Once you’ve decided to take that step and get into the real estate profession, you need to know the procedures to comply. Before you can start selling and representing clients, you must pass your state’s real estate exam first.
Maybe you’ve never been a good test taker, or perhaps with your job and family, you don’t have much time to study–what are the hacks and tips to help you pass your real estate exam so that you can get started in a career of real estate as quickly as possible?
Before discussing tips and suggestions to help you pass your real estate exam, understand that most agents will drop out of the profession within 2-3 years.
There are plenty of reasons for this, but one way to avoid the failure rate is to find a mentor or coach to guide you through the industry and teach you all you need to know to have a successful career.
There are a few tips I have to help you pass your state’s real estate exam.
First, find the right class type to teach you for the test and help you prepare to pass.
Next, schedule your test date and sign up for a crash course that specializes in getting students to pass the licensing exam.
Finally, prioritize what you need to study and learn how to be more productive and focused on your studying habits.
1. Choose Your Classes Wisely
When researching what you need to do to become a real estate agent, at the top of the list is to take and pass your state’s real estate exam. In order to schedule an exam, however, you’re required to take some classes and pass their program.
After that, it’s a matter of scheduling your test date and preparing to pass that credentialing exam.
2. Take The Required Real Estate Courses
The first thing to do is sign up with a real estate school that specializes in preparing you to take your state’s exam.
Don’t overspend on the type of classes you sign up for. In reality, there’s not much to learn other than how to pass the exam. You’ll be better served to learn everything else in the industry by doing rather than by learning.
Once you take the required courses and hours to schedule your exam, you want to schedule a date as soon as possible. Information is retained for a short period of time, so you want to schedule your test date as close to finishing your coursework as possible.
3. Find A Crash Course For The Test
Once an exam date is scheduled, you need to consider signing up for a crash course. Usually, most crash courses are on weekends and what they do is prepare you for how to take and pass the exam.
They’ll provide sample questions nearly identical to what you’ll see on your test.
A crash course shouldn’t cost you too much. Still, it provides a deeper insight into the types of questions and materials that the regulating board (in California, it’s the California Department of Real Estate or DRE) will test your level of knowledge.
Let’s continue looking at what to study and how to prepare to pass the exam.
4. Only Study What’s Important
There’s a lot to know and retain from your classes and crash course, but remember, your goal is only to study what you need to know to pass the exam.
Taking your notes from class, their sample questions, and those from a crash course, I have a simple plan to maximize how you retain the information.
Memorize the question + answer:
Only study what matters; the most efficient way to do that is to memorize the questions and answers you’ve already provided.
The best way is to memorize one question and one answer.
Once you master that, move on to a second question and answer, and so on, until you feel you have the material as mastered as possible.
Let’s look at California’s DRE requirements. The real estate agent sales license is 3 hours and 15 minutes long with 150 questions, and you need to score a 70% or get 105 correct answers to pass.
The state prioritizes material, and the emphasis can give you insight into what to focus your attention on as you study.
- Practice of Real Estate and Disclosures–25%
- Laws of Agency and Fiduciary Duties–17%
- Property Ownership and Land Use Controls and Regulations–15%
- Property Valuation and Financial Analysis–14%
- Contracts–12%
- Financing–9%
- Transfer of Property–8%
Knowing that only 8% of material is the transfer of property means you won’t have to focus on those questions as much as Laws of Agency and Fiduciary Duties, which make up 17% of the exam.
By having this information, you can study more efficiently.
The best method to study that I recommend is using the Pomodoro method, that is, being time efficient in small blocks of time with mandated breaks built in.
5. Study By Using The Pomodoro Method
The Pomodoro method is a time management and productivity hack technique based on being as productive as possible for 25 minutes and then taking a 5-minute break from your activity.
The benefit of taking a Pomodoro approach is to increase productivity in smaller increments, and I teach that on my YouTube channel.
The Pomodoro method can be applied to other applications as well. Truthfully, anytime you need to focus on time management and productivity, the Pomodoro method fits.
Here are a few quick points to help maximize your studying time to speed up your process.
- Review your notes–highlighting the critical material
- Create physical and digital flashcards
- Watch YouTube videos on best study practices to pass your real estate exam
- Talk with experienced agents, mentors, and real estate coaches to help prepare
For example, once you pass your exam and are working in real estate, producing comps and videos, cold calling, or other lead generation sources can take up much of your time and energy.
Instead, by setting a timer for 25 minutes and then taking a break for 5-minutes, you’ll skyrocket through your content production and lead generation.
The Pomodoro method is a system designed for hyper-focus and recovery time, allowing you to do your best work and not drain yourself along the way.
Taking the right classes and crash courses will prepare you for the questions you’ll see on your state’s real estate licensing exam.
How you study and prioritize the information to focus on and being more efficient with your studying habits will almost guarantee you being able to pass.
