You’ve finished all your courses and want to know how to pass the real estate exam. Passing the real estate license exam is the most important step in getting your real estate license.
Although the test isn’t particularly difficult, it does cover a wide range of materials and requires a decent amount of preparation.
We recommend these 10 simple real estate exam study tips to help you prepare for and pass the exam – the first time!
Since each state has their own version of the exam, we only broke it down into general strategies you should employ when you’re studying.
How To Pass The Real Estate Exam: 10 Top Study Tips
Here are 10 study tips to help you with test preparation for the real estate exam – so you can pass it on your first attempt.
1. Write Down Everything to Memorize it
Studying for the real estate exam is like studying for any exam or test. One of the most well-known real estate exam study habits is to write down the important or highlighted sections in your courses.
When you write something down, it forces your mind to focus on that subject. So when you write down the important facts that will likely come up on exam day, it will help you memorize the material better.
We know that writing everything down can take some time and a little bit more effort, but it’s a proven method that will help you do better memorizing the material that you will be tested on.
Usually, in the course material, certain information will be bolded or highlighted. Try to write down all of that information.
Most of the time, if a piece of information is being featured in some type of way it means that it will be tested in the exam!
2. Take Lots of Practice Tests
When you’re going through your courses, whether online or in person, you will have periodic quizzes and tests at the end of each section to monitor your progress.
Passing those quizzes and tests is usually a requirement in order to complete your courses, but they can also be a great studying tool for the real estate licensing exam.
Reviewing your old quizzes and tests is one of the most effective real estate exam study tips since the course providers have designed their courses based off the state’s real estate licensing exam.
Usually, these questions are designed to mimic the state and national real estate license exam questions in both format and content.
One of the best study resources out there is the quizzes and tests that you’ve already taken in your courses. Go back and review those quizzes and tests to make sure that you are familiar with the format of the questions.
There are also tons of free real estate practice exams on the internet, once you’ve gone through your old tests, try some of these practice tests and see if you can get a passing score.
A good rule of thumb that I have is to make sure that you are consistently getting at least 80% of those questions correct.
3. Rewrite questions you missed
The third tip to pass the real estate exam ties in with both the first and second tips.
When going back through your old quizzes and tests, rewrite the test questions you’ve missed (your wrong answers). This is the best way to get the correct answer on test day.
Going back to the first tip, writing down each test question you missed is a good way to memorize the right answer and which questions you need to be more careful on during the exam.
Also, focusing your time more on your wrong answers can really help you optimize your studying time, especially if you have a tight daily schedule and do not have an extended period of time to study.
Since you missed those questions, it makes sense to go over those topics more than others because you already know the right answers to the ones you answered correctly.
A good way to do this is to mix up the questions every time you go back and practice so you won’t just be memorizing the order of the questions.
And throw in some questions that you got right as well, especially ones that are similar in formatting, wording, and content to the ones you got wrong.
4. Know Your Real Estate Vocabulary Terms
Knowing real estate terminology is crucial in order to pass the real estate exam, as a large portion of the exam focuses on vocabulary.
Here’s an extensive list of real estate terms and vocabulary to know.
5. Build your own practice problems & teach them to someone
One of the best ways to test how much knowledge you actually obtained from something is to try and explain that subject to someone else.
If you can teach another person something, then you definitely have a good grasp on the material that you learned.
Start by coming up with your own practice problems.
When you’ve been able to answer all your own questions correctly, then imagine you are already a sales agent and try to explain it to someone who hasn’t taken the real estate courses.
A great way to really be confident when going to take your real estate licensing exam is to be able to think like the test writers. So if you can come up with your own questions, it is a great sign that you already know what you will be asked on the exam.
A good question format for this strategy is real estate math problems.
Since you can essentially plug in any number for those types of problems, coming up with your own problems and solving them correctly is a great way to see that you can answer those questions correctly.
And if you can teach someone else to do those same problems, then you’re really ready to pass the real estate exam.
6. Focus on areas you had difficulty with
This one kind of goes back to what we talked about in tip number 3, but on a larger scale. Instead of just looking at the questions you missed on previous tests and quizzes, figure out which sections you had the most trouble with.
Once you’ve done that, go back through that section or go through a crash course on that subject and try doing your end-of-section tests again. You should see some progress each time you do that.
One of the things that all aspiring real estate agents struggle with is finding the time to study. A lot of aspiring real estate agents are doing this while working a full-time job or going to school full-time.
It is crucial that you are able to optimize your limited study time so that you give yourself the best chance to pass the real estate exam.
Using real estate exam study tips can help you work smarter and save time
Focusing on areas that you are weaker in can help you take advantage of your study time and really make sure that there aren’t any questions in the real estate licensing exam that will completely stump you.
Now that’s a good sign that you will pass the real estate exam!
You can familiarize yourself by creating a cheat sheet and having someone test your knowledge.
7. Practice Your Real Estate Math
Spend a good amount of time practicing real estate math questions as a decent percentage of your exam will involve math.
Check out these real estate math questions you can practice before your exam.
8. Ask A Real Estate Broker Or Agent For Help
Have a friend who’s a real estate broker or know other real estate professionals? Tune into their years of experience and ask them for advice.
If you want to join our team once you become a licensed real estate agent, we’d love to answer any questions you may have.
9. Physically Prepare for Test Day
Passing an exam is far more than a mental game. Your mental sharpness depends on how you PHYSICALLY prepare for a challenge.
So, it’s a good idea to prep for exam day:
- Get a good night’s sleep the night before – even if that’s not your routine
- Drink water – be well hydrated for 24+ hours leading up to your exam and forgo alcohol the night before to really crush it mentally
- Eat beforehand – don’t go into it hungry, give your body a balanced meal so that your mind can draw energy from it
- Try a light workout beforehand – Counterintuitively, an early workout actually gives you more energy throughout the day, making you more alert for your exam
- Take deep breaths if needed to relax your mind and body
Follow and practice these tips to be at your very best for the exam:
10. Answer Easy Questions First
When it’s time to take the actual real estate exam, answer the easy questions first.
This will allow you to complete the most number of questions confidently and then give you plenty of time to go back to the other remaining questions.
If you get stuck on a hard question early on, you may not have time for a later question you DO know the answer to. So save the hard stuff for last and trust your judgement!
How To Pass The Real Estate Exam: Recap
The real estate license exam isn’t a particularly difficult test, but you do need to know what you’re doing.
Since being a real estate agent requires that you are a qualified expert in the field of real estate, demonstrating that you have a thorough understanding of national and local real estate laws when you pass the real estate exam is essential to your success.
To prep you for the entire exam, here’s a recap:
- Write Down Everything and Memorize is
- Take lots of practice tests
- Rewrite questions you missed
- Build your own practice problems and teach it to someone else
- Focus on areas you had difficulty with
- Know your real estate vocabulary
- Practice your real estate math
- Ask a real estate broker or agent for help
- Physically prepare for test day
- Answer easy questions first
With our 10 awesome real estate exam study tips and a badass work ethic, you will pass with exam results you’re proud of!
I passed the real estate exam and am now a licensed real estate agent. Now What?!
Remember, once you pass the test your journey and real estate career is just beginning!
The next step is choosing a brokerage, which is the most important decision you make.
Be sure to check out:
- 21 Questions to Ask When Interviewing Brokers
- How to Choose the Right Brokerage for You
- How to Choose the Best Sponsor
- This revolutionary brokerage option every savvy real estate agent should consider.
After passing your real estate exam, you will need to pick a sponsoring broker. It is usually better if you already have some companies in mind so you can start interviewing them right away after you get your license.
Once you’ve done that and have finished all of your training and mentorship program, you will be ready to crush it out there as a real estate agent!
You can also check out our comprehensive post on How to Become a Successful New Real Estate Agent
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