License Renewals

April 30 deadline looms for salesperson license renewals in Illinois. If you still need to complete continuing education, see IAR’s home study, online and classroom options.

License Law Rewrite and Broker Exam

I am happy to see the state passed the rewrite, it's something we have needed for a long time. In the short term, it will certainly cause some confusion, but over the long haul I believe it will pay dividends for the industry. As for the exam, the pass rate for the first 45 days or so has been around 39%, rather abysmal to say the least. The biggest problem has been the lack of study material available to date. I spoke to the folks at ExamSmart and they tell me the new simulator should be up and running next week. I also have it on good authority that AMP is doing some "Tweeking" to the state exam based on feedback from several sources. All of these things together should begin to show better results in the near future. For those who will be transitioning to Broker or Broker Manager status, will be able to take a proficiency exam, if passed they will not have to take the regular exam. I do not believe the proficiency exam has been created yet, so I don't know at this point what that will entail. As soon as it becomes available, I will try to get a copy. Stay tuned

Illinois Senate Votes to Pass License Law Rewrite

On April 2nd the Senate UNANIMOUSLY approved Senate Bill 1894, the IAR initiative to rewrite the Real Estate License Act. The House Bill was referred to the Rules Committee. It appears that we should have a new license law soon. The proposed changes, which we've discussed earlier, are supported by the Illinois Association of Realtors®, so, as a lemming in training, I must also support. The big problem as I see it is the new format for the broker exam and a bunch of agents, under the prosposed changes, will have to take that exam. We need to do some additional research on that exam and find out more. I'll see if I can get Bill O'Donnell to share some information.

Illinois Prelicense Tutored Homestudy

We have had tremendous success doing prelicense instruction using a homestudy format with one-on-one tutoring. We're going to offer this option again at the Palatine office starting Saturday, April 25th. We begin at 8:30 are are usually out by 11:30 or so and can cover the material in approximately seven Saturdays. During that period one-on-one tutoring sessions can be arranged and a great deal of time is spent covering State exam questions. Our pass rate at the State level is excellent. For more information you can call Vince at yourhouseacademy at
800-375-7032 . We have several other courses scheduled and the complete schedule can be seen by clicking on schedule.

Following Up on the Simulation Test Questions

I have asked several brokers I know to try the sample simulations on the Illinois Real Estate Broker section at goamp.com. As of this post NONE have been able to pass the tests: repeat, NONE. If these are accurate examples of the types of questions now being asked, someone had better review situation.

New Broker Review From ExamSmart

I spoke with the people at examsmart who said their new review including practice for the simulation type questions will be ready by the middle of April. They will post information on their website when it's ready. If it is anywhere near as good as their old review, it should be well worth the investment. As soon as we know for sure that it's ready we'll also notify you here.

AMP Web Site Offers Sample Questions

After looking at Bill's last post, I went to the AMP site, goamp.com, and tried the simulated test questions. To put it as gently as I can, the new format can be brutal. Anyone preparing to take the new test should practice before sitting. We'll do some research and try to determine who has the best material currently available and let you know.

The New Brokers Exam

While attending the IAR business meetings last week, we discussed, at great length, the new broker exam and the ability to study for the new format. As of right now, AMP has released a study guide for $24.95 and "Examsmart.com" is supposed to have a practice exam ready any day, which will have a cost of $49.00 that will allow the subscriber to use the practice tests for 90 days. There are other companies working on the same, but as of this posting have not given a timeframe for release. We will keep you posted with updates as soon as they become available. In the meantime, it would be well worth the money to purchase the AMP guide or subsribe to Examsmart because the exam is nothing like you have seen before, and would be difficult to pass without these study tools. Remember, the state portion of the exam is still multiple choice, it is the national portion that has changed to a situational format. stay tuned.