- First understand you need to work at it. There is a lot of information to learn and it can seem overwhelming, but if you commit to putting in the effort you will pass.
- Review the text materials that came with your course. Check out the table of contents, Read through the chapter headings. This starts to open up learning loops in your brain.
- If it is available take the course in class. Often people take real estate courses through distance delivery. That make sense if it is not available close to where you live but some individuals take the course by distance delivery to save money. If you take the course in class you have the benefit of a qualified, knowledgeable instructor that can provide extra examples and explanations that can make complex concepts easy to understand. The reduction in stress makes the classroom option worthwhile. In terms of saving money, you have a greater statistical chance of passing your exam the first time if you attend classes. If you do the course by distance delivery you have a greater chance of failing and having to rewrite the exam. Add that to the cost of your distance delivery course fee.
- Read the text. We cannot emphasize this enough. Read with a highlighter, pencil, and post-it notes. Highlight things that seem important. Put notes the margins. If you taking classroom deliver, write the instructor's explanations in the margins of your text or on post-it notes.
- Do the quizzes and exercises in your course materials. Try to do them from memory first. Then check your answers. If you don't understand how they arrived at that answer, ask someone (like the instructor) for an explanation.
- Use our website. At this point start to use our website as a review. Create practice exams based on where you are in your text. Create exams on the same topics you are currently covering. Our website will give you an ongoing evaluation of your progress. It will identify areas requiring more study as well as tell you where you are doing well.
- Review, review, review. Studies show that we tend to forget information rather quickly. One study showed that after 3 days we will have forgotten almost 50% of what we have learned UNLESS WE REVIEW. Each day, go back to the beginning of your text materials and review. That does not mean read the whole text again, it simply means review your margin notes, post-its, chapter headings, etc. The more often you do this the quicker you will get the information into your long term memory.
- Use our website to review. Many people like to create flashcards (writing key course concepts on 3 x 5 index cards) and use these cards to review information. Our practice exams are set up to be like an on-line electronic flashcard. You will see the same information repeated (randomly). The more ways you review the information the better.
- Form a study group if you can. This is another great reason to take the course in a classroom setting. There is a synergy that develops when studying with others. You can draw on the experiences and knowledge of other people. For example, if you struggle with math find someone who is good at math to be in your study group.
- RELAX! In our 25+ years as real estate instructors we have found that the number one exam success criteria is an individual's attitude toward the exam. People often talk themselves into failure. What do you think will happen to the person who says to themselves over and over, "This is really difficult. I don't think I'm going to pass!" (Chances are they will become so stressed that they will go blank on exam day.
- Put in context - Ask your self, "90 years from now will this matter?"
- Remind yourself - What is the worst that can happen? Rewrite? Redo the course? SO WHAT? It's not the end of the world.
- Exam results are private - Many people are worried about what others think. No one else will know unless you tell them. I have never seen a newspaper headline that says "The Following People Failed Their Real Estate Exam..."
- Breathe - This is not OXYGEN it's just a silly real estate exam.
- Use all the tools - Use every available tool to help you pass.
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