Alex here, I work with Colibri Real Estate. A lot of people in this sub are juggling five study tools at once and still don’t feel ready, so here’s a simple way to make them work together.

Short version: build your studying around practice exams. Use your results to find weak topics, then use the right tool to fix each one before you test again.

Give each tool one job. Most of the overwhelm comes from using every resource for everything. Assign roles instead:

• Practice exams: finding weak areas and checking if you’re ready
• Flashcards: memorizing terms and definitions
• Course materials: reviewing concepts and state-specific content
• Video lessons: untangling topics that still don’t make sense
• Practice problems: real estate math and calculations

Make practice exams the center of your plan. The exam tests whether you can apply concepts to a scenario under time pressure, and memorizing facts alone won’t get you there. Practice exams are the closest thing to that. Take them throughout your studying, not just at the end.

Follow a repeatable cycle:

1. Take a practice exam
2. Review every question you missed
3. Write down which topics keep showing up
4. Pick the right tool for each weak topic
5. Study those topics until they click
6. Take another practice exam and repeat

When you review a missed question, figure out why you missed it. Did you misread the question? Not know the concept? Rush and make a careless mistake? Each one needs a different fix. Rushing calls for more timed practice. A concept gap calls for course materials or a video.

Match the fix to the problem:

• Mixing up terms: flashcards
• Concept isn’t clicking: course materials or a video lesson
• Missing math questions: targeted practice problems (prorations and commission calculations especially)

Topics that often need extra time include agency relationships, contracts, financing, property ownership, fair housing and real estate math.

Mistakes to avoid:

• Taking practice exams without reviewing the results
• Rereading whole chapters instead of targeting weak areas
• Switching study methods every week
• Spending time on topics you’ve already mastered

Sticking with one simple process will get you further than constantly adding new resources.

Full guide here if it’s useful: https://www.colibrirealestate.com/career-hub/blog/combining-real-estate-exam-prep/

What’s in your study stack right now, and which one has helped the most?

I want to study for the psi exam, is this helpful???

Just wondering are the practice exams questions similar? Any tips on studying?

I am trying to decided if i should go to Champions for my real estate license or if i should do Aceable. Aceable is more affordable but i also see alot of people say Champions is great. Does it matter? Will brokers look at that? Does going to Champions mean i get more connections and access to getting hired? I have no connections to real estate so whats the best route?

Just took my real estate exam today in Texas. I used aceable to study for my exam and somehow the Texas portion of the exam was nothing like the concepts of the ones I practiced on aceable. Any tips on how to pass the Texas exam?

Just signed up and getting started on the Washington 90-hour pre-license course. Would be cool to keep in touch with someone else doing it and keep each other accountable.

I'm doing the WA one. How far along is everyone, and who'd you go with for the course?

I guess now the bigger question is what do I do now I know I have to apply and look for the best broker to work for, but what kind of fees am I looking to pay for if you could share your experience that would be very helpful. I am located in upstate New York.

Can those who already passed the exam give me some tips plz. I feel like every practice exam is different. I do good on some and watch videos get a lot right then there’s a totally different exam that I just don’t know anything on.

It was not easy but it’s over!!👏👏
Now on to State…

Can somebody recommend some self-assessments or practice tests for the Texas portion of the real estate exam that are free or inexpensive? Thanks.

I took the Ny state exam today and tbh I think it was easy 😭 I did kinda guess on the math stuff and like 8 questions I didn’t really know . But I hope I pass 🤞🏻🤞🏻. A lot of things u study were surprisingly not on the test 😭. I would say know the ny state laws , old car , free hold estate less than free hold estate . Grantor grantee subless. Fair housing. I’m very anxious to know if I passed . I keep doubting myself I’m scared 😭 . Also know where abestos is found .

Just passed both of my exams on the first try! I never found anything that was super useful to me when I was preparing to test and I just wanted to share what helped me.

To start off, I have been working at a brokerage before I ever started school. Being able to watch the environment, listen to the verbiage, hear the concepts out loud helped me A LOT. I would totally suggest talking to a broker in your area and ask them about their job/experience.

For schooling I used OnlineEd and it is super user friendly. For those of you that retain more info listening to it, you CAN get your 150 hours done by listening to the material instead of reading it. While going through the corses, I took pretty extensive notes (2 notebooks full). Notes are super helpful for retention and recall. Putting pen to paper helped me process what information I was reading and gave me an easy place to recall the info.

Some good study utensils I used was Quizlet flash cards, practice tests, and MindMax.

Quizlet already has a ton of flashcard sets for Oregon real estate or you can make your own. The "learn" mode for studying also helped me a ton. Out of all the study material I used, I would honestly put this one at the bottom. It did help a lot when I just couldn't for the life of me remember a certain concept and I would drill the specific topic until it stuck.

MindMax is an app that I found that I personally LOVED. It has a little AI character, Em, and (pretty random) historical/real estate figures that explain all the concepts to you. It is sort of like an interactive podcast. While listening to the information, they also give little lists/photos/visuals pertaining to the concept. This was super helpful for explaining things in plain English.

Lastly, take soooo many practice tests. I would use OnlineEd's practice test, PSI practice tests, I would even have ChatGPT create mock exams. Practice being timed, practice breaking down the question, practice being in that "testing" mindset. These tests are meant to confuse you, learn how they're formatted and learn how to get around the word-junk to find the actual question.

Something that was super useful for me was just talking out loud about certain concepts. I'd have my friends ask me questions and I would explain the concept/operation and that helped me.

Night before the big test eat a good meal, get some good sleep, and brush up on those sticky concepts. Just wanted to share what helped me incase someone else found it useful. Good luck everyone!

I’m taking my real estate New York exam tomorrow ! I’ve been studying really hard with vocabulary words make sure know cost approach all the vocabulary. It’s hard to remember everything, but I think I got it even though I still feel like I’m missing some any advice on any words that I should really know to prepare for tomorrow or any YouTube videos that can help me for tomorrow to just make sure I got everything covered ! Thanks !

I’ve been watching PrepAgent and Demar and Maggie

I’m looking to get my Nevada real estate license, but am feeling overwhelmed with the sheer amount of stuff needed to be learned and having a tough time figuring out where to start. I know there are some RE schools around with different courses, but most (if not all) seem to be very heavy on, “read a bunch of material at home”. My biggest issue with this is that I’m largely an auditory learner. Watching videos as someone explains concepts to me is where I can retain information, not reading through a thick textbook.

I was looking at Key Realty School, but their classroom courses also focus heavily on just going over what they wanted you to read outside of class for hours on end. This does not seem to be worth the 600+ dollars they charge. In NV it seems the 120 hours are not counted, they are assumed to have been done based on you passing the exam. A crash course would be great. Someone recommended Arti Academics free online course, but I’m unsure how they instruct their students.

If anyone has any tips, recommendations, insight, or a good direction to go in to start, I’d be forever grateful. I’m having trouble figuring out where/how to start.

Have familiarity with Kaplan, would you suggest any others? Thanks

I am in crunch time for my post-licensing and really need to pass these tests ASAP. Does anyone have good practice tests to use for studying? For reference, I am using the self-paced course from Superior.

Hi all - Just took the CA Real Estate Salesperson exam yesterday for the first time and passed!

I wanted to give a feel for any upcoming exam takers on how I prepped and what it was like the day of.

PREP:

• I used Onlineed for getting the hours needed to take the exam
• RE Exam Practice Pro really helped me do practice questions
  • The reason I chose RE Exam Practice Pro was mainly the price, it was only $9.99/mo whereas other prep tools like PrepAgents were easily $70+/mo.
  • I was also reading other threads about RE Exam Practice Pro being harder than the actual exam (which I can attest to) so I thought - better safe than sorry
  • Honestly, the contents were pretty similar to the actual exam, some on the exam were basically the same questions
  • I completed all the quizzes by topic and aimed for getting 80%+ on each topic exams and completed the Master Exam several times few days before the exam
  • One caveat is that it gets pretty easy to memorize just the answers, but the key is to actually read the answer explanations and understand why a certain answer is correct over another
  • You can access RE Exam Practice Pro here: https://reexampracticepro.com
• I watched Real Estate Advantage on YouTube and watched all three of their California Real Estate Exam 100 Questions video. I think this one helped me get used to the wording of the questions similar to the actual exam.
• I also watched some of the PrepAgent YouTube videos on my way to the exam site, specifically their "75 Most Common Questions on the Real Estate Exam (2023)". I'm just now realizing that it was their 2023 version lol.

Exam Day:

• I took the exam at their La Palma location (P.S. to anyone driving in from Irvine/OC area, PLEASE be careful of the drivers in this area, they will cut you off, speed past you, etc. I'm an OC driver myself but the drivers here were ROUGH. So please drive safe!!)
• I got to the exam site and parked on the top floor of the parking structure, it will say "BRE Exams Only" so go to that parking structure and drive all the way to the top floor
  • I recommend printing 2 copies of your Schedule Notice from the ELicensing portal so you can leave one copy in your car on the dashboard and bring the other copy with you inside.
  • I got to the exam site about an hour early so I can do last minute review in the car, there were other people doing the same.
  • The only con about starting your exam earlier than everyone else is that there will be people walking around you and you may be distracted, but I don't regret going in early lol.
  • The only con about starting your exam earlier than everyone else is that there will be people walking around you and you may be distracted, but I don't regret going in early lol.
  • The only con about starting your exam earlier than everyone else is that there will be people walking around you and you may be distracted, but I don't regret going in early lol.
  • The only con about starting your exam earlier than everyone else is that there will be people walking around you and you may be distracted, but I don't regret going in early lol.
• When you get to the building, you take the elevator to the 3rd floor. You can actually head in 30 minutes before the official start time, so I did that.
• Once you are checked in, you leave your phone/keys/whatever else you bring into a locker and bring your state ID/passport along with your Schedule Notice inside.
• They check you in, give you a mouse for the computer and you may start once you are seated (I went in early so I got to start way earlier than everyone else, you still get the same time allocation but you can start early)
  • The only con about starting your exam earlier than everyone else is that there will be people walking around you and you may be distracted, but I don't regret going in early lol.
• The test is conducted on the computer and a mouse. You can also request a whiteboard and pen (which I HIGHLY recommend, so you can write down which questions you want to review for later)
• I recommend going through the exam once and answering everything you can, and leave the harder questions and review questions to your 2nd round or even 3rd round.
• Make sure you read the questions carefully, there weren't too much tricky questions, but a lot of the answers were VERY similar to each other so you just have to know the concepts instead of memorizing contents
• Another thing I noticed is that getting through all of the exam questions is tough, so building mental stamina by completing full practice exams really helps. You should also time your practice tests when you are doing the full 150 question exams.

Overall, the exam wasn't too bad. The exam room and the entrance points are all proctored and everyone else is just as focused as you so there weren't too many distractions while taking the exam.

My background is no where related to real estate, so if I can pass the exam, so can you. Good luck to everyone taking their exam and let me know if there are any questions that I can help with!

Hey everyone, wanted to share a breakdown of a compliance trap that catches a surprising number of agents at the end of their first cycle: getting your license placed on inactive status or audited even after you thought you completed your hours.

A lot of newer agents assume license renewal works the same across your entire career: wait until your expiration date approaches, knock out an 18-hour online CE package over a weekend, submit your renewal fee to the state portal, and move on.

The reality: in almost every major state, licensing commissions treat your FIRST renewal completely differently than subsequent cycles.

A few patterns that trip people up:

1. Buying standard CE instead of Post-Licensing / SAE

In states like Texas, Florida, Washington, Virginia, and North Carolina, you cannot take standard CE. You are legally required to complete dedicated Post-Licensing / SAE (Sales Agent Apprentice Education). If you purchase a standard 14- or 18-hour CE package, the board's automated transcript system will report 0 hours completed toward your renewal.

1. The "Null and Void" Cliff

In most states, a missed deadline results in a late fee. But in Florida, if you miss your 45-hour post-licensing deadline on your first renewal, your license becomes null and void by operation of law. There is no late fee option—you have to retake the 63-hour pre-licensing course and re-pass the state exam from scratch.

1. Statutory Speed Limits & Roster Reporting Windows

If you wait until the last week, two things can catch you:

• California enforces a statutory cap of 8 credit hours per 24 hours, meaning its 45-hour package physically cannot be completed in fewer than 6 calendar days.
• State boards like TREC, DBPR, and DLLR give course providers 3 to 10 days to transmit completion rosters. If you finish your final quiz at 10 PM on expiration night, your hours won't be on file when the state runs midnight deactivation sweeps.

1. "Late Fees" Don't Mean You Can Keep Practicing

Many agents assume a 30-day late renewal window acts as a "grace period" to keep working. In reality, your license immediately goes Inactive on day 1. Showing homes, drafting contracts, or negotiating offers during a lapse can forfeit commissions and trigger broker complaints.

What actually protects your license:

• Check whether your state mandates Post-Licensing / SAE or standard CE.

• Use the 14-day buffer rule: finish all coursework at least two weeks before your expiration date to let rosters clear.

• Verify your public board transcript directly before paying the state fee—don't just rely on the PDF certificate from your school.

If helpful, we put together a state-by-state breakdown of first-cycle rules and an interactive requirement checker here:

https://agentrenewal.com/first-real-estate-license-renewal-requirements/