In late March, I started to think about how can I take advantage of this Quarantine situation. No commute, more flexible work schedule, lack of unplanned interruptions. I’ve also been thinking about diversifying income over the past 6 months – increase total output of the household in a low-risk manner. This combination turned me toward real estate.
Having just purchased our second home and attempting to rent our townhouse, the real estate world was still very fresh in my mind. And to be honest, did not seem that complicated. The only real barrier to entry is a state licensed exam but after that a true free market which is also appealing to me.
Real estate is a Service Industry filled with all sorts of professionals. I thought given my years in consulting at a high level I can transfer my soft skills over easily while learning the more ‘hard’ skills specific to this industry. Once in real estate that name of the game is Lead Generation – how good are you at filling your sales funnel, an area I have wanted to develop professionally for the past year or so.
A bit of a perfect storm and here I am. I licensed real estate agent, soon to be active and servicing the metro Atlanta area. Now onto the meat of what it takes and costs.
License Exam Class:
To obtain a real estate license in Georgia, you must take an approved 75hr class and pass a pre-license exam prior to being approved to take the license exam. Yes very bureaucratic but that’s what a strong lobby organization can do for you. There are in-person classes (not ideal during a global pandemic), online schools, or self-guided apps. Being the millennial I am, I chose a self-guided app to earn my 75hrs.
I opted to earn my 75hrs from Aceable Agent, a self-guided app based real estate school. Overall, I really enjoyed the experience. I was able to review material and take quizzes along the way whenever I wanted. If I didn’t understand some material I review it again at my own pace. It’s the best way to prepare if you can hold yourself accountable. If not, a guided class may be better.
Use my discount code to save on signing up. It also pays me for every sign up: https://mbsy.co/aceable/78376423
Exam Preparation:
This is an area where people spend a lot of money to avoid passing the test on the first try. I decided if I couldn’t pass the test first try then this is not a pursuit for me. Thankfully I passed first try.
The test itself is majority vocabulary and situation-based questions. On my 157 test (National + Georgia) there were maybe 5-7 math questions total. I did not spend much time reviewing math formulas as I knew this was not a major factor in passing the test.
I only used two prep resources: the practice tests Aceable Agent provides as part of the subscription and YouTube videos.
I primarily watched Prep Agent‘s videos. Prep Agent also has a paid app + tutoring but I found their free materials sufficient enough to clarify any topic. I would watch a vocab review video or quiz prep video while walking the dog a few times a day. This kept me fresh while I waited to take the exam.
Not to be crude but if you’re halfway smart, I would not pay for anything else.
The Real Costs:
My underlying principle while working through this process was to reduce costs as much as possible. Yes, spend money to make money but more importantly spend smart money. If I could do something on my own and avoid markup then I would.
Below I listed my actual costs and dates to acheive an inactive real estate license. That is to say, there are other costs such a business license (optional), brokerage startup fees, and others that are not listed below.
| Type | Vendor | Fee | Date | Total | -$490.55 | |
| Pre-License Class | Aceable Agent | -$165.00 | 4/11/2020 | |||
| License Test | PSI | -$121.00 | 5/22/2020 | |||
| Background Check | Sandy Spring Police Department | -$32.55 | 6/29/2020 | |||
| Notary | UPS | -$2.00 | 7/6/2020 | |||
| Real Estate Application | GREC | -$170.00 | 7/6/2020 |
Very pleased to be under the $500 mark with no extraneous fees or costs. Everything was the bare minimum and unavoidable. You can read this as the minimum costs to obtaining a real estate salesperson license in the state of Georgia.
I’ll have an active license come next week and ready to execute on my $100k by end of 2020 plan which I’ll share in an upcoming blog post.
How did you pass your exam? Any questions? Comment below or shoot me an email at nik@choosefuller.com.
Have been wanting to do this for a while and fell in love with the process during our home buying experience as well. Looking to start this week. I’ve got nothing but time with both of my teams being done for the foreseeable future
That’s awesome man! Best of luck. Let me know if you have any questions. The earliest I could schedule my exam was 6 weeks after I passed my pre-license test so the earlier you start the quicker you can pass.
Thanks for sharing Nik! Very helpful information and guidance