As a city with a dense population, Hong Kong’s property prices continue to be extremely lucrative. With each buying and selling transaction involves several million, being a real estate agent is a way for many people to make a fortune. Imagine how selling only one deal monthly can already enable you to have a comfortable living? But before becoming a real estate agent, many people will face a big hurdle which is: How to get a pass in the real estate examination. In this article, we will explain some concepts that you must know before you intend to become an estate agent or salesperson.
Where should I register for the exam?
Passing one of the EAQE or SQE exams is one of the conditions that must be met before becoming a real estate agent in Hong Kong. The EAQE and SQE exams are held by Institute of Professional Education and Knowledge(VTC PEAK). VTC PEAK is a statutory organization that provides professional education and training in Hong Kong. It is also an accredited organization that conducts EAQE and SQE examinations. However, after completing the exam, students need to apply for a license from the Estate Agents Authority (EAA) instead of VTC PEAK, because VTC PEAK only conducts the exam and is not responsible for license application. The Estate Agents Authority (EAA) is responsible for overseeing the compliance matters of the entire real estate industry, including processing the license applications of real estate practitioners and supervising the real estate business of real estate agencies. However, the EAA does not arrange examination matters, nor does it hold examinations. Before entering the industry to process real estate sales or leasing, in addition to passing the exam, you also need to meet other licensing requirements, such as age, education, work experience, criminal record, financial status as mentioned on the “Fit and proper person to hold a licence” guidelines issued by the Estate Agent Authority. When all requirements are met, then one can officially apply for a license.
EAQE/SQE real estate examination results are not a license?
Passing the EAQE/SQE examination is only one of the conditions for applying for a license. Passing the examination does not mean obtaining a license, nor can you start your real estate agency business immediately. You need to make two decisions; (i) which exam you should partake in, the EAQE or SQE exam; (ii) apply for an estate agent license or a salesperson license. First, you have to choose the appropriate exam. There are two types of licenses for real estate practitioners: estate agent and salesperson. Only estate agents are eligible for sole proprietorship, partnership operation of real estate agency companies, as branch managers or directors involved in the real estate agency business. Salespersons who want to become an estate agent need to retake the EAQE exam to perform the above actions. If you want to become an estate agent, you must take the Estate Agent Qualifying Exam, which is also known as the EAQE. If you want to become a salesperson, you can partake in either EAQE or SQE( Sales Qualifying exam) and become a salesperson. If you become an estate agent, you will be able to perform all the duties of which a salesperson can do; in contrast, a salesperson will not be able to perform all duties of which an estate agent is eligible to perform.
| License that can be applied\\examination | EAQE | SQE |
| Estate Agent | ✓ | |
| Salesperson | ✓ | ✓ |
In general, EAQE has more content and functions than SQE. Only students who have passed the EAQE can be licensed as estate agents. EAQE exam results can be used to apply for the salesperson license as well. Therefore if you are interested in opening your own real estate agency, or become a manager within a real estate company in the future, you can consider taking EAQE as a first step; in this way, you will not need to partake in the exam again in the future. In terms of the content of the exam, EAQE has 2 more chapters: Part 6 – Principles and Practices of Property Valuation and Part 8 – Effective Agency Management and Supervision of Salespersons to Ensure Compliance; these two extra chapters will enable you to acquire knowledge on coping with the compliance and supervision duties. Therefore, if you have a choice, it will be more cost-effective to take the EAQE exam. Since the estate exams are in high demand if you cannot secure a spot in taking the EAQE exams; or if you have no intentions in taking on a managerial role, taking the SQE is another option you could choose.
In other words, EAQE includes the functions of SQE. EAQE results can be used to apply for any kind of license between estate agent license or salesperson license, additionally one can also qualify to perform managerial tasks in the future after passing the EAQE exam. In contrast, the SQE’s functions are more limited, thus you will need to take EAQE again in the future if you want to attain a management position. Having that said, being a salesperson does not mean that you are less experienced or less knowledgeable, instead it indicates perhaps you do not have plans to establish your own business or obtain any promotions at the moment. SQE exam is already enough for meeting one of the licensing requirements of the salesperson.
| Duties allowed to partake\\License Type | EAQE(Estate Agent Qualifying Examination) | SQE(Salesperson Qualifying Examination) |
| Manager | ✓ | |
| Estate Agent Sales Related Task | ✓ | ✓ |
Information Source:
(only available in Chinese)
However, as mentioned above, passing the examination is only one of the conditions for licensing. Passing the examination and obtaining an estate practice license are two different things.
How to prepare for the exam?
Students can use the official sample questions for practice to deepen their understanding of the exam. Some of them are also actual questions that will be encountered in the exam.
Information Source:
If you still feel that the practice materials mentioned above are not enough, we suggest that you can directly purchase mock exam questions from 2Cexam (only Chinese version is available as of now).
What is the validity period of the EAQE/SQE exam?
According to the information on the website of the Estate Agent Authority, the results of the Estate Agents Qualifying Examination (EAQE) and Salespersons Qualifying Examination (SQE) are valid for only one year. If a student has not successfully applied for a license with the exam results within one year from the exam day, the exam results will be invalid and you will need to take the exam again. Suppose that after you took the EAQE or SQE on January 1, 2021 and obtained a passing result, you need to successfully apply for a license with the exam results before January 1, 2022. Meanwhile please note that the computer exam’s results will be mailed to the candidate on the 7th working day after the exam is taken, and the results of the written exam will be mailed to the candidates 14 days after the exam day. However, the 1-year validity period is calculated from the exam day, not the result release day. If the score exceeds the one-year limit from the exam date, you will need to retake the exam for which the score has expired.
Is there a validity period for the license obtained after the exam?
In the real estate industry, once you fulfil all the guidelines requirements and substantially renew your license, it doesn’t matter if you resign from the real estate agency you work for/ you are licensed under. And your license will not be revoked after resignation. However, if your license becomes invalid or is revoked temporarily, you need to re-apply for the license within 2 years so you do not have to retake the exam. Please refer to https://www.eaa.org.hk/en-us/Licensing/Licence-expiry-and-renewal for more information.
How can we assist you in exam preparation?
2CExam mainly sells products related to HKSI, IIQE, EAQE and SQE related exams, we provide both EAQE and SQE exam mock questions in Chinese, furthermore, we have one-to-one private tutoring services. We strongly hope to help our clients to succeed, therefore, we also produce free YouTube videos in Chinese for your reference. 2CExam has many years of experience in the securities, insurance, and real estate industries. If students need help, please visit www.2cexam.com or contact us at:
Tel: +852 21109644
Email: [email protected]
WeChat: hk2cexam
WhatsApp: +852 93472064
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