So I'm taking an online course to cover the fundamentals of real estate in preparation for my exam. Now, I know that many of the material covered in the course will be on the exam...

But, is it really necessary to memorize/know-in-the-back-of-your head all of these rules and regulations in the term of a real estate agent career? I mean, there are so many and I have a feeling that I will probably forget 2/3 of the material within a few years.

Will it measure the success of a real estate agent if I can't remember some of the material?

I can't speak to Rules and Regulations in the State of Washington.

If there's any similarity between the Regs of Washington and those of Vermont, then you won't forget them if you have to work with them on a daily basis.

Regulations change or evolve over time. You can't understand the impact of changes, as they occur, unless you understand where they were before the changes.

You will be charged with being able to explain some of these items to Members of the General Public, who will be placing their trust and confidence in your knowledge.

Not knowing the Rules and Regulations can lead to the pre-mature death of one's career in Real Estate.

I think there was a good thread on a similar subject just a few weeks ago under a Title something like "I just failed the Texas Exam the 3rd time" I suggest you do a search for it.

It is very important to know what might be covered by various rules & regulations and where to check out the details if a question comes up. You will find that as you work with them on an everyday basis it won't be as hard to remember what you need to know as when you are studying for an exam.

Not knowing, or not knowing where to find out, can certainly be career limiting.

For example, I'm looking at a question where it says that the Truth in Lending Act provides a right of rescission for the borrower of a loan if the property is the borrower's primary residence.

It says that the borrower may rescind the loan agreement up until 3 days after signing it, receiving the disclosure statement, or receiving notice of the right of rescission, whichever is the latest.

I know I will memorize it for the sake of the exam, but I am very sure that I will not be able to remember over the next few years.

Is this, or anything similar, going to affect to the success of my real estate agent career if I can't remember small details like these?

This is an example of what I said when I mentioned knowing where to look for the answers.

Using your example: A buyer gets "cold feet" and decides not to go through with the loan. If he notifies the lender in one day the answer is different than if he notifies in 5 days. After the test you don't need to remember 3 days as long as you know where to look to see if the buyer was with in the time line to rescind.

Okay. Good!

I'm just worried about, if in the future, when a client asks me on the spot: "how many days do I have if I want to back out of a loan?"

And I suddenly blank out.

But I guess the odds of that are slim, correct?

Yes, odds are slim but you can answer: "I'm not a lawyer but let me get that information for you." and then go look it up and get back to them in a timely manner.

abcdefGARY Vermont007 correctly describes the necessity for educating yourself with the various aspects of your chosen profession and career.

Initially, your focus should be on the information necessary to pass your examination.

Eventually, as your career progresses, you will discover how various federal, state and municipal laws, together with the rules, by-laws of your local real estate board, state and national real estate association, touch upon your career. (It never seems to end)

No one can be expected remember everything, but for your own self-preservation and on behalf of your clients, you should know how and where to find the required information, should the need arise.

You might also consider building your own personal reference library, beginning with your real estate books, and adding such things as may be relevant such as a copy of the “Truth in Lending Act” and later a law book on the “Law of Agency” and over the years the size of your library will increase and contain a vast amount of knowledge that is readily available to you.

You will also find that the more you look things up in your library, the more they become committed to memory.

Good Luck on your exaim.

Important Notice: This information is provided as basic educational information by the author and is not a substitute for the advice of an expert and/or the advice of a lawyer. There is NO representation as to legality, accuracy, correctness of the herein information and the reader is strongly urged to consult a lawyer in the relevant jurisdiction to ensure accuracy before acting on this information

Well, I took my exam today, and I passed. To be quite honest, it was really easy (the WA exam).

I'm not registered with a broker yet so I guess my next step is to gather a list of potential brokers and start dialing the phone!

Congratulations!

I was surprised at how easy the test was too (I had 3 hours to complete it and finished it in less than an hour! It actually scared me and I wondered if I blew it...started to go back and recheck my answers and didn't have patience for it...started to second guess and said NOPE, this is it...)

I always was good at taking tests - lots of people aren't though so that's why others have a more difficult time with it. Doesn't mean they don't know the stuff, just don't test well.

Yep, start out with the busiest offices in your area, in my opinion...I hitched my wagon to a rising star...rather than the ones floundering around here.

While we don't need to have an encyclopedia-like knowledge of all the rules and regulations, we should have a very good working knowledge of the forms and contracts in our jurisdiction.

So if a buyer asks details that are covered in our contract, we should at the very least, be able to immediately pull out the contract and point to the paragraph in question and give a brief summary of what it means. That means having a very good understanding of the basics... what are the standard financing and inspection contingencies, what are the rules about property condition, pest inspections, survey, title, etc. Who is responsible for what and who pays and when?

We should also be able to explain the basics of how taxes are calculated in our state/county/city/school district. Do we have HOAs, MUDs, PUDs, condo associations and fees? What documentation will be required to get to closing?

These are the types of questions our clients expect us to know on the spot.

If a client asks about metes-and-bounds, it might be reasonable to say, "I'll have to get back to you on that!" If a client asks who orders the survey or who determines if the property is in a flood zone, "I'll have to get back to you on that!" probably won't go over so well.

"Would you accept a 100% commission?"

"I'll have to get back to you on that!"

haha. Just kidding.

Congrats on passing!

Just an FYI - the "right of rescission" example you provided, definitely remember that one!

Just remember this rule applies only to the refinancing of existing home loans (on primary residences), not on loans to purchase homes.

[quote=Perky_REALTOR]Yep, start out with the busiest offices in your area, in my opinion...I hitched my wagon to a rising star...rather than the ones floundering around here.[/quote]

Whoops, I totally misread that. For some reason, I tend to think that there would be some sort of disadvantage working at an extremely busy office. Would there be any?

[quote=El Luchador]Just remember this rule applies only to the refinancing of existing home loans (on primary residences), not on loans to purchase homes.[/quote]

Right. See? Forgot it already, haha. I already have a tough time trying to remember what I ate for lunch.

(And my quotes come out funny.)