How hard was your Certified Residential Test?

[Smokey Bear]

I just took the Certified Residential Exam, and was very disappointed with it. The residential income approach was 50% of the coursework required to upgrade, but made up very little of the exam, and the questions they did have were not very complex. I'm not just saying I was prepared, I'm saying the harder questions just weren't there.

Now I'm wondering if the CG exam is more in line with what the CR exam should have been. Frankly, I didn't see much difference in difficulty between the trainee's exam I took 4 years ago and the CR exam I took last week. I expected a higher bar to get to this level, not to mention that I'm now considered qualified to appraise residential over $1M, but that wasn't even part of the curriculum or the exam.

What was your experience? I didn't feel that well prepared for the exam but thought I could pass if I took enough time. I ended up finishing in 45 minutes. I felt gypped - if that's all it takes to become a CR, I'm not that impressed with the designation.

 

[Mr Rex]

A friend of mine just passed his CR after 3 tries. He went in on the first without studying, made a 66. Studied the Q&A books quite a bit and took it again and made a 67. I told him to use Learnappraising.com in addition to his other study materials and make sure he understood the concepts behind the questions an he passed (they don't tell you what you make if you pass. He said there was a substantial difference in the difficulty of the 3 tests based on the mix of questions. #1 was an easy set of questions, #2 was the hardest of all. #3 was harder than #1 but not quite as bad as #2. Luck of the draw and an individuals particular skill set strengths probably play as much into as anything else.

FWIW, I thought the CR test was fairly easy when I took it, it took about 30 minutes. Sitting for the CG exam this month, so I will let you know.

 

[Ajax in CA]

Congratulations on passing

I just took the Certified Residential Exam, and was very disappointed with it. The residential income approach was 50% of the coursework required to upgrade, but made up very little of the exam, and the questions they did have were not very complex. I'm not just saying I was prepared, I'm saying the harder questions just weren't there.

Now I'm wondering if the CG exam is more in line with what the CR exam should have been. Frankly, I didn't see much difference in difficulty between the trainee's exam I took 4 years ago and the CR exam I took last week. I expected a higher bar to get to this level, not to mention that I'm now considered qualified to appraise residential over $1M, but that wasn't even part of the curriculum or the exam.

What was your experience? I didn't feel that well prepared for the exam but thought I could pass if I took enough time. I ended up finishing in 45 minutes. I felt gypped - if that's all it takes to become a CR, I'm not that impressed with the designation.

Hey Smokey, guess you're just smarter than the average bear. I hear the test is going to be more difficult starting in 2008. Maybe you should have waited till then.

Congratulations on passing, even if it wasn't fun or challenging....

 

[Vegan702]

I passed after 3x without studying or cracking any books. I never took the license test though so I have nothing to compare against. First was a 74 missed by 1 point, then a 69 and then a 80. I found the test to be a joke. It appears to be the same questions over and over, or at least I got the same ones or very similar to each other. I took the original cold just to see where I stood in relation to what I was doing. After taking it and missing by 1 point I figured why study. The 2nd time I second guessed myself which is why I got the 69 and the 3rd I went in and answered everything with my first feeling and left in less then 30 minutes with an 80. FHA was even more of a joke. They should have you do a demonstration report or something to get your license.

 

[Smokey Bear]

Rumor has it that the testing software gives you more/harder questions on the same subject if you miss a question. Maybe I did well for the first part and it just kept giving me easy questions, not that that would make any sense. You're supposed to get a set % of questions on each subject.

 

[David Beasley]

I just took the Certified Residential Exam, and was very disappointed with it. The residential income approach was 50% of the coursework required to upgrade, but made up very little of the exam, and the questions they did have were not very complex. I'm not just saying I was prepared, I'm saying the harder questions just weren't there.

Now I'm wondering if the CG exam is more in line with what the CR exam should have been. Frankly, I didn't see much difference in difficulty between the trainee's exam I took 4 years ago and the CR exam I took last week. I expected a higher bar to get to this level, not to mention that I'm now considered qualified to appraise residential over $1M, but that wasn't even part of the curriculum or the exam.

What was your experience? I didn't feel that well prepared for the exam but thought I could pass if I took enough time. I ended up finishing in 45 minutes. I felt gypped - if that's all it takes to become a CR, I'm not that impressed with the designation.

Can't comment on today's CR tests, I took mine over a decade ago. Back then we had 3 hours to complete it and I finished in 30 minutes, proofed my answers another 15 minutes and handed it in. I can't remember the final tally, but I only missed a few if any of the correct answers - the resulting printout/sheet simply said "Passed" on it when they fed my test to the scoring computer. And the one I last remember taking (my Cert test - the License test the year prior was easy) wasn't that easy. There were plenty of complex income producing residential property questions on there...as well as enough General (commercial) questions to make one scratch their head since G1 was really only a primer on commercial appraising. Maybe they've dumbed them down some since then?

Consider yourself smart if you feel let down by the test. I've seen people take and fail it 3 times in a row. I saw long-time "practicing" appraisers fail it when our state finally went all license/certification all the time back in the early 1990s when mandatory licensing first hit our state in earnest.

 

[Vegan702]

We had a guy fail it 7x! Great guy, just couldn't do tests very well.

 

[Riick]

Same exam used Nationwide if I'm not mistaken.
Took orginal back in ?? 1991 ?? Paper & Pencil - Multiple Guess
Took more recent one for Florida in 2000. Via Computer - Multiple Guess
Neither was a problem.
"Cram book" avalabe from Harry Harrison very helpful

FWIW... A hint from statistics -- if you have to totally guess, at an
answer, (have NO idea)
you can increase probability that your guess is correct:

Since the answers on a Multiple-Choice exam are randomized,
the correct answers fall on a normal curve.
Thus the correct answers will most probably be in the middle choices:

• 5 answers: Most probable B/C/D
• 4 answers: Most probable B/C
• .

 

[Renee Borne]

I passed mine last month, first try. I took 3 1/2 hours. I got the test that had items on it that every instructor said that will not be on the test. Good thing I studied everything. Did some practice tests, took a test prep and studied for a good solid week. During the test I left the math questions for last and I was the only one in the testing center not taking an open book test so it was very distracting listening to everyone rifle through pages. One reason I left the math for last since the room emptied out. Lots of income approach (I think I got the General Exam) and lots of lease questions.

 

[cgjerdetu]

I also thought there was little difference between the trainee and certified exam. The real estate broker's exam was quite a bit more challenging.