Any Real Estate Agents here?

DWBass

DWBass

The Funkfather
Jan 24, 2003
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#1
My daughter in law (Virginia) has taken the state test and passed but can't get past the national test. She's failed 3 times already. Any info or advice any of you can give would be great. I will relay to her. I want to encourage her as much as I can. She deserves to pass this test.

Thanks in advance.
 
#4
You don't get to see your graded exam.

Before I passed the California CPA exam, I took a couple of review courses and bought a study guide. I also made flash cards. I took a couple of previous exams that are released sometime after.

IME, That's the best you can do.
 
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#6
Stumbo said:
You don't get to see your graded exam.

Before I passed the California CPA exam, I took a couple of review courses and bought a study guide. I also made flash cards. I took a couple of previous exams that are released sometime after.

IME, That's the best you can do.
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My wife is a licensed real estate broker in California. The test results were just pass or fail. You do not get to see the what answers you missed so it is difficult to determine where your weak areas are. Not sure if it is the same with the federal test.
 
#7
DWBass said:
She deserves to pass this test.
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This is probably going to come off as harsh or "meaner" than I intend.... but I don't understand this. An exam is there to show understanding or lack of knowledge on a topic. The people that "deserve" to pass are the ones that show on the exam that they have that knowledge. If a person is failing an exam, they certainly don't "deserve" to pass, simply because they tried. That's not how exams work. No partiticpation trophys here.

With all of that said... I have a very good friend who has been a realtor for many years now. She helped me sell one house, and recently bought a new house. I can certainly ask her for some pointers. In general, for when I'm prepping for any exam, I look to see if there are practice exams online that I can take. Even if they don't have the exact, current questions, they generally will cover similar topics. At least enough to know if something needs brushed up on. Has you daughter in law sought anything like that out? I did a quick google search and came up with a lot of results that looked promising, and free.

If she's taken the exam three times already, I would think she would have at least an idea of which questions seemed difficult. Even without a discreet list of "you got questions 1,14, 20 and 43 wrong", there should be a general idea of "this particular section of the exam took me longer / was more difficult" should be an indicator that brushing up on that topic is warranted.

It could also not just be a lack of knowledge/understanding, but perhaps misreading the question(s)? It's not uncommon for "trick" questions, so paying careful attention to the wording of the question and answers (if multiple choice) can be pretty crucial. This would be exacerbated by a time limit too.

Is the exam timed? If so, when going through practice exams, make sure to stick to the same time limit. If the exam is 60 questions in 60 minutes, try to do that in practice as well.
 
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#8
By my saying "She deserves to pass this test" is because she is trying to do better for herself. She's coming from a very dark place. She is trying very hard to study and study and study and like I said she has retaken the test several time. I appreciate all the advice given but please refrain from the condescending tones or replies. I get it. Please know she is trying. I want to encourage her. Not let her down.

Thanks.
 
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#10
DWBass said:
By my saying "She deserves to pass this test" is because she is trying to do better for herself. She's coming from a very dark place. She is trying very hard to study and study and study and like I said she has retaken the test several time. I appreciate all the advice given but please refrain from the condescending tones or replies. I get it. Please know she is trying. I want to encourage her. Not let her down.

Thanks.
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There's no animosity in what I said. I'm glad to hear that she's trying to do better, and it sucks that she had a rough patch. That still has absolutely no bearing on "deserving" to pass an exam she's failed three times. Sometimes, things aren't just meant to be, and that's how it is. Perhaps real estate just isn't for her - has she explored other options?
 
#11
Selta said:
There's no animosity in what I said. I'm glad to hear that she's trying to do better, and it sucks that she had a rough patch. That still has absolutely no bearing on "deserving" to pass an exam she's failed three times. Sometimes, things aren't just meant to be, and that's how it is. Perhaps real estate just isn't for her - has she explored other options?
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Exams are a very poor way to assess someone's aptitude. Some people know nothing, yet succeed because they can memorize a lot of information. Some people know everything, but stress out and fail their exams. Of course, failing three times is concerning, but that doesn't necessarily mean that someone is not cut out for the profession. I would assume that the studies required to get a license in real estate are planned out to have various "weeding out" stages. My concern would be whether or not the person in question has passed those stages. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable in this field can shed some light on that.
 
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#12
line6man said:
Exams are a very poor way to assess someone's aptitude. Some people know nothing, yet succeed because they can memorize a lot of information. Some people know everything, but stress out and fail their exams. Of course, failing three times is concerning, but that doesn't necessarily mean that someone is not cut out for the profession. I would assume that the studies required to get a license in real estate are planned out to have various "weeding out" stages. My concern would be whether or not the person in question has passed those stages. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable in this field can shed some light on that.
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I'm not saying whether or not exams are a good thing. Often times, they are, but there are lots of "paper certified" folks out there (I'm in IT... in the course of my IT career, I've run into a lot of them!). I also never mentioned being cut out for it, as I like to feel that if most any able person puts their mind to a goal, they can achieve it. I am simply offering that perhaps there is another career path that can be explored. Perhaps one she maybe gets more excited about and maybe isn't so strenous for entrance.
 
#13
Selta said:
There's no animosity in what I said. I'm glad to hear that she's trying to do better, and it sucks that she had a rough patch. That still has absolutely no bearing on "deserving" to pass an exam she's failed three times. Sometimes, things aren't just meant to be, and that's how it is. Perhaps real estate just isn't for her - has she explored other options?
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Man, what a condescending attitude. I guess you don't get it. Please no more replies.
 
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#14
What's wrong about asking to explore other options?
Is real estate the only career she will consider?

As far as advice.....in some jobs that require passing a certification of some kind, websites offer study guides, brain dumps, cram sessions to help get through a required exam.
Have you searched the internet for anything like that?
If she is qualified for this job and only has trouble in a testing environment, then a brain dump/cram session may be the key to getting past the exam.

-Mike
 
#15
DWBass said:
My daughter in law (Virginia) has taken the state test and passed but can't get past the national test. She's failed 3 times already. Any info or advice any of you can give would be great. I will relay to her. I want to encourage her as much as I can. She deserves to pass this test.

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
For what it's worth, I FAILED my first attempt at the state Real Estate licensure exam. Each state has its own requirements but over all, the tests tend to be about the legalities of contract law, Fair Housing & non-discrimination and pesky math, at which I suck.

The 2nd exam I had to take was much worse than the one I failed but, I passed. I was humiliated because I failed. I was also unemployed and financially smarting so, there was an incentive to work past it all.

If, your daughter in-law is still studying to retake the test, and if she knows what parts of the exam were the most difficult, that's where her concentration should focus. With all that said, the test & retest licensing exams vary at the state-licensing level and it would be unusual for her to receive the same exam again. Best of luck for her and you all.
 
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#16
I'm ignorant in these things, so please forgive- isn't there like a week long prep course that an outfit like Kaplan offers? They do offer prep courses for Insurance Agent exams. The instructors are good and have insight into how the tests present themselves.
 
#19
line6man said:
Exams are a very poor way to assess someone's aptitude. Some people know nothing, yet succeed because they can memorize a lot of information. Some people know everything, but stress out and fail their exams. Of course, failing three times is concerning, but that doesn't necessarily mean that someone is not cut out for the profession. I would assume that the studies required to get a license in real estate are planned out to have various "weeding out" stages. My concern would be whether or not the person in question has passed those stages. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable in this field can shed some light on that.
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Well, not necessarily. All of my engineering exams (EIT, Civil and Geotechnical) required practical application of engineering principles way beyond rote memorization. Ditto my Geology exams.
 
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