Test anxiety causes a potential real estate professional to freeze when it comes time to take the licensing exam. Realty Times has some tips.

Good Morning Blanche,

I found your site by surfing the internet. I have taken the Real Estate exam four times with no success. For me failure is not an option. I will not give up my goal of becoming a successful Real Estate Agent. However, my failing the exam more than once has given me such anxiety. I am going to take the exam again, but in the meanwhile I am scared. Can you please respond to my email? I'm sure you have many stories that you can share, and right now I don't believe I can talk to anyone that would understand.

Patiently waiting on your response, Almost An Agent

Realty Times responds:

It's better to flunk the exam than to flunk out as an agent, so without knowing more about you, I would hazard a guess that your change to a real estate career is riskier than you are letting on. Not only are you giving up a steady job and paycheck, judging from your signature line, but you're going into a business where you are in charge of creating your own business.

Selling homes isn't like retail where people come through the door because of leads your company has advertised for, and all you do is smile, greet, and show customers where to find what they're looking for. Selling homes is also far from working for a chamber of commerce, where you hear about companies that are looking to relocate; you contact them and tell them about your community and what incentives you have to offer to get them to move to your town and bring jobs and tax money with them.

In other words, there are all kinds of sales, and you have chosen one of the most difficult -- even for self-starters. As a real estate salesperson, you will be responsible for bringing in business to your broker and making sure it closes so you can get paid.

Passing the test is the least of your worries. Having enough money set aside for training, materials, technologies and to pay bills is a big deal -- you're starting your own business, and it won't be cheap.

Being underprepared and underfunded will cause you to fail, but the worst thing is not being able to do what it takes to bring business. You have to be willing and able to knock on doors and make hundreds of calls to people you know to start your pipeline of business flowing, and many agents are overwhelmed by that reality and they don't make it.

That means there's a lot more to be scared of than passing the test. Although I'm not licensed to practice psychology, I wonder if on some subliminal level fear of failure (or fear of success) is causing you to flub your tests.

What you appear to have is test anxiety, the kind of anxiety that is based in irrational fear. What makes it irrational? You can't become an agent without passing the test, yet fear of the test is making you flunk and is keeping you from your goal.

Whether you're afraid to fly, step on cracks, hold a spider, or speak in front of a group, the techniques for handling irrational fear are the same. You build your knowledge of how things really work and you slowly acclimate yourself to the fearful environment. Your determination is what will help you beat the fear.

You have to get the fear under control, by any means necessary, but a few techniques that work are:

• Control panic with breathing exercises. Panic shuts you up in an imaginary room with a pounding heart and no oxygen, so the first thing you need to know is how to control your breathing. If slow, steady, deep breaths can help mothers deliver their children, they can help you through a test.

• Drugs. You'll need a licensed medical professional for this, but anti-anxiety drugs can be taken daily or you can take a bigger dose just for situational anxiety. If you get the right prescription for your chemistry, they really work, but keep in mind, drugs won't take the place of working on your fears in other ways such as practice and education.

• Therapy. Anxiety doesn't just hit one area, there are bound to be other areas where you are anxious, too. If you panic during tests, you may panic in other areas where you have to prove yourself, or where you're judged. This is a response you don't need, so working with a professional can help you tremendously.

• Acclimation and familiarity. To feel like you're a legitimate member of the real estate community, you have to put yourself in real estate-related situations. Visit brokers and tell them you plan to take the real estate exam and want to choose a brokerage to hang your license. Ask the brokers what they are looking for in agents and find out what they have to offer you as a new agent in terms of opportunity, training, technologies, transactional support, etc. When you see an open house, stop in and meet the agent. Ask how she/he got started, how they like being an agent, how they like their broker, and other questions of interest to you.

• Prepare for success. Start setting aside money for continuing education and to pay your bills while you get started, so you won't be afraid of not having enough of a cushion. Even if you sold a house your first day on the job, it might be weeks before you close and collect a commission, so prepare for that.

• Look up Test Anxiety on Google and read through various sites for their tips. A sheet of tips like this one can be very helpful.

If you see what all these steps have in common, they're all designed to help you build your confidence so you can do the best job you can. Good luck, and keep us posted on your progress.

Published: September 25, 2007

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