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How Much Do You Need to Memorize for the Alberta Real Estate Exam?

Raman Gakhal, Instructor at Alberta Real Estate School shows discusses what is important for Alberta Real Estate Licensing studies and how much to study through a video tutorial.

The most common question we get asked is – How much do you need to memorize for the Alberta Real Estate Exam? Is Alberta Real Estate Exam hard to pass? What are the key areas of focus from the Study Guide Manuals that we get? How much should we exactly study to pass the RECA Exam?

All your questions can be answered in a simple way. First, let us understand what the exam is about and what are the different things we need to keep in mind when attempting the exam.

ALBERTA REAL ESTATE EXAM FORMAT 

  1. Typically, RECA has Online Exam Formats. It doesn’t matter which exam you’re writing. Whether it’s Residential, Fundamentals, Commercial, or Rural, all of them are computer-based exams.
  2. You have anywhere from 90 to 140 exam questions that you will get. So, if you are writing a commercial exam, for example, you will have 90 questions on the exam. If you are writing fundamentals, you will have 140 questions. For residential, you will have 100 questions.
  3. You need 70% to pass each exam. You will have three hours to complete the exam so there is plenty of time.
  4. Another thing to keep in mind is that all questions will be multiple-choice questions and this is really key because when we have multiple-choice questions, we have different options. So, in this case, we don’t really need to memorize a ton of stuff because they will have given us the answers right in front of us.
  5. Now, what we need to do is we need to know what the correct answer is, so we need to understand the concepts. So, there is less memorization required but we have to be able to understand the concepts and draw conclusions from that. That’s very important to keep in mind.

Types of Questions You can Expect in RECA Exams

Definition-based Questions

They will give you a term and they will ask you to define the term, or they will give you the definition of the term and they will ask you to pick the correct option where you must tell them what term it is. So, whether they give you a statement and then say pick the right option for what term it is, or they give you the term and they ask you for the definition of the term, it’s all the same.

Preparation Techniques for Definition-based Questions

  1. There is a glossary in the back of your book. This is the part where you do sort of need to memorize some stuff. It does not matter what exam you’re writing, whether it’s commercial, residential, fundamental, they all have a glossary at the back of the book. You want to make sure you go through the glossary, and you understand the terms in the glossary.
  2. The unit activities are good at helping you understand the terms and learn the definitions, especially the activities where you have filled in the blank type of activities. So those terms will be in your book, so make sure you go through the unit activities and the unit activities are where you will find most of your definition.

Scenario-based Questions

Another type of questions that you will come across in the exam will be situational questions. These are also called scenario-based questions.

Here, they will give you a scenario that will relate to who, what, where, when, why. So they describe a scenario and then based on the scenario, they will ask you to answer the question.

The best way to answer these questions is to get to the heart of the issue. So you want to unpeel that onion and really understand what exactly are they asking you. And based on that, answer the question.

Preparation Techniques for Scenario-based Questions

Understand the Concepts

So, more so than memorizing stuff, you really want to understand the concepts.

For example, what is the Dower Act. You want to understand that Dower Act states that two people need to be married for the Dower Act to apply, and they cannot be in a common-law relationship. They must be legally married and should be living in the same house either at the time of the marriage or after the marriage. They must only have one person who is on the title of the property, not on the mortgage, title of the property. So, these are some of the scenarios where the Dower Act will apply.

Go through all the Examples

In your book, there are many different examples that have been provided in the boxes. So, you will see boxes, there is a border around these examples so they stand out in your book. These are the examples that most people don’t read through because they’re just trying to get through the book.

However, when it comes to preparing for scenario type questions, it is best to go through the examples because a lot of times they will take these examples and give you similar questions to the examples.

Go through all the Quizzes

In the quizzes, you will have more scenario questions as well whereas the activities tend to be more geared towards definition type of questions, but the quizzes will have both type of questions, scenario-based questions as well as definition questions. So, make sure you go through all the quizzes at the end of your unit as well.

Not only that, but the unit quizzes also actually prepare you to understand the concept. When you go to the exam, some of these questions will be different, they will be more scenario-based than they are even in the quizzes, but the quizzes are important because they help you understand the concept and once you understand the concept you will be able to answer those scenario questions on the exam.

Why Alberta Real Estate School?

All of these are just strategic goals that you can follow to achieve a sense of perfection in your preparation. The real test comes in when you try to give your best but that is not enough. That is when some genuine help from experts serve the purpose. Raman Gakhal, our Instructor at Alberta Real Estate School is best at giving personal tutoring on Real Estate topics. We can offer niche and specific advice on the important topics that you can expect in the exam.

Alberta Real Estate School does make a Difference!

We offer condensed and filtered Notes with Personalized Tutoring and QnA Sessions with Mock Exams and Solutions discussed with logical explanation. Our Study Guides for Residential, Commercial, and Fundamentals of Real Estate is all you need to pass your RECA Exams in the first attempt!

If you wish to get focused notes with break-down of sample questions and other study materials to prepare for the Alberta Real Estate Exam, call us directly at 587.936.7779.

You can listen to this blog on the Podcast Channel below.

Stay in touch for more updates. Happy Studying!

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What is Commercial Real Estate?

Raman Gakhal in a still from a Video Tutorila explaining the importance of Commercial Real Estate Licensing in Alberta.

The Commercial Real Estate Licensing in Alberta is at a booming stage again after COVID’s suppression. The Summer Re-opening Project in Alberta is a taking up heights even in the Real Estate Industry. Commercial Business Owners are coming up with innovate solutions of redevelopment and improvisations to modernize their office spaces to offer better facilities once things are back to normal. Office owners are getting pro-active to surge the market for their upcoming commercial clients.

David Routledge, The VP of Real Estate Management for Western Canada suggests that the culture of working in an office space can never be completely dead and quoted,

“It’s just the way many people work. Especially with technology and a younger workforce.”

Let’s jump right to the topic, then.

WHAT IS COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE?

There are multiple types of properties that would fall under this Commercial Real Estate Category. But what exactly is Commercial Real Estate? How can we define a Real Estate Property as a Commercial Property in Real Estate terms? Let us jump in to dive deeper in the topic.

Commercial real estate is a property type that allows you to do business, and which is not used for residential or habitual purposes. There are 5 divisions to Commercial Real Estate Property types.

  1. Institutional: This will include your office towers and corporate business complexes, or basically, buildings intended for business use.
  2. Retail: The definition of retail would be buildings used to promote commerce (or business) with consumers for goods and/or services. The retail would consist of your storefronts, the type of buildings you would find in regional shopping centres or strip malls.
  3. Industrial: Properties used for processing raw materials and manufacturing goods as well as their storage. Here we are looking at building such as warehouses, factories, manufacturing plants, etc. All of these would fall under the category of industrial real estate.
  4. Multifamily: Buildings used for dwelling that is comprised of more than four premises, so multifamily commercial would be anything that is bigger than fourplex. Any building that has more than four units would be considered multifamily and in this, we can get small buildings with six units or 10 units all the way up to hundreds of units. In this category we have things like school, personal care facilities, government buildings hospitals, all of these would fall under institutional real estate.

So basically, fourplexes and other complexes smaller than that would fall under residential real estate, and you can sell that for the residential real estate license.

A Note for new learners: It is important to note that to sell commercial real estate, you need a commercial real estate license. If you have a residential license, you cannot sell commercial real estate.

SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Now let us look at some of the exam questions you may see related to this topic.

Example 1:

A building used for processing raw materials and manufacturing goods as well as their storage describes which of the following types of buildings?

A. commercial
B. industrial
C. recreational
D. institutional

The correct answer here is B. Any building that is used for processing raw materials or manufacturing goods would fall under the industrial category.

Example 2:

A building with a specialized use aimed at serving the public or private clientele describes which of the following types of buildings?

A. multifamily
B. industrial
C. office
D. institutional

The correct answer here is D. Any specialized type of building would be called an institutional building. These would include your school’s personal care, facilities, hospitals, etc.

These are some sample questions with solutions and reasoning to get you understand the basic concept of Commercial Real Estate.

How does RECA define Real Property?

Learn Real Estate Concepts with Examples. Pass your Real Estate Exams in the first attempt with Alberta Real Estate School.

If you feel this interesting and can think of making a specialized career as a Commercial Real Estate Agent, get in touch with us at 587.936.7779.

You can listen to this blog in the Podcast Channel below. Stay in touch for more updates!

Good luck with your Commercial Real Estate Career!

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How to Change the Class of Real Estate License

Change Real Estate License Classes in Alberta with Alberta Real Estate School.

Well, we know the different classes of Real Estate Licensing in Alberta. But do we know about the procedure to change the real estate license from one class to another? Just like a Driver’s License, the upgrades and changes in your Real Estate Licensing also goes through a  specific procedure that follows various steps. 

 

Associate

An associate is an individual who holds the entry-level class of real estate license. This is the initial license a person earns when entering the real estate profession.

Associates must be registered with a brokerage to trade in real estate. The brokerage can have any number of associates registered with it.

Associate Broker

Now, who is an associate broker? An associate broker is an individual who holds the qualifications of a real estate broker, but they have chosen not to become a broker at this point. Instead, they are licensed as a real estate associate by RECA. This person is registered with a brokerage to trade in the real estate on their behalf.

A real estate associate broker has the same role responsibilities and prohibitions as that of an associate.

Broker

Let’s take a look at the role of a broker. The broker is the leader of the brokerage. They are responsible for making sure that all the activities of the brokerage comply with the Real Estate Act.

Because ultimately, anything that happens in the brokerage is the broker’s responsibility. A brokerage can only have one licensed broker. The broker may be the owner of the brokerage or they may be someone who is managing the brokerage on behalf of the owner. So, these were the different types of real estate licenses in Alberta.

Now, how do we go about changing the class of license that we have?

First, let’s take a look at the associate. In order to become an associate, a person has to successfully complete the Real Estate Associates Program. Which means they have to pass the Fundamentals of Real Estate Course as well as, one specialty area of practice.

So, they can take the Residential, Commercial, Rural or the Property Management Course. They have to score 70% or higher in both of these courses. Plus, they have to complete the REAP Program within 18 months from the date that they enroll in the Fundamentals of Real Estate Course.

So how does one go from being an associate to becoming an associate broker?

In order to become an associate broker, the associate must meet the following requirements. They have to successfully complete the REAP Program. Now, in this case, they have to complete all the specialty areas of the real estate practice.

That means they have to take residential, commercial, rural and property management courses. They also need to successfully complete the Real Estate Brokers Program and they have to score 70% or higher in all the exams.

In addition to that, this person needs to have two years of experience in Alberta working as a real estate professional, in the last five years.

Now, how does one go from being an associate broker to a broker?

Each brokerage can only have one broker. Like we discussed earlier, when an associate broker wants to become a broker, they have several options.

One is they can replace the broker at the brokerage where they are currently registered. So, let’s say the broker is retiring, then there’s an opening for the role of a broker. And the associate broker can go into that role because they already have all the qualifications.

Or the broker may be moving on to something else and there’s an opening at the current brokerage. Or they can transfer to an existing brokerage to become a broker there.

So, let’s say they hear of another brokerage, where the broker may be retiring or they may be moving on to something else, leaving an opening for the broker role and this broke person can then move to that brokerage and register with that brokerage as a broker.

Now, they can also open their own brokerage and become a broker there. This person has successfully completed all the qualifications of a broker but may choose to become a broker at a later date.

SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Now, let’s take a look at some of the exam questions that we may see around this topic.

1. How many associates and associate brokers can be registered with a brokerage?

A. one associate and many associate brokers
B. many associates and one associate broker and many brokers
C. many associates and associate brokers
D. many associates, associate brokers and brokers.

The correct answer is C. The question asks how many associates and associate brokers can be registered with the brokerage. And as we just learned, there can be many associates and many associate brokers that can be registered with a brokerage, but only one broker.

2. In order to become a broker, how many years of experience must you have as a licensed real estate professional in Alberta?

A. have two years of experience in Alberta as a licensed real estate professional

B. in the previous five years or have three years of experience in Alberta as a licensed real estate professional

C. in the previous five years or have three years of experience in Alberta as a licensed real estate professional

D. in the previous seven years or have two years of experience in Alberta as a licensed real estate professional, in the previous seven years.

The correct answer here is A. A person needs to have two years of experience in Alberta as a licensed real estate agent, in the last five years.

 

3. Paul Ellison is an ambitious real estate agent. In setting his career goals, he mentions that he wants to become a broker. What requirements must Paul meet in order to reach his career goals?

A. successfully complete the Real Estate Associates Program.

B. successfully complete Real Estate Property Management Program.

C. successfully complete the Real Estate Brokers Program.

D. have two years of experience in Alberta as a licensed real estate professional, in the previous five years.

E. have three years of experience in Alberta as a licensed real estate professional, in the previous five years.

The correct options are A, C, and D.

 

Read about the Different types of Classes for Real Estate Licenses in Canada to understand basic structure of Real Estate Classes.   

If you would like some additional help in preparing for your Alberta Real Estate Exams, we invite you to visit www.albertarealestateschool.com or you can give us a call at 587-936-7779.

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Classes of Real Estate Licenses in Alberta

A short video by Raman Gakhal of Alberta Real Estate School explaining the different classes of Real Estate Licensing in Alberta.

Real Estate Licensing is a mandatory requirement for Agents who want to make transactions with real estate property. As tedious as it is to understand the process of obtaining a Real Estate License, first you should know what the different Real Estate Licensing Classes are.

4 Classes of Real Estate Licensing in Alberta

Brokerage

A brokerage is a legal entity that is registered with RECA. So, this can be a sole proprietorship, partnership, or corporation.

For example, Peak Real Estate Brokerage Ltd, or Regency Commercial Brokerage. These are legal entities that are registered with RECA.

A brokerage is authorized to trade in real estate on its own behalf. A brokerage employs a licensed and registered real estate broker. A brokerage can have any number of associates and associate brokers registered with it. And each brokerage can have only one broker.

Broker

So, who is a broker? The broker is the leader of the brokerage. The broker is responsible for making sure that all the activities of the brokerage comply with The Real Estate Act.

Ultimately, anything that happens in brokerage is the responsibility of the broker. The broker may be the owner of the brokerage, or it may be someone who manages the brokerage on behalf of the owner. Each brokerage can have only one broker.

Following this, a question may arise to you – How does one become a broker?

Broker – Eligibility Criteria

  1. To become a broker, the person needs to successfully complete the REAP Program, which is the Real Estate Associates Program, including all specialty areas of Real Estate Practice.
  2. In addition, they also need to successfully complete the Real Estate Brokers Program REBP, The Minimum Passing Score is 70% or higher for REBP.
  3. As well, they need two years of experience in Alberta as a licensed real estate professional in the previous five years. Once a person has all of these qualifications, they are now ready to become a broker.

Associate Broker

An Associate Broker is an individual who holds the qualification of a real estate broker. So, they have met the same education and experience requirements as that of a broker.

However, they have chosen not to become a broker at this point. Instead, they are licensed as a Real Estate Associate Broker with RECA.

A real estate associate broker is employed by a licensed real estate brokerage in Alberta. And this person is registered with an approved to trade in real estate on behalf of this brokerage.

Although the associate broker holds all the qualifications of a real estate broker, they have the same role responsibilities and prohibitions as that of an associate. The brokerage can have any number of real estate associate brokers registered with it.

Associate

An associate is someone who holds the qualification of a Real estate Associate. That means they have successfully completed the REAP program.

This person is licensed as a real estate associate by RECA. They have to be employed by a licensed real estate brokerage in Alberta and they are registered and approved to trade in real estate on behalf of that brokerage.

This is the entry-level class of real estate license, which is the initial real estate license the person earns upon entering the profession. The brokerage can have any number of associates registered with it.

SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Let us look at some of the sample questions that we may see around this topic.

Example 1:

How many associates, associate brokers and brokers can be registered with a brokerage?

A. One associate, many associate brokers, and brokers
B. Many associates, one Associate Broker, and many brokers
C. Many associates, associate brokers, and one broker
D. Many associates, associated brokers, and brokers.

The correct answer is C. As we just learned in Alberta, a brokerage can have many associates and associate brokers but only one broker.

Example 2:

Which of the following individuals holds the qualification of a real estate broker, but is not authorized to operate a brokerage?

A. Agent
B. Broker
C. Associate
D. Associate Broker

The correct answer is D. An Associate Broker has all the qualifications of a real estate broker, but they are not authorized as a broker. So, they are not able to operate on run a brokerage.

Example 3:

Which of the following describes the class of license individuals hold who are new to the real estate profession in Alberta?

A. Agent
B. Broker
C. Associate
D. Associate Broker

The correct answer is C. The associate is the entry-level license that a person gets when they first get started in the real estate profession in Alberta.

These are some sample questions with solutions and reasoning to get you understand the basic concept of Real Estate License Classes.

Do you recognize yourself leaning more towards becoming a Broker than being an Associate Broker? See How to Change your Real Estate Licensing Classes in Alberta.

If you feel this interesting and can think of making a career in the Alberta Real Estate Industry, get in touch with us at 587.936.7779.

You can listen o this blog to our Podcast Channel below. Keep in touch!

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