Customer Reviews

California Real Estate License Preparation

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book is a rigorous study book. And it is a lot less expensive than taking a cram course. It is the only thing I studied and I passed the first time!! Now I just wish there was a companion book for the Broker's exam!!!

Prior to taking my California Salesperson exam I took all 8 classes that I'll need for my broker's license. Each of these classes was a correspondence course and each used books by the author Huber, sometimes with co-authors. I thought these books were very poor and have written so in a few reviews. After having passed all 8 courses I thought all I had to do to prep for my salesperson exam was review my notes from those books. (I had to create my own outline of the material because I found those books so confusingly organized.) Luckily a few days before my exam, I was at my public library and thought I'd look to see if there were any exam prep books. I found this book my Pivar & Mackenzie and took it out. Good thing I did. I really only had a Sunday and a Monday evening left to study for the test, but I read through the Pivar book during that time. It was well organized and clarified some material that I previously didn't understand because the material in the Huber books are so poorly written and presented. Even more importantly, the Pivar book included a lot of material that I had not seen, even having taken 8 classes. The practice exams in the Pivar book were also very good at forcing one to understand the material. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to go through many of the practice exam questions before my exam.

Well, I passed my exam yesterday. As I was taking it, I was shocked by how many questions I would not have understood if I had not read through the Pivar book. This book is very well organized and well written. I highly recommend it.

I baught this book at first just so I can see how I would feel about getting into real estate. Let me tell you, I studied the book, took the C21 course (we went over the same material that was in the book but rushed through it in class)then took and finished my state exam in a little over a half hour (3-31/2 hour test if I remember correctly).

Believe me when I say, this book helped me a lot. I don't think I would have past the state exam with just taking the crash course.

I have been in real esate for a year now :). Thank you, Mr. Pivar

Without a doubt this book is excellent in almost every way.
I am preparing for the California Brokers exam and have purchased many books and this is the best value and best written of them all by far, BY FAR!
The introduction specifically states that this book was written to prepare readers to take and pass the California Real Estate Salesperson and Broker examinations.
Buy this book!

It is a relatively good book and should cover most all of the information required to pass the test. However, there are too many editing errors to deserve 5 stars. Part of the problem may be that the book is based on phoned in test questions. I also understand that part of the problem is that many of the actual test questions are poorly written. However, a couple of English majors could help the effort.

The second question that needs to be asked is if computer or book based preparation is the better method.

I got this book because of all the great reviews, but what I've found is an inordinate amount of errors that are very hard to overlook. There are so many typos, misprints, and grammatical errors in this book that I always wonder if what I'm reading is actually correct. There are also vague terms, poor word choices and very poorly structured sentences.

The amount of errors found in this book is completely unprofessional in a text where details and precise meaning is of the utmost importance. A slight misprint can make a sentence mean something completely different or even the opposite of what it's supposed to mean. Even a single letter can make a difference in the meaning of a word (such as the difference between 'owed' and 'owned') and I've found myself questioning things like this a lot.

Even more frustrating are the mistakes in the tests. For example, the book clearly tells you to automatically eliminate any test answers that contain grammatical errors or misspellings, but more than once now, those with errors have been the correct answers. Some of the questions are very poorly written and I have found a couple of math problems that are worded completely incorrectly. Moreover, there are questions with figures such as $1,50 or answers such as d. a (...yeah, you figure it out.) There is also at least one wrong answer given as the right answer (ie, book says right answer is C, but explanation of answer belongs to B.) When every answer counts toward your test score and you're trying to bring your score up as high as possible, it is completely unacceptable to encounter this many errors.

There are far too many typos, misprints, grammatical errors, and test blunders to point out or explain in this review, but it makes me wonder what else is wrong, what else is missing, what else has been left out or misprinted or explained in the wrong way. I would prefer to be 100% confident that I am getting, and being tested on, the correct information without having to second guess it the whole time. They really need to go back through this entire book with a fine tooth comb and edit, edit, edit!

Update: Because it says that the DRE may use this book as a source for test questions, I really tried to work through it, but eventually I gave up. I wish I had given up earlier and not wasted so much time on it. I expect more from a text like this. I used other books and successfully passed my test.

I am about to take my exam and I am quite confident thanks to this exam book by William Pivar. I was not able to find the companion that can go with this book according to the Introduction. I think it would have made it even easier to learn.

I am an attorney practicing law for many years. The Review book is full of important information that I assume is relevant to the Broker exam. I will be better able to answer that after I take the exam. However,the minutia of information is so extensive that it becomes simply impossible to remember all of it. In addition, it is replete with typographical errors, obvious mistakes,questionable correct answers to quiz questions and simply NOT a professionally prepared product. The editors clearly did not proof-read the text, even after so many editions!
In one word -AMATEURISH!

This book needs major editing! I already have a Real Estate license in 2 other states, needless to say I was frustrated with the errors. I bought another program to prepare me for the California exam. Save your money.

This book is hands down the best resource you can use to study for the California Real Estate Exam (Salesperson or Broker). The questions at the end of each chapter are written in a manner to reinforce the most important concepts you need to know for the exam. The questions and concepts are practically identical to the material on the actual state exam. Make sure to understand the study questions, and you will be more than prepared for your exam.

Here is how I studied - I quickly read each chapter and did all the study questions. I did not write down any notes from the chapter. I only took notes from the study questions. Two days before my exam, I did all of the study questions again. I did not get to the 3 review tests at the end of the book, but I still passed.