Yes, back to school....

The day I graduated college I swore I would NEVER go back to school.....like NEVER! I hated the homework and classes and I just did not enjoy school. So when I was told I had 90 hours to complete on the courses and 5 tests, I figured "OK, deep breath.....don't think of it like school but like a fun new experience...." If that kind of thinking works for you, then great, do it. Didn't work for me, I just wanted to be done! As mentioned before, I took my courses online. You can do this through Kaplan, Continuing Ed Express, MN Realty School, etc. I took my Course I through Kaplan. You can also purchase an exam prep package. I can't speak for that because I didn't order it, but that is an additional 15 prep course.

In Course I, you learn the basics and essentials of real estate. What it is (literally they give you the definition of real estate and realtor....um....I am sorry but if you don't know what that means before you sign up for the class, you might have troubles), the facts for the MN Real Estate Exam (or whatever state you are from), and the groundwork on what you will run into in the real estate world. You have a few books for this Course. They send you 1 huge book on the main real estate information you will need as you jumpstart your new career as well as a workbook and a smaller MN laws book. These are good tools to have throughout the process.

The online course I took was all videos. It of course is timed so you can't skip through the videos and say your hours are done. You do need to play out the videos. After each section, there are small quizzes you take on what you just watched to move onto the next portion (you can take these as many times as you like and actually the questions change so they are good to review). I think this was the hardest part for me. I didn't know what parts I would need to know (they do give some clues throughout saying you should REMEMBER this point.....meaning, learn it for the test!). I took a lot of notes, went through the books, and worked really hard to get it done which still remembering what I just took in. It's hard to make time in your life to sit and study and listen, but if you can focus on that a little each day, it is well worth the end result.

When you finish the course online, you call to schedule your proctored exam. I scheduled my proctored exam for the next day so I would still have it fresh. Then you need to schedule your National and State Exam which you can take together. I was optimistic and took my Course I proctored exam in the morning and then scheduled my National and State Exam that afternoon (through psiexams). I studied and studied and studied and when it came to the test was still really nervous....I hadn't done this in a while! The test wasn't too bad and if you studied, you were most likely going to pass. I then had my National and State exam that afternoon and then passed those. They are STRICT going into the test. They make sure you have NOTHING on you, no hat, no purse, no anything you might have answers on. Go in there and be confident in what you learned and you will be fine.....

Now what?