Since thousands of prospective real estate agents visit our site every month, we often receive emails asking us: “are real estate classes hard?”
And, my advice is always the same…
…it’s not hard as much as it’s about potential barriers that pop up for some real estate students.
Granted, if you have no experience with real estate, these classes can feel like a daunting challenge. But, everything does when you’re first starting out.
Think about the first time you learned to ride a bike. It was difficult at first, perhaps, and now you can ride a bike without even thinking about it.
Real estate classes are the same way. However, knowing the potential barriers that cause real estate students to struggle will prepare you to successfully pass your real estate classes.
Let’s look at some of these barriers and what you can do to give yourself the best chance of success.
Picking The Wrong Learning Style
If there is one thing learned from all of the educational studies completed over the last twenty years, it’s that people learn differently. We call it different learning styles.
The four main learning styles are:
- Auditory
- Visual
- Reading and Writing
- Kinesthetic
Most of these learning styles are self-explanatory, except for the fancy word kinesthetic. Students with this learning style are hands-on. They learn best when they do.
Picking a real estate class that doesn’t align with your learning style makes a real estate class hard.
For example, the student with a visual learning style that enrolls into a heavy text-based online real estate class will struggle. Or, the student with a reading and writing learning style who enrolls in a lecture-based real estate class.
When you don’t align your learning style to the real estate class, it’s like pushing a boulder up a hill.
The Solution: Alignment
To make your real estate classes easier, pick a real estate class that matches your learning style. That means, if you’re:
- Visual – find a course that offers plenty of visual learning aids, such as charts, diagrams, symbols, and more.
- Auditory – These students often do best in lecture-based classes, such as in-person real estate classes or a course with a ton of videos.
- Reading & Writing – These students need articles and books. A class that is heavily text-based is where these students will do well.
- Kinesthetic – these students may struggle in a class. The best thing these students can do is take practice tests or find ways to apply the knowledge to real world examples.
Quick note: rarely does a person learn in only one style. Their learning style is primary and dominant, but not exclusive. It’s still a good idea to enroll in a real estate class that offers a wide range of learning styles.
Setting The Wrong Pace
Pacing is a critical aspect to learning. Pace is the amount of material that is covered within a specified timeframe. There is a pace for each individual class, as well as an entire course.
If we move too fast, we can’t possibly absorb and store all of the information that is being presented to us. We’ll forget a lot of it.
On the other hand, if we move too slow, we risk becoming disengaged and forgetting topics we learned.
It’s a fine balance to set the right pace.
In-person and online classes offer various learning schedules. Some will have a fast pace, requiring their students to learn everything within a week or two. Others will stretch out their classes for months.
Setting the wrong pace is going to make real estate classes harder. The right pace is going to be different for every learner.
Some students struggle in fast-paced real estate classes that promise your real estate license by the end of the week. Other students will struggle and need a course that is slower.
There are also students who become disengaged and drop out of real estate class due to a slow learning pace.
The Solution: Self-Pace
You have two potential solutions to setting the right pace for learning.
- Self-Pace
- Pick The Class With The Right Pace
I’m biased towards self-pacing. I believe it offers the best opportunity for all students. It’s difficult to know with certainty the kind of pace we learn best in.
With an online course, you can pick the pace. Go slow. Go fast. It’s all up to you.
If you’re not likely interested in self-pacing courses, try to find a course that is aligned with your ideal pacing schedule.
You need to consider how fast you learn and the other obligations in your life. Do your best to pick a real estate class that isn’t too slow or too fast for you.
Wrong Learning Environment
The wrong learning environment makes it hard to sustain focus, and therefore, learn. A learning environment is defined by location, context, and culture in which a student learns.
Your ideal learning environment will look different than another real estate student. However, it should create focus, is free from distractions, and allows you to pay attention.
For example, a student who sits in a classroom in an uncomfortable chair with the A/C set too low may have difficulty concentrating. The student trying to study online at their dining room table with a dog and newborn in the background may have a hard time focusing.
Or, they may not. It’s up to the individual.
The Solution: Create Your Environment
Create the best learning environment for you. This is usually easier to do for an online course. You can control the location, which can solve noise problems and distractions. You can also control when you study so that you learn when you have the most mental and emotional energy.
But, in-person real estate classes work, too. You have less control over the environment, but you can still prepare yourself.
For example, have a sweater if the classroom gets cold. Pack a snack in case you get hungry. Do everything you can ahead of time to be able to make adjustments so that you can remain focused during the class.
The Wrong Study Method
The biggest studying mistake I see real estate students make is trying to cram too much of the same content for too long.
For example, a student will sit down on a Saturday and try to review half of the topics that are on the real estate exam. Or, worse, they will do a cram session a few days before their real estate exam.
These are ineffective study methods. The cramming method doesn’t work.
The Solution: Intervals
Research studies conclude that the best way to learn is through spaced studying or interval learning. Focus on a topic for a short period on different days.
Have shorter study sessions, increase the frequency, and have a lot of breaks. Instead of studying 5 hours on a Saturday, study 1 hour a day every week.
Instead of studying 1 hour a day every week, try studying 20-minutes three times a day.
The idea is to study content. Give yourself a break. Review said content again. Give yourself a break. Review. Rinse and repeat.
You should do this regularly as you prepare for your real estate exam.
Study To The Test
I’ve always been good at taking courses and completing exams. It’s how I was able to complete my pre-licensure class and pass my Michigan real estate exam in two weeks.
I attribute my success to how I study. It’s not so much about my intelligence as it is about studying to the test.
What do I mean by studying to the test? It means studying so you can pass the test. Not learn as much information as you can.
Your single goal is passing the exam. Most of your learning will come after you’re a licensed real estate agent.
This means taking a lot of practice tests, finding gaps in your knowledge, reviewing missed concepts, and taking more practice exams.
You will rinse and repeat this process until you reliably score 90 percent on your practice exams.
The method I described is the most efficient study method. If you happen to take an exam that has percentage breakdowns, then you know where you should focus your time.
People try to get 100 percent on the exam so they study everything. I have been known to skip studying entire concepts if they are a small portion of the exam.
For example, let’s say a particular topic is only 5% of the exam and the rest of the topics are worth about 20 percent.
I would spend very little time studying and reviewing the content that is worth 5 percent. Instead, I would focus on the 20. I can miss the five percent and still pass the exam.
Final Thoughts On If Real Estates Are Hard
Real estate classes aren’t hard. It’s the barriers that come up that can make it hard. But, if you properly follow the advice in this article, then you improve your odds of success.
What will make it easier for you is matching a real estate class with:
- The right learning style,
- The right pace,
- The right environment…
… for you.
That’s the key. It’s only hard if you let it be.
Get Started With Aceable Agent
Since we’re partial to online real estate classes, we’ve partnered with Aceable agent to provide pre-licensure classes for select states.
Some of the benefits to Aceable Agent:
- Different packages to meet the needs of different learning styles
- Ability to set your own pace
- And you can learn from anywhere and the environment that best suits you.
Plus, they have a money-back guarantee if you don’t pass the exam.
