It is no secret that the population in Austin is exploding!!!
For a number of factors: inflation rates, the prestigious University Texas at Austin, breakfast tacos, the booming Tech sector, etc. Austin is the fastest-growing city in the United States.
This means that now is a good time to consider a career as a Texas Real Estate Salesperson. If Real Estate sales or leasing has ever interested you, then keep reading.
I have learned a lot in my first year as a Real Estate agent in Austin. And I fully intend to pass along much of that knowledge in this blog. I will begin with some advice for the first step in the whole process: The Real Estate Salesperson Exam. Here are:
My 3 Tips For Passing The Real Estate Exam On Your First Try:
1. Read the Material
Before you are even able to take the Exam, you must first meet the education requirements set forth by the Texas Real Estate Commission — the body that governs Real Estate practice in the state of Texas.
Every Texas Real Estate Agent must take the following courses:
- Principles of Real Estate I (30 classroom hours)
- Principles of Real Estate II (30 classroom hours)
- Law of Agency (30 classroom hours)
- Law of Contracts (30 classroom hours)
- Promulgated Contract Forms (30 classroom hours)
- Real Estate Finance (30 classroom hours)
In order to register with TREC for the Real Estate Salesperson exam, you must complete all of the educational requirements and show your certificates of completion. It’s simple, just sign up with License Classroom to begin your coursework.
You need to actually read the material and try to learn some of the information before entering the profession. This may seem like stupidly obvious advice, but there are people who think otherwise. You do not want to come into the profession blind!
I’m not saying memorize every word of every contract. Obviously, you will learn most of what you need to know on the job. But you can’t get to the job if you don’t pass the national exam. I recommend at least giving your course texts a glance or two. And you should purchase this book as well, to prepare further for the Texas portion of the exam.
Read the material, purchase a prep book, and take at least two practice tests. You will need to score at least 56/80 on the National portion, and 21/30 on the Texas portion. I assure you your odds of passing will be a lot easier if you prepare by reading the material.
2. Conquer Test Anxiety
If you are at all like me, you will probably have a fair amount of nerves walking into that testing center. I recommend taking the following steps to help with the stress before test time:
- Prepare. Nothing beats actually being confident in knowing the material. Read, study the prep book, and know what will be on the exam.
- Practice Self-Confidence. Go into the exam with a positive attitude. And know that, worst-case scenario, you can re-take the exam again. If you happen to pass one but not the other, great! You only need to take one exam the next time. Just tell yourself before the exam: “I am prepared. I am going to pass this test. I am awesome.” You’ll be amazed by what this can do.
- Ignore the haters. There are going to be people who will warn you about how hard the exam is. Ignore them. Just keep your cool and know that you will be fine. You are ready.
- Exercise. Go for a 20-minute walk and get the blood flowing. This will make you feel calm, focused, and full of good energy.
- Visualize. “I will be a Real Estate Agent. I will be a Real Estate Agent.” Keep saying it to yourself. Visualize it. Imagine yourself showing up for your first day of work as a licensed salesperson. Remind yourself why you did all of this in the first place.
Follow these tips, and I guarantee you will overcome any test anxiety. I have faith in you.
3. Learn to Use Process of Elimination
The exam is 110 questions long, and you have a time limit of 150 minutes for the national portion and 90 minutes for the state portion.
Time management is important, but I think that learning to use the process of elimination is just as important! If you can effectively eliminate choices quickly, you will be able to cut down on your time per question.
It is standard test-taking wisdom that you should read all of the choices before choosing your answer. This applies here, as it will on every standardized exam you ever take.
Try and single out the choices that are either irrelevant to the question at hand, or that are blatantly wrong. There is usually one of these in every question. Mark an “X” next to any of these blatantly wrong options. If you are unsure of an option, mark a “?” next to it. If you are certain that it is correct after reading all of the options, fill in your answer.
Make sure to double back and look over your answers before submitting them for grading. Once it’s sent out your results will be delivered to you immediately.
I am confident that if you follow these three tips, you will be well on your way to a successful career as a newly licensed Texas Real Estate Salesperson.
(If you think you’ve got what it takes, contact us at Housing Scout to start the licensing process.)
