How I passed the CA Real Estate Exam at the age of 70

 Hello.

The following story is personal, & I am sharing it because I have had interest from others, but in no way am I suggesting the reader expect more from the experience of passing an exam than what the reader decides to do  themselves. The details reflect my own experience, I am not promoting any products or companies, "just the facts, ma'am"...in case you remember DRAGNET. 

I had begun studying law because my adult daughter suggested I become an attorney although it is true that I lost my youth to the ballet studio & sold fine jewelry for decades. Over a period of several years of intermittent courses, including property law & contracts, I had become acquainted with concepts & practices within the Real Estate industry, however, so far, this was by default. I was good at asking for large sums of money with a straight face, having sold diamonds, so I knew I could do it.

An elderly gentleman broker, friend of my passed away father, became aware that along with caring for both of my parents, both of whom passed away in the last decade, I had not focused any time or money for a retirement. I had plenty of ambition, a house to live in but no money. His solution was great.

He paid for my course in Real Estate with Allied Schools. He explained that he did not get his real estate license until he was 70 years old & that he made $200,000 his first year. My antenna went up. He told me to start & see if  I liked it. His company was called Humboldt Best Real Estate & had sold property all over the county for 20 years. He told me to consider myself hired as soon as I finished the course.

That same month the Pandemic hit, but as usual, in my own personalized version of coping with life, I made it suit me. With nowhere to go, armed with my computer, paid education & time to devote to a new project, I began the course. Armed with previous knowledge from online courses, I supplemented my studies with bar charts quick study guides (there are laminated quiz basics) on real estate, audio books with a 500 real estate terminology guide & additional basic real estate principle & concept books to listen to. I went to YouTube & found a multitude of videos on passing the exam, generally they were about the same with a few personality favorites I discovered.

Because of serendipity, when I had  studying for the initial requirements of the training, along came a note from the school that there would be webinars beginning soon & was I interested? That was a definite yes because I am an auditory learner, & although I have a Masters Degree in Entertainment Business, I understand my own limitations & work around them academically. I met my new friend Gary, online.

For the next eleven months, I would see Gary the instructor online once or twice a day. With the election upheavals, health disasters, Texas freezing, & real estate rentals going up & down, every day I attended the webinars. There were sometimes hundreds of participants, but somehow, he took note of when I arrived for the session. If it were not for the daily (OK, I missed some, & he was busy with his life, but overall I can say daily) sessions, I would have never finished. I explained that I had an arts backgound & I was surrounded in Humboldt County with Redwood trees & many unkept Victorians, in need of TLC. He suggested that be my niche! He suggested that to everyone actually, but I was already building websites & had 15K connections on Linkedin, so something positive was bound to happen.

Then once I had passed the three pre-requisite tests, which were open book, I sent in $60 to the CA Real Estate office in Sacramento. I had a sinking feeling that I had just visited cyberspace however, since I had to snail mail the documents, no scans or emails, I had to girder down & put my impatience aside. 

In sum, I had scheduled two exams, both were cancelled due to Covid19, but really, who would want to sit in one clinical room with 40 or 50 other people breathing their germs for two to three hours? Sorry, it did not hurt my feelings to have the exams  cancelled. The months went by. Slowly but surely, Gary's information was seeping into my brain & I actually began to understand what the the heck  he was talking about. 

Topics I had gleaned in my law classes were beginning to take hold & mesh with my new learning.

Then, it happened. I received a letter in the mail on blue paper, telling me that my exam had been re-scheduled on my birthday at 4:30 pm in Sacramento. I knew I had to face the proverbial music & begin my travel plans. Covid19 restrictions were relaxing, & I had convinced myself of my fabulous immune system, that I would be just fine. I had a month to prepare. Gary told me if I failed it was no big deal, & it would only cost another $60.

My adult daughter rented the car with a day extra for driving & getting lost in Sacramento. My friend who had a friend she wanted to visit in Sacramento, set up a few nights at the Double Tree Hilton. This proved to be located two blocks away from the test site on Exposition Blvd. & was an excellent choice.

We got set up in the room, I took my collections of hand-written 3x5 inch notecards, probably a thousand in total, that I had filled out when studying my errors in the exam practice section...my new reading glasses, & essential testing I.D. & blue paper! My friend left for the day so I could study alone in the hotel room. Due to Covid19 restrictions there was no room service, no restaurant open in the hotel, so I went to the gift shop & purchased some Gatorade & Fritos. I was not hungry anyway due to nerves. That would change after the exam! Cheesecake & wine on a full stomach was terrific!

Because we were so close, about 3:45 pm I walked over, meditating & doing my breath exercises for stress. I got there early & everyone was terribly nice. I locked up my keys & such in a locker, & waited for what I thought would be a half hour. Instead, those of us who got there early were allowed to be registered & begin early. I was at the back next to a big window so I could take little breaks & stare. In addition, because I do  have a bad back, I was able to  stand up & stretch here or there, as needed.

The timer was on & as usual I was a Jack Rabbit & began to go too darn fast. I made myself slow down as there were 150 questions with a time limit of three hours. The questions were written full of double negatives, so any logic training I had had to get through legal questions now came into gear. One "except" or "not" & one's game can be thrown off completely. 

Second go-over, I found two errors & was able to change them. I said my prayers to God, Jesus, Mary & The Saints, took a deep breath & pressed submit.

Once a person finishes the test we are warned that if we did not return the borrowed mouse we would be charged $100, which I found odd because who would want it, but then of course, I returned it. The office people were very serious, printed my paperwork, & stapled it shut. I was told not to open the results until I was outside. I guess this was to not interrupt the other test testers with shouts of joy or screams of defeat. I went outdoors, it was a beautiful day, & it just became glorious because of the words, Congratulations, you passed! Many have asked what was on it, I can only say this: no math, know your agency & appraisal rules for the state of CA. All the tests are different, I am only stating what was on mine. I will always remember that one acre = 43,560 square feet however.

I walked back to the hotel, deep breathing of course & my two friends were waiting in the parking lot to take me out to birthday & congratulations dinner. We went to the local Cracker Barrel, full of families, kids, everyone was glad it was Friday, especially me. becoming 70 years of age has been a great experience!

Today I am going to get my fingerprints taken with my broker friend. There is a local shop that has live scan services available, I had printed up the special page for the request from the office of Real Estate already, so we are good to go. We are going out to look at a nursing  home that is for sale that is on his radar. Could be a long term investment, we are all going to grow old & die, right?

Allow me this close: " but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes. — Benjamin Franklin, in a letter to Jean-Baptiste Le Roy, 1789 ".