The Exam
I had heard many things with regard to the New Hampshire real estate exam. Some people told me it was difficult and others suggested it would be no problem at all. I did not know what to expect but I felt that I had a good understanding of the study material going in.
I had my wife quiz me on the study material and had taken the sample tests that were part of study material and was getting a pretty consistent 80-90% each time, so I felt pretty good about my chances.
Going into the test I was still quite nervous. In need of a job and knowing I would have to shell out another $100 to take the test if I failed, and wait who-knows-how-long to get it scheduled had be more nervous than anything in recent memory. A lot more than I thought I was going to be.
The test center was a little back room at an H&R Block tax office in this little strip mall type plaza in South Manchester. Inside the room were 4 or 5 computers and a couple of other people that were taking the test at the same time I was. One of them, in fact, had been in the same real estate class I had been in a month or so earlier. We wished each other luck and began the exam.
Although the “rules” for actually taking the test sound like something that might have come out of Nazi Germany as opposed to the New Hampshire real estate commission, the H&R Block people that administered the test were actually pretty cool about the whole thing.
The exam was the standard computer-based multiple choice format and I really didn’t struggle too much with any of the questions. I only recall one instance where the answer to one of the questions came to me as a result of one of the many stories the instructor in my real estate class had related, so in addition to being entertaining, one of his tales actually helped me boost my score a couple of points.
When I had completed the test, I left the small room and walked back out into the main room where I noticed that a printer had just started to produce some output. As it turned out, this was my exam score that was sent to the printer automatically when I completed the exam.
The H&R Block employee picked up the paper when the printer had finished, glanced at it, then smiled and handed it to me. It was an enormous relief to see I had passed with a score of 90%. It appeared that the sample tests I had been taking as part of the study material were right on the money.
My best advice to someone who is planning to take the real estate exam is to simply study the material and take the sample tests until you are achieving a consistently high score. Although the stuff you study really is almost completely useless when it comes to actually being a real estate agent, get to know it well and you should have no trouble with the exam. When you pass the exam you can pretty much forget most of it like I have.
I was extremely happy to put that experience behind me. Now I felt I was finally ready to get out there and make my fortune selling real estate! But first I would have to go back to school and, oh yeah, warm up my check-writing hand as well.
Coming Next: Back To School Again
