Texas Licensed Residential Appraisal Exam

[Lon Davidek]

Hey Everyone,

I'm a newbie and I appreciate the forum for letting me in with the herd. I've been given the go-ahead to take my Licensed Residential Appraisal exam. For my prep courses, I used Allied Real Estate Schools for my Trainee classes and McKissock for my Licensed Residential Appraisal classes. Though I'm not asking to give me a blow-by-blow accounting of what was on my upcoming exam, I am asking what sort of questions I can expect on the exam and where my concentration should be focused. Is it all word problems? Is there a lot of definitions? Six functions of a dollar questions? How much did you use your HP calculator (which I hate by the way). I appreciate any help that you all may give me as I start my journey. Thanks.

 

[AATX2457]

I'm going to hop in on this thread as I will be taking the Certified Residential Exam here in a couple of months.

@Lon Davidek I'm curious though, why did you choose to go the Residential Appraiser route and not go straight from trainee to Certified?

 

[Lon Davidek]

I'm going to hop in on this thread as I will be taking the Certified Residential Exam here in a couple of months.

@Lon Davidek I'm curious though, why did you choose to go the Residential Appraiser route and not go straight from trainee to Certified?

I thought about it but I've been out of the game for a couple years and I wanted to start back slowly after being a trainee. I was just starting to hit my stride when I was let go. I need to get my feet wet again and in a year or so, I'll move up to that level. How have you been studying and have you heard rumors about how to study for it? I've gotten some prep tests but there is so much they can test us on.

 

[Trenton]

I am now Certified Residential in Ohio, but before this I worked in Texas for about 4 years, working my way up from nothing, through trainee, to licensed, and finally certified. I passed the Licensed exam on the first try. For Certified I failed once and nailed it the second time. Basically, all of those annoying questions in the practice materials you get from those schools, yes they're on the test. Licensed has a little bit less of the income approach stuff than the Certified, which was my weak spot, but I made sure to cram the equations into my head so I could do the basic math.

I will give you my one, biggest trick though, because I want you to succeed random internet brother.

The way the computerized test works, you can go through the test as many times as you want -- skip questions and come back to them. Go through the first run and just answer all the ones that don't even take 10 seconds to think about. Then come back at the end and crunch all the numbers for the time-consuming questions.

This is why I failed my first attempt at Certified -- I got caught up trying to nail every math problem perfectly, and ended up running out of time at the end and left a few unanswered, which sank me.

Second time I did what I advised you -- Maybe half of the questions will be quick and easy, just keep whittling it down, pass by pass, answering the low hanging fruit -- it also helps because sometimes I would see something in one question that jogged an idea for an answer on a different question.

Good luck.

 

[Lon Davidek]

I am now Certified Residential in Ohio, but before this I worked in Texas for about 4 years, working my way up from nothing, through trainee, to licensed, and finally certified. I passed the Licensed exam on the first try. For Certified I failed once and nailed it the second time. Basically, all of those annoying questions in the practice materials you get from those schools, yes they're on the test. Licensed has a little bit less of the income approach stuff than the Certified, which was my weak spot, but I made sure to cram the equations into my head so I could do the basic math.

I will give you my one, biggest trick though, because I want you to succeed random internet brother.

The way the computerized test works, you can go through the test as many times as you want -- skip questions and come back to them. Go through the first run and just answer all the ones that don't even take 10 seconds to think about. Then come back at the end and crunch all the numbers for the time-consuming questions.

This is why I failed my first attempt at Certified -- I got caught up trying to nail every math problem perfectly, and ended up running out of time at the end and left a few unanswered, which sank me.

Second time I did what I advised you -- Maybe half of the questions will be quick and easy, just keep whittling it down, pass by pass, answering the low hanging fruit -- it also helps because sometimes I would see something in one question that jogged an idea for an answer on a different question.

Good luck.

Thanks Trenton,

Was not sure about the format and how the test was administered. My course tests did not allow me to skip over the time consuming questions so I had to answer them in turn. I planned on doing what you suggested and you are very correct in your strategy. I'm spending time on all three approaches, USPAP, definitions and word problems. I figure I should have a pretty good shot if I'm versed in those topics. Thanks so much for the encouragement.

Regards

 

[Will41]

How much did you use your HP calculator (which I hate by the way). I appreciate any help that you all may give me as I start my journey. Thanks.

For some reason, the practice tests like Compucram and several others include Hp12c questions. However, the calculator is not permitted during the actual exam. So, I do not see why these questions are included.

 

[Rick Stillman]

I am now Certified Residential in Ohio, but before this I worked in Texas for about 4 years, working my way up from nothing, through trainee, to licensed, and finally certified. I passed the Licensed exam on the first try. For Certified I failed once and nailed it the second time. Basically, all of those annoying questions in the practice materials you get from those schools, yes they're on the test. Licensed has a little bit less of the income approach stuff than the Certified, which was my weak spot, but I made sure to cram the equations into my head so I could do the basic math.

I will give you my one, biggest trick though, because I want you to succeed random internet brother.

The way the computerized test works, you can go through the test as many times as you want -- skip questions and come back to them. Go through the first run and just answer all the ones that don't even take 10 seconds to think about. Then come back at the end and crunch all the numbers for the time-consuming questions.

This is why I failed my first attempt at Certified -- I got caught up trying to nail every math problem perfectly, and ended up running out of time at the end and left a few unanswered, which sank me.

Second time I did what I advised you -- Maybe half of the questions will be quick and easy, just keep whittling it down, pass by pass, answering the low hanging fruit -- it also helps because sometimes I would see something in one question that jogged an idea for an answer on a different question.

Good luck.

Good testing technique. You shouldn't have to cram anything in your brain for formulas. Practice over and over how many sf in an acre, and how many ft in a mile. If you need to cram formulas, you shouldn't be taking the test. The formulas make perfect sense if you understand what it is that they do. There is nothing magic to know. Math is math, and when you understand why it works the way it does, you can handle any math issue. If you don't understand it, the questions ARE designed to trip you up, and probably will. This isn't hard - so don't make it hard. I used flash cards to drill into my brain certain facts, such as sf in an acre. I will never forget that as long as I live. You're exptected to know this stuff - so learn it and move on.

 

[Lon Davidek]

Well, just took my test and FAILED. (Lic Appr Test) (66) I was NOT prepared for the amount of word problems on the first half of the test. I think it took me 30 minutes just to get over the shock, and by question 31, I had 30 minutes left to complete the other 32 questions. 126 questions that you have to answer each one in 1.9 minutes is shocking. I did well on the 2nd half but could not get hardly any answers to come out on the first part. Brutal to say the least. There was one question that I know I had right but none of the answers were what I thought. E1/2 NW1/4 SW1/4 of Section 12. How many acres???? The answers were 2.5, 4 (I think), 10 or 15. Any thoughts... Time to get at it...again... Any suggestions to how to proceed. Probably going to get more practice tests. Any other suggestion that McKissock that has a good reputation for being close to test questions??? Thanks guys for the help!!!

 

[Will41]

What did you use to practice? From what I read, they made the test much harder in 08. I have been using Compucram to get ready, and I am going to add another source soon. When I took the license exam, I took a class in person that was very helpful. This class is no longer available.

 

[Lon Davidek]

I used McKissock's Course and Prep. It was pretty good but I need to take many more prep exams (especially word problems). Was Compucram any good? My main issue is the time allotted for each question. I was not expecting the amount of questions vs the time. Another problem is, is that you can't go back to the first part of the test. I had extra time after the 2nd part but the first was in the books already. A class would have been great for test prep to see where the problems and pitfalls are. I was okay with general knowledge but the word problems were a shock....