New FL Sales Associate

[Luke McCann]

BP,

Two days ago I passed the Florida state exam to get my Real Estate Sales Associate License. I intend for this post to help those considering getting their license gain a better understanding of what to expect. 

Before I dive into my experience, I should disclose WHY I chose to get my license. I am not planning on becoming a full time real estate agent. I am a student in St. Augustine, FL seeking to build a foundation of experience and cashflow so that when I have finished my time at Flagler College I am able to invest full time. 

I got my license to get access to the MLS for research purposes, save money on deals for myself, and make the connections in my area (Northeast Florida). I plan on buying my first property in the 2nd quarter of 2017 and conducting a house hack.

Overall, I had a good experience getting my Sales Associate License. (By the way, a sales associate is what is commonly referred to as an agent, a broker requires two years of experience being a sales associate before getting licensed.) Like I said, I live in St. Augustine but I took the 63-hour course in Boca Raton, FL through Gold Coast Schools. 

As you can imagine, 63 hours in a classroom over a 7 day period is pretty miserable. There is no other way to put it. It takes discipline and courage to complete this process from start to finish the right way. However, Gold Coast Schools utilizes different strategies that make it manageable. They break the course up into blocks and provide a review each day, so that by the end of the week much of the information has been cemented into your mind. 

In order to pass both tests (the course exam and the state exam) the first time around, which is what I was fortunate enough to do, I strongly recommend two things. The first is to read the book THREE times.  Once is enough for the course exam, but for the state exam three times can be the charm. I also strongly recommend making notecards. I made approximately 400 notecards total. It may sound overwhelming but it is not too terrible if you break it up into rounds of 50 or 100. 

It would take an eternity to memorize the entire course. It may seem overwhelming on the first day when you see how much information will be covered in such a short time. Never cease to see the light at the end of the tunnel. It is a tremendous accomplishment and it opens many doors of opportunity. 

I hope this post was beneficial to some. Whatever path you go down, good luck!