Pearson Vue is back in business! They never went out of business, but they were closed during the statewide stay-home order. They have been giving the state exam for a few weeks now. Like a lot of businesses, they are backlogged. They aren’t able to serve as many people at one time because of social distancing, so that’s causing delays as well.
I’ve been getting a lot of phone calls about this, so we are going to do this post as an interview. The questions are asked by the people who find my number and call me, and the answers are by me, Karen Climer.
Pearson Vue told me the soonest date was in four months. What can I do to get a state exam date that is sooner?
The best thing you can do to get your Florida state exam taken as quickly as possible is to get in your car and drive. In Orlando, we have one test center. That’s not very much for a large city. But there are also testing centers in Lake Mary, Lakeland, Tampa, Ormond Beach, Melbourne, and many other cities that are a one-hour car drive from Orlando. If you are willing to travel two hours, you have twice as many options.
Besides, you can use your drive time to study. Don’t read the textbook while you are driving down the interstate. You might run into 4 old ladies driving 35 in a 60. (If you don’t know what that means, you might not be ready to take the state exam.) I sell an mp3 download of the state exam sales prelicensing material. What a great thing to listen to on the way to the state exam!
Are you kidding me? You want me to drive two hours to take the Florida real estate state exam?
I talked to one of my YouTube fans from Miami. He failed the exam on Monday, called to reschedule on Tuesday, and was able to take it again on Wednesday. He had to drive to Fort Myers (from Miami), but he now has a Florida real estate license.
My advice to you is only take the appointment if you want a license … if you are looking to start a new career … if you are looking for a job where there is no limit – absolutely no limit – to how much money you can make … if you want to sell a product that is considered not only essential, but a fundamental piece of the American Dream – the quintessential aspiration of what our country was founded on – then yes, you might need to drive an hour or two to take the state exam.
But I don’t like being in my car that much…
Um, real estate might not be the career for you. Real estate agents do a lot of driving.
Any other options besides a short day trip?
Check the Pearson Vue website frequently. Finding an exam date is like finding a flight. Yesterday all of the flights to New York were booked, but today inexplicably there are five empty seats.
The state exam is the same way. People change their exams and cancel their exams more than you would expect. So when Mr. Fraidoftest cancels three days before he’s supposed to take the exam, there is an opening for someone else to take it. It doesn’t even have to be a real estate applicant who cancels. If anyone who is scheduled to take a three-hour test cancels, that seat is available for you.
I have a test date for a few months from now. What should I do in the meantime?
Take Karen Climer’s state exam review course. You can repeat it as often as you want to for six months.
Note: I do not teach at, or have any affiliation with, Climer School of Real Estate. My family sold that school in 2014. If you are looking for me, you won’t find me there.