HI everybody I have a DILEMMA I took the Real Estate classes in Chicago,IL and now I am an active leasing agent but I do not have my license yet my 120 days expire soon and I have to make a decision if to take the Leasing Agent Exam or the Real Estate Exam I have been studying for the Real Estate Exam only from the tests that we did in class but I do not know the Math Part at all. Have anyone took the leasing agent's exam recently? What should I read most because event though I read the tests for real estate agent when I try to do a leasing agent's exam online the questions require more specific knowledge of the the leasing material that I do not think we covered in the Real Estate courses. I know it is a loooooong post but I am trying to be as clear as I can. THANK YOUUU!!!!

Kate

Well, Kate if you are going for your sales person's license, then I would not worry to much about the math. While it is good to have an understanding of how to calculate something's. With the test fast approaching I would not worry. Unless they have changed the structure of the test. You will only be graded on a small percentage of math. You could even not answer any of the math questions and still pass. Provided you answer a majority of the other questions. At least that is how it was for me and other agents in California when we tested 3-4 years ago.

I agree with DelCidsRealty. Not much math in South Carolina and what was on the test was basics. Our teacher stressed from day one to not even think about the math portion of the test. She insisted we just skip over it and do it last but I didnt.

So are you saying that in IL you need a seperate license for leases? One covers all down here much to some people's chagrin.

And by the way that post was nothing close to long! Best wishes!

Thank you guys I was kind of stressed because of the math but now that i read your answers I see it is not that big of a deal. Merkaba -No we do not need separate licenses in IL to be leasing agents I thought of getting the leasing agent's exam so i would escape the math or get at least less amount of questions. Just because I got a little overwhelmed with the upcoming exam and I am already active I have deals to close and i do not have much time to study.:) I just thought that the leasing agent's exam will be easier to pass that is all. THANK YOU FOR your responses

My math portion was pretty low too - I only answered two of the questions (I think there were four total). One of them was how many square feet in an acre or something.

the math is the least of your worries. The national part of the test is pretty easy too; what you may find tricky is passing your state exam.

Why does a sales agent need to know math? You are only dealing with hundreads of thousand if not millions of dollars. So what if you make a mistake on a percentage that costs thousands of dollars. It's not your money right?

I understand that your window is coming to a close, but I suggest that you know math before using your license, just so you don't hurt yourself or clients.

I finish my state required classes for Ohio this week. I can't believe that there are some people who don't know what 3% of $100,000 is. So, yes I am a stickler on math. Think about sitting in front of your client and you can give the client good numbers. Please learn math that is needed if you don't know it. There are many things not on the exam that you still need to know. Please keep that in mind after you earn your license.

The amount of math required to pass a real estate license test is so minimal as to be laughable. Can you figure out how many square feet are in a room that is 12x12?

Really, the math to pass the test should be easy for your typical 6th grader.

It would be more useful if the licensing classes taught you how to find out what a payment would be on a $100,000 loan with 5% down financed over 30 years (my ex could do that in his head!), although most of us would just look it up in a book. There's no geometry, no trig, no algebra, no calculus. It's just basic math. If you can't do basic math, how do you expect to make good recommendations to your customers?

We had several of these types of questions on our Georgia exam. Plus figuring property taxes and intangible tax.

The questions that I skipped involved pro-rating garbage bills and amenity fees to the day - I was always off by a few dollars and could somehow never get it right - either I counted one day too much or one day too less. That's a difference of a few bucks, not hundreds or even thousands of dollars. I need to give my clients a reasonable estimate of their closing costs - I've yet to screw that up and my closing costs have always been reasonably close to the HUD statement. Rather than waste time on a question I was probably going to get wrong anyway, I skipped it. Doesnt' mean I don't think math is important - but someone's livelihood isn't going to depend on if I pro-rate a garbage payment for today or tomorrow.

I'm capable of calculating square feet, of figuring out commission and down payments and I frankly see nothing wrong with looking up a payment in a book - it's a tool just like the calculator.

What irks me are realtors who don't know their right from their left and who can't tell a ranch house from a colonial.

That is good, so you know math.

Did you read my example? People in my class did not know how the answer was $3,000 to the question what is 3% of $100,000. That is what I am talking about.

You screwing up on an estimate of one day's worth of prorated expenses is not what I was talking about. I think that it is a disservice by not estimating correctly for your client. The title company is the one who does the final anyway, right?

I do feel that if people are worried about the math on a licensing exam, they should not be helping me with the biggest investment I will make in my lifetime. If you can calculate square footage and percents then good, you were awake when they taught that in elementary school.

I think the thing is that people who've never taken the exam don't know what to expect by way of math - neither the types of questions nor how important the math part is to passing the test.

Of the 5 or so math questions I had to answer on my exam, only two, possibly three, were ones that I had to really know how to do - the other questions were exactly what you said - something the title company calculates.

I don't think the OP was worried about not knowing how to calculate 3% of 100,000 - I think she was concerned about how complex and how important the math part of the real estate exam is.

Many people who have not taken the exam are terrified of the entire thing. I took it and passed with flying colors - both tests I got in the high 90's - but a lot of people aren't that good at taking tests - so how about cutting the OP a little slack?

Yes, it's pretty sick that someone with a high school diploma does not know how to figure out simple percentages. When I was a customer service rep in a supermarket years ago, a lady bought a can of bug spray for $9. It was supposed to ring up at 1/3 off the original price. For whatever reason that particular can didn't get entered into the database and the casher called me over. So I said "Just refund her the difference."

The cashier looked at me like I was speaking Swahili. She couldn't figure out to just take $3 off the stupid thing - she was a high school senior.

The funniest part - the customer was my 6th grade math teacher.

LOL I'm laughing at the teacher being the customer witnessing that. Not that the cashier didn't know how to take 1/3 off the price. That is sad, and I blame the education system. Teachers are not allowed to hold back a student. But that's another story.

About cutting the original poster some slack, I apologize. I did not mean to give the impression that I was attacking the OP. I did say..



Like I stated before, I am finishing my state required classes this week. It is very fresh in my mind the lack of understanding on the part of people wanting to make this their career, and the lack of instructors bringing this to light by letting it go. In my opinion the state required classes are a joke. Joke maybe too strong, but they are not sufficient enough to put the soon to be agent in a position to succeed.

I am sorry Kate5 if you took my post as an attack. I wanted to inform you really.

Hey Guys thats very good info you provided me with. About the math part yes I meant to find out if it is real complicated I had a little hard time converting because i am from Europe and we do not use inches and Sq Ft and whatever...so ..and it took me some time to get use to it... the whole concept looks a little different but anyways I just get real nervous when i go for an exam even if I know i get like a panic attack :))))...The easy math is for the salesperson and for the complicated part there are plenty of Appraisers out there that is there job. THANKS!

Yes no problem jjohnson1985 I understand what you mean and I do agree with you!