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How to Pass the Real Estate Salesperson | Broker Exam! The First Time!

Reblogger
Home Stager with Innovative Artistry

I have been trying to catch up with visiting subscribed blogs today, after a busy work weekend & found that John Hrisco is worthy of a Congratulations :)!!

John shares some wonderful advice for many, that may be considering taking their RE Exams or Broker Exams, & some valuable resources as well. 

I will let "his wisdom" & experience below share his recent journey.  I am also wishing him plentiful health in the future!!  Thank you John for sharing this with others. 

 

Original content by Hrisco & Associates Lic.#480703

How to Pass the Salesperson | Broker Exam! The First Time!

As some of you may or may not know, after over 10 years in the real estate business, I recently became a newly licensed Texas Real Estate Broker.  I thought as a service to my fellow agents and brokers out there, I would share with you my experience over the past 7 months in my quest to acquire my real estate broker license and how it may help any future agents or brokers out there.

After my initial conversation with my former broker in which we discussed me obtaining my real estate broker license with the possibility of me managing a branch office for my former brokerage in the future.  (FYI, they have since closed shop, nationwide).  I inquired and found out I only needed one core brokerage class in order to apply for my real estate broker license.

I would normally recommend attending a class in person, but due to the fact that I had three previously unscheduled surgeries at the end of last year, I opted instead for a correspondence course.  I ordered my course through StateCE.  They offer continuing education in like 49 of 50 states.   I needed 45 hours of core real estate courses with 30 hours of it needing to be in core brokerage , so instead of taking two separate 30 hour courses, I decided to take one 60 hour brokerage course.

I completed my course work in March and turned in my broker application to the Texas Real Estate Commission.  I highly recommend that you make sure that you meet all of your states requirements prior to submitting your application to the state, because once you turn in your application along with the required fees, the fees are non-refundable and if you by chance are missing some requirement after you turn in your application, you will have to reapply and pay an additional application fee.

While I was waiting for my application to be approved by TREC, since I had previously taking a licensing exam preparation class prior to originally taking my salesperson exam back in 2000, I knew that I wanted to do the same again.  I contacted Purvis Real Estate Training Institute in Fort Worth, Texas.  It is a family owned and operated Real Estate Training Institute that has been training current and future real estate salespersons and brokers for over 30 years.  It is located two miles west of downtown Fort Worth at 2020 Montgomery Street in the Cultural District.

Purvis Real Estate Training Institute provides: classroom, Internet and home study courses.  Leslie Purvis has helped thousands of candidates pass the salesperson and broker licensing exams since 1982, when she took over ownership and operation of Purvis Real Estate Training Institute from her parents who ran it before her.  Leslie is the author of four exam preparation texts and recently completed a new text for the PSI exams.  She is also a professor of Real Estate at Texas Christian University.  I highly recommend Leslie’s Mega PREP course and suggest you attend it at least twice prior to taking your exam.  The Mega PREP class is offered one time a month. 

Purvis Real Estate Training Institute

To put the Texas Real Estate Broker Exam in perspective, it is kind of like taking a CPA exam and most applicants don’t pass it the first time.  When I took my Real Estate Salesperson test over ten years ago, I passed it the first time.  At the time, I had a friend who was also trying to get his real estate license and made four attempts at taking the salesperson test only to fail each time.  He never became licensed.  This time around I did not want to suffer the same fate as my friend in regards to my broker exam.   So I waited till I felt I was fully prepared before attempting to take the exam.

There are a few rules you should follow when preparing to take the real estate salesperson or broker licensing exams and I highly recommend that you follow them to a tee.

  • Always remember the test questions are written from a theoretical perspective and are NOT necessarily relevant to any personal or professional real estate transaction you may have experienced.  They say that agents who have many years of experience and are attempting to take the broker exam sometimes have a difficult time passing the exam the first time because of the way it is written.  (I hate to admit it, but I was one of those agents).
  • Memorizing the multiple-choice questions and correct answers is NOT important.  What is important is a thorough knowledge of the concepts, as well as a understanding of the text material.    This is essential to passing the exam.
  • Accept the fact that being in a hurry to get your license is counter productive for most license applicants.  Take the exam when you feel you are ready not when others say you are ready.
  • Plan a realistic exam date and give yourself ample time to study every day (with no day off) for a specific amount of time each day and on or about the same time of the day that you plan on taking your exam, if at all possible.  You should plan out your study time prior to taking the exam in week increments, by starting out studying 30-45 minutes each day your first week, then increase your study time as the weeks progress leading up to your exam date.
  • Finally, there are many more tips that will be covered during your PREP class, but one of the most important is to not tell anyone exactly when you plan on taking the exam.  If you do so, you will have friends and coworkers or your broker constantly asking you if you have taking the exam yet and it will put an undue pressure on yourself.  Simple say that "you will let them know once you have passed the exam."

Remember, the title of this post is how to pass the salesperson/broker exam right, the first time.  I almost hate to admit this, but in the interest of full disclosure, while preparing for my broker exam, I didn’t abide by all of the rules mentioned above as much as I should have and paid for it when I made my first attempt at taking the exam back in June.  I passed the State portion of the exam and failed the National portion by just a few points.  In order to obtain your license you have to pass both portions of the licensing exam.   I don’t take failing anything easily.  When retaking the exam, when you pass one section but fail another section, you only have to retake the portion of the exam that you failed the first time.  Hence, I had to retake the National portion again, which is the longest portion of the exam.

Prior to my second and final attempt at taking my broker exam, I had learned about an online study program through my instructor called Night before the Exam.com.  A recent student who had ordered the mega PREP course material but could not attend the class in person had recommended it.  So I looked into it and ordered it.   I didn’t want to leave any stone unturned.  According to Night Before The Exam, most people who fail the licensing exams, fail by just a few points, I firmly beleive in hindsight, that NightBeforeTheExam.com gave me that extra edge that I needed in retaking the exam.

  • They have study materials for all 50 states. 
  • It has complete exam preparation w/exclusive cram mode
  • It helps you study smart and efficiently.
  • It will help identify your strengths and weaknesses while your studying.
  • It also features Practice Exam Simulations + Bonus Materials like:
  • What to do if you don’t know the answer
  • 10 things to do  or know before taking the exam
  • Printable Real Estate Exam Cheat Sheets
  • Fun, Real Estate Exam Concepts “Creepy Crosswords Game”
  • a Late Night Game Show “Leopard-y” (Exam Concepts Game)
  • they can customize it for you specifically by removing unneccessary portions, like in my case, they removed the state portion because I had passed it already, so that I could concentrate solely on the national portion.

I like the fact that the Practice Exam Simulations were very similar to what I actually encountered while taking the real exam and I feel it better prepared me the second time around.   The exam makers will try and trip you up by posing a question with “What do you think is the most appropriate response?”: and they put all the obvious answers one would choose in there.  Then you go back and read the question several times through and realize that just when you had found what you think is the correct answer, you all of a sudden noticed that they slipped the word NOT in there, so now the question reads: “What do you think is not the most appropriate response.”  And you have to totally rethink the answer you were going to choose the first time.  I probably took around 10-12 practice exams prior to taking my National Portion of the exam again.

I felt that this very real life simulation in the practice exams gave me an edge the second time around.   So Instead of failing by a few points like I did on the National portion the first time, I passed comfortably the second time around.  Whatever material, course, program, etc…that you use in helping you prepare for the salesperson/broker license exam I highly recommend that you concentrate solely on the matter at hand while preparing for the exam.  If you do, it will save you a lot of time, energy and money in the long run. 

I hope that my experience could help you in some small way and look forward to hearing your success stories in taking your salesperson/broker exam.

Stay tuned for my upcoming post on where I decided to hang my real estate hat!

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John Hrisco & Associates, Realtor®, Broker Lic.#480703
Your Real Estate Professionals for Life!
Specializing in Northeast Tarrant County, Texas Real Estate
John Hrisco & Associates, 4200 Heritage Trace Pkwy, Suite 100  Fort Worth, Texas 76244 
O: 817.328.1400      C: 817.715.5360      Email: john@johnhrisco.com
Keller, Haslet, Roanoke, Westlake, Southlake, Trophy Club,
Grapevine, Colleyville, North Richland Hills
& the Surrounding Areas.

John Hrisco & Associates: 817-328-1400: NE Tarrant County Real Estate Experts (John Hrisco & Associates ): Real Estate Agent in Keller, TX

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The information contained in this blog is believed to be true and correct and while every effort is made to assure that the information is as accurate as possible, the author of this blog, and its comments disclaim any implied warranty or representation about it's accuracy for any particular purpose. All information is copy written and the property of John Hrisco & Associates.

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