When I start my real estate classes, I always ask the class, “What have you heard about the state exam?”

One hundred percent of the time, someone will say, “I’ve heard that no one ever passes the first time.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard that too,” someone else chimes in.

“That’s not exactly true,” I tell them. “I passed it the first time. In fact, MOST people pass the first time.” Let me say that again: the majority of people pass the exam the first time. This isn’t my opinion. This is a proven fact.

You need to be in the 51% that pass the FIRST time.

Every month, the Florida Bureau of Education and Testing sends the exam statistics to all of the Florida real estate instructors. Every month, it’s about the same. In August 2017, 3,588 people took the Florida real estate exam for the first time. Of those, 1,840 passed it. That means 51% of the people pass the Florida real estate state exam the first time they took it. Fifty one percent constitutes a majority. That number has been pretty steady for the decade plus that I’ve been teaching.

Now, after you’ve failed it once, you move to the repeater column. That’s where the pass rate drops to 32%. Those are the people who don’t mind taking the exam two, three, or four times. Those are the people who believe that maybe if they take it enough times, they will pass it without studying. Those are the people who believe that “everyone takes it more than once.”

Many students decide, “I’ll just take the test and see how I do.” In fact, there is at least one school in town that recommends you do that. Yes, that’s correct.  There is a school that recommends you throw away $57.75 and take a pot shot at your confidence, then decide afterward that you should study.

In case you were wondering, that’s not my recommendation. I recommend that you decide, “I am ready to start a new career, so I’m going to do what I need to do to pass the first time.” And then follow through with the appropriate action to make that happen.

Please note that neither I, nor anyone in the Climer family, have any affiliation with Climer School of Real Estate.  My father, Ron Climer, sold Climer School of Real Estate in 2014.  You can find me at Demetree School of Real Estate.