Illinois Real Estate Exam: Everything You Need to Know

The Illinois real estate exam will test you on everything you learned in your pre-licensing program and then some. This article will explain everything you need to know about the exam so you can feel prepared to pass on your first attempt.

In this article, we’ll cover the following:

• How to schedule the exam date
• What is on the exam in Illinois
• What is the difficulty level of the exam 
• How to pass the your first try

How to Schedule the Illinois Real Estate Licensing Exam

To take the Illinois real estate exam, you will have to apply and schedule a testing date through the PSI website. Although your successful completion of the pre-licensing program will be communicated to the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) by your school, it is important to also include proof of completion in the application, along with some form of identification such as:

• Government-issued photo ID
• Taxpayer Identification Number or SSN

Scheduling the real estate exam often requires you to get a live scan. A live scan is the method of electronically capturing finger and palm prints to identify individuals. This will typically cost $15 and can be done at any approved live scan vendor.

How Much Does the Illinois Real Estate Exam Cost? 

The Illinois real estate licensing exam costs $58 and can be taken within two years, starting from the approved Pre-Licensing course completion date. If you fail the exam and would like to retake it, you will have to pay an additional $58.

Where Do You Take the Illinois Real Estate Exam?

The Illinois real estate exam is held 6 days per week at testing centers located in the following locations around the state: 

• Addison
• Bloomington
• Carbondale 
• Carol Stream 
• Chicago
• Des Plaines
• Elgin
• Joilet
• Lisle
• Midlothian
• Moline
• Naperville
• Oak Forest
• Park Ridge
• Peoria 
• Schaumburg
• Springfield
• West Chicago
• Westmont

Can You Take the Exam Online?

The Illinois real estate exam cannot be taken online. You must take this proctored exam at an in-person location from the list above.

What to Bring on the Day of Your Exam

On the day of your exam, you will need to bring documentation to be issued a test. Make sure you have the following ready:

• Examination number
• Two forms of ID (a government-issued photo and signature card)
• Biometric verification (a fingerprint or photo capturing)
• Previous examination score report (for retake candidates)
• A simple calculator

What is on the Illinois Real Estate Exam?

The Illinois real estate exam is divided into two sections. The first section relates to national-specific questions. In this section, you will find questions relating to the following topics:

• Market analysis and valuation
• Real estate financing
• Real estate contracts
• Property ownership
• Real estate calculations
• Property disclosures
• Property management and leasing
• Land use control and regulation
• General principles of agency
• The practice of real estate

In the second section of the exam, you will find questions on the following state-specific topics:

• Statutory and regulatory requirements
• Disclosures
• Licensing requirements

Will There Be Math on the Exam?

Yes, there will be math on the Illinois real estate licensing exam. This will be found in the section with national-specific real estate questions. These math questions relate to basic algebraic calculations, math formulas, and concepts such as Loan-to-Value (LTV) ratios, equity, down payments.

Is the Illinois Real Estate Exam Hard?

The difficulty level of the Illinois real estate exam is quite high. However, we believe that a candidate's success heavily depends on the candidate's level of preparation. This simply means that if you prepare well enough, this exam shouldn't challenge you much.

How Many Questions Are on the Illinois Real Estate Exam?

The Illinois salesperson real estate exam is divided into two sections comprising 140 multiple-choice questions. The first section contains 100 national-specific real estate questions, which you will be given 2 hours and 30 minutes to complete and obtain a minimum passing score of 70% (70 correct answers). 

The second section has 40 state-specific real estate questions, which you will have 90 minutes to complete and obtain a minimum passing score of 75% (30 correct answers).

In each of these sections on the Illinois real estate exam, there may be 5 to 10 pre-test questions. These questions are used by the state exam administrators (PSI) to evaluate their exam quality and improve on future exams. Therefore, they do not count or in any way affect your grades. After completing both sections of the exam, your result will be immediately made available to you.

How Many Times Can You Take the Real Estate Exam?

You are allowed to take the Illinois real estate exam as many as four times to pass it. However, you will only be required to retake the section(s) you failed. This means that if you failed the national-specific section and passed the other section, you will be answering only questions from the national-specific section in your next attempt. 

In a situation where you passed one section, your passing score is valid for only a year, within which you must obtain a passing score in the other section and apply for your license. When retaking a failed exam, there is a 24-hour mandatory period of waiting, after which you can book the next available time slot. If your four attempts get exhausted without passing the exam, you will be required to repeat the Pre-Licensing coursework.

How to Pass the Illinois Real Estate Exam

It goes without saying that studying is a requirement for the Illinois real estate exam. Taking an exam requires special preparation, even for real estate experts. So, that’s why we put together a short list of the best strategies to deploy in your studies.

Create a Study Schedule

When preparing for your Illinois real estate exam, you must create a study schedule that suits your daily activities and how you assimilate things. It is never a good idea for you to leave any sort of preparation to the last minute. The more time you have to study, the better your chances of succeeding. You should also put into consideration high-ranking topics and allocate more time to studying them.

Other things you should take note of when creating a study schedule are:

• The various commitments you have during your preparation period
• The best time of the day for you to study (morning, afternoon, or evening)
• The amount of time you can dedicate to studying each day.
• Pay attention to topics you find more difficult to understand

Use Acronyms and Mnemonic Devices

There is no doubt that acronyms and mnemonic devices help to increase the ability of one to retain and recall information. They are used in various levels of study, and including them in your study strategy will work wonders for you.

Acronyms typically use the first letters of each item in a list to construct a new word. For example, if you were trying to study the types of encumbrances on a property, creating an acronym would make up the word LEED.

• L for Liens
• E for Encroachments
• E for Easements
• D for Deed restrictions

On the other hand, mnemonics use the first letter of each item in a list to construct a sentence. Creating a mnemonic for the list above would give us a sentence like “Lilian Eats Eggs Daily.”

• Lilian for Liens
• Eats for Encroachments
• Eggs for Easements
• D for Deed restrictions.

Join a Study Group

With the help of a study group, you can better understand the topics you must cover for the exam, find the solutions to certain problems, and finish your assignments much faster than you would if you studied alone. 

Also, when you join a study group, you get extra push and encouragement as you discuss your answers and why you feel they are right with other group members and vice versa.

Get Guided Help

Whether you’re studying alone, with people, creating flashcards, or deploying one of the other study strategies we recommend, there is still a lot of work and time that goes into preparing for the exam.

Which is why we created a Illinois real estate exam prep package that comes with everything you need to pass the exam on your first attempt.

You get practice exams, vocab flashcards, video explanations from our head real estate trainer, an ebook study guide, and more essential study perks that you won’t find anywhere else. Our exam prep program helped thousands of students pass their exam already.

By drilling the exam information with the help of resources created by trained real estate educators, you’ll set yourself up to ace the exam.

Final Thoughts on the Real Estate Exam in Illinois

When you schedule your exam in Illinois, make sure you start studying. There will be plenty of space between when you submit your application to when you take the exam, so use this time to get guided help in studying for the exam. When you deploy every study strategy in the book, you will have the best chances at passing on your first try.

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