following two weeks dedicated to real estate practice. When you break down the material, it’s easier to understand it and schedule the tasks in a way that suits you. And it doesn’t matter when you study, so long as it’s consistent.
And just like what we’ve talked about before, don’t overstudy. The key to successful studying is setting limits. Making sure not to spend more than three hours on a given study session will help you avoid burnout and stay focused. Short study sessions are safe and productive. And you should periodically stop studying to avoid fatigue, frustration and difficulty understanding the information. If you study all day long, you have trouble absorbing your reading material.
Because overexertion leads to the feeling of burnout, or the exhaustion following a period of overwork. Once you get to the burnout zone- a state of mental and physical exhaustion- you will feel too fatigued to even think about starting work. Remember to conduct your study session in short intervals to focus, digest, and absorb. This brings us back to our first tip which is to create a study schedule. Two-hour study sessions combined with a daily or alternating daily schedule is a great way to keep a steady, productive moment when studying for the real estate exam.
A way to avoid overstudying is to take notes. To prepare for the exam, make a few notes and note cards. You will also want to use a digital note card program to keep these close at hand. Review your notes constantly while you have time. Don’t pitch the note cards when you’re finished with them. Use them as a tool to keep the information fresh in your mind.
Don’t forget to go over the material frequently. The more you practice your new knowledge, the easier it will be for you to remember it when you prepare for the exam. You might find that certain words are too difficult or have complicated meanings. In that case, make note cards of these words and review them regularly.
This leads us to anothert tip to avoid overstudying which is to read a whole summary of your real estate course. Doing this should take you around 6 to 10 hours. And if you’re taking your real estate course online, there will be chapter summaries that you can go over. If it’s another type of online course or you’re taking an in-person course, they should also have some type of summary that you can use.
What you need to do with these chapter summaries is you need to read each of them, take note of all the key words or key vocabularies like riparian rights or eminent domain, and memorize each one of them as those things will for sure show up on the license exam. Yes, you might get overwhelmed with the information but that is the reason why it is important to go through these more concise summaries and try to remember all the significant details. In fact, reading those summaries will surely help you in the next phase of exam preparation.
The next one is to find some type of exam preparation. The weeks prior to your license exam is very, very important because this is the time when you would want to immerse yourself with every possible practice question that ever exists. One way you could do this is to sign up in a type of practice question bank. A practice test is a good idea to help you know if you are ready for the real estate license exam. It will give examples of the types of questions that are usually asked. And the more practice you get, the more prepared you will be for the real test.
Taking a practice test multiple times before the real one will save you time and money in the long run. So why do we need to give emphasis on taking some practice tests? Because in the exam they wouldn’t be asking questions like defining riparian rights. There will be a different way to ask, and through practice tests, you will get a really good sense of how they format these questions. We guarantee that if you memorize over a thousand of these questions and answers, at the same time, you understand the reasoning for them then you will surely pass the exam on your first try.
And that is why you need to challenge yourself. Everyone has that topic they’re always struggling to learn. Instead of hoping the material won’t show up on the real estate exam, try to understand it and learn it. Once you feel like you’ve found your study strengths, go back to the area that you had the most trouble with. Don’t be eager to dismiss those skills and say they weren’t good enough. The best thing you can do is to analyze the subject in detail and go over areas that you don’t understand. Take your time to go through the list of topics and research again. Yes, it may take some time. But, it will be worth it.
Our next tip would probably the funniest one. Once you finish your study session, it is extremely important that you take a rest before the real estate exam. Take time to relax in order to destress and stay collected. Relaxing techniques such as going out for a walk can help you stay calm.
Too much studying leaves you stressed – you have to let that out! The best way to prep for the state exams is to get a little shut eye before the exam. Before you go to sleep, make sure you study and do your homework, so you don’t stay up late. Otherwise, you’ll feel tired and sleepy. Sleep allows your mind to stay sharp and have more energy the morning of the real estate exam. This will help you to feel refreshed when you take it.
And what is studying and relaxing, if you can do both with your friends. The next tip we have for you is to create a study group. Studying by yourself gives you your own private space and independence. You can tackle a subject in your own time, you have the freedom to go through two pages of text if it’s of interest or just read one page.
But, you get even more advantages when you create a study group. For example, generating an impromptu quiz is much easier because you’re able to bounce questions off of each other. Instead of simply covering your book and asking yourself, other people can now test you. Two people are better than one, imagine if you had four or five people, how much more productive would that be? And why do we think it’s effective? Accountability is a big factor in what makes a study group effective. A study buddy, who often has similar goals as you, can offer moral and emotional support.
That support can keep you on track when feelings of discouragement start to creep in. But, here’s one of the unspoken perks of studying together. One of the most effective ways to learn is by explaining it to someone else. A study group is a space that lets people learn from each other, which benefits everyone.
This next tip is what you should remember when taking the test: don’t overthink it. If you overthink the exam, your stress level will rise and it will make it harder for you to focus. There is a high chance of exam anxiety when test-takers are under pressure. As a result, they forget key information and terminology during their examination. And if this is your routine, remember to take deep breaths and stay grounded. Whenever you are confused by a question, don’t overthink it. Just remember that a five-dollar bill is still worth five dollars. Most definitions in real estate are straightforward. Don’t question the question.
And lastly, the most important tip, stay positive. In the end, your attitude will have a big impact on your success. Don’t get bogged down in the subject matter or details of your pre-license education. Just do your best and keep a positive attitude throughout. If you go into the test focused and with the right attitude, then you will be more likely to succeed. Worst case, if you don’t pass the real estate exam, simply take it again. If you learned from your mistakes and need to retake a course, and then try again.
And these are our tips that we want to share to you to surely pass that real estate license exam in your first try. Remember passing the exam is hard work, but after it’s all over, you can now get a career off the ground. However, it can be difficult to do so. Therefore, this can be a good time to look for a sponsoring broker. New brokers can find success by seeking out a managing broker. Some benefits of hiring a managing broker are that they provide support in the form of experienced, knowledgeable professionals and attract clients to your business with their extensive roster.
After working as a real estate agent for a while with a sponsoring broker, consider continuing your education. Education is important when you career in real estate. You should consider continuing education to make sure you have fine tuned skills. With continuing education, you might be ready to launch an independent real estate career without being overseen by a sponsor. The real estate exam is a necessary step on the path to getting your license. Take the time to study, take exams prep courses to help you practice, and you will have a good chance of success. If you struggle, remember that you can always retake the course and the exam, solidifying what has been learned.
And remember that there’s no magic formula when studying for the real estate exam. The best advice that you can apply is to best prepare for the real estate exam, make a schedule and stick to it over a period of at least two months. This will give you plenty of time to break up the task of studying for the real estate exam into more manageable study blocks. As long as you remain determined, you will succeed.
That’s it for this blog CORE Member. What do you think of the tips and tricks we’ve shared? What study style do you think works best for you? Let us know in the comments below. And don’t forget to subscribe to our channel, click the notification bell, and like this blog. If you think that we have delivered value please share this blog with one person. Just one share is enough for us, for you to show your appreciation for the commitment and hard work we all put together in creating this blog that teaches and helps you on your mission of building your own fortune.
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