What is the difference between an estate agent and a real estate salesperson?

Should I take EAQE or SQE to get into the real estate industry?

The EAQE/SQE real estate examination result itself does not mean a license

Passing the EAQE/SQE exam is just one of the conditions for applying for a license. Passing the exam does not mean obtaining a license, nor can you start your real estate agency business immediately.

What is the difference between an estate agent and an estate salesperson?

There are two types of licenses for real estate practitioners: estate agent and estate salesperson. Only estate agents are eligible for sole proprietorship, partnership operation of real estate agency companies, becoming branch managers or directors involved in real estate agency business. Real estate salespersons need to partake in the EAQE exam to become an estate agent in order to perform the above duties. 

Should I partake in the Estate Agent exam or the Salesperson exam? Which is better for me? 

You need to make two decisions: which exam you should partake in, the EAQE or SQE exam; would you like to be licensed as an estate agent or an estate salesperson. If you want to become an estate agent, you must take the EAQE, which is also known as the Estate Agent Qualifying Exam. If you want to become a real estate salesperson, you can take either EAQE or SQE (Salesperson Qualifying Exam). Once a person becomes an estate agent, he/she will be able to perform all duties that a salesperson can do; In contrast, a salesperson can only perform the duties of a 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 than the SQE. 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 be qualified 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.

Source: https://www.eaa.org.hk/en-us/Consumer-Corner/EAA-articles-published-in-the-media

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 submitted an application for a license with the exam results within one year from the exam date, 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 out to the candidate on the 7th working day after the exam is taken, and the results of the written exam will be mailed out to the candidates 14 days after the exam day. However, the 1-year validity period is calculated from the exam date, 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?

The exam results have a valid period, after you successfully apply for a license with the exam results, as long as you continue to meet the guidelines and continue to renew your license, the license will be valid forever and you do not need to re-apply for EAQE or SQE exams (unless you want to take the EAQE to convert your license type from salesperson to estate agent. In other words, unless your license expires or is suspended, you will need to re-apply for a license within two years, or else you will need to retake the exam.

Where can I find the pass rate of the estate agent examination?

The website of the Estate Agent Authority records the number of applicants and the pass rate of the most recent exams for both EAQE and SQE’s computer and written examination, as well as the total number of applicants and the pass rate of the estate agent examination pass rate in the previous year. As of April 2021, the EAQE pass rate has remained at around 16% while the pass rate of the SQE ranges from 15% to 54%, the pass rate discrepancy between each exam is larger compared to EAQE. For detailed data, please refer to: http://www.eaa.org.hk/en-us/Examination/Qualifying-examinations-figures

Where can I find real estate agency courses?

Estate Agent Course 2021

• Centaline http://www.cti-edu.com/icms/template.aspx？series=16
• Midland http://www.midlandu.com.hk/chi/campus/
• Rose Gardenhttp://www.rosegarden-consultants.com/index.html？gclid=Cj0KCQjwvYSEBhDjARIsAJMn0lhII0WauuWfhByB0WIQKOYKdEiRlMB76v36PQtXefflav1cII3lVtoaAimmEALw_wcB
• hkctsvt https://hkctsvt.edu.hk/tc/programmes/real-estate-agency/ft-programme-erb-placement-tied-courses-ct210ds
• Scope https://www.scope.edu/Home/Programmes/DiplomaCertificateandShortCourse/ERB%E4%BA%BA%E6%89%8D%E7%99%BC%E5%B1%95%E8%A8%88%E5%8A%83%E8%AA%B2%E7%A8%8B/%E5%9C%B0%E7%94%A2%E4%BB%A3%E7%90%86%E6%84%9B%E5%A2%9E%E5%80%BC.aspx
• 2CEXAM Free Youtube Course (in Chinese)

Estate Agent Qualifying Examination EAQE course with explanation [Not Past Paper, Not Pass Paper, Not Test Questions, Not Intensive Reading, Not for download]

• Estate Salespersons Qualifying Examination SQE Course with Explanation [Not Past Paper, Not Pass Paper, Not Test Questions, Not Intensive Reading, Not for download]

Can I self-study the real estate exam?

Self-study for the real estate license is of course possible. If the students already have considerable knowledge of the real estate industry or are sufficiently diligent, they can actually be qualified without attending classes.

Estate Agent Examination Scope

There is no clear guideline for the examination scope of the real estate examination, and there is no exact percentage of the reoccurrence of different contents. However, according to the experience of 2CExam editors, the Study Guide to Estate Agency Law and Practice accounts for about 80% of the exam scope. Before taking the exam, students can refer to:

1. The scope of the real estate examination can be downloaded for free on the website of Estate Agent Aauthority. The name of the document is: “ A Study Guide to Estate Agency Law and Practice “. Students who plan to take the EAQE exam can download all the documents; students who are taking the SQE do not need to download chapter 6 and 8. 

Estate agency law and practice study guide: http://www.eaa.org.hk/en-us/Information-Centre/Publications/A-Study-Guide-to-Estate-Agency-Law-and-Practice

2. Code of Ethics and Guide to the Estate Agents Ordinance       www.eaa.org.hk/practice/documents/codeofethics.pdf

3. Practice Circulars issued by EAA

  www.eaa.org.hk/en-us/Compliance/Practice-circulars

4. e-Quiz

http://www.eaa.org.hk/en-us/CPD-Scheme/e-Quiz

http://www.eaa.org.hk/en-us/Examination/Examination-Handbook and other documents, please refer to: http://www.eaa.org.hk/en-us/Examination/Preparing-for-qualifying-examinations

Where can I find a book/study manual/review manual for the real estate license exam?

1.  For mock exam questions you can use official reference questions

http://www.eaa.org.hk/en-us/Examination/Online-Mock-Examination

2. 2CEexam mock exam paper 

For EAQE physical version mock paper, please visit: https://2cexam.com/zh-hant/eaqepastpaper

 For online version of the mock exam paper, please visit: https://hksiiiqepasspaper.online/product/eaqeconline/

For SQE physical version mock exam paper, please visit: https://2cexam.com/zh-hant/sqepastpaper/

For online mock exam paper, please visit: https://hksiiiqepasspaper.online/product/sqeconline/ 

3. Watch 2CExam’s free Youtube course 

2CEXAM FREE YOUTUBE course

Estate Agent Qualifying Examination Course Explanation [Not Past Paper, Not Pass Paper, Not actual text questions, not shortened version reading, Not downloadable] 

Salesperson Qualifying exam SQE Course Explanation [Not Past Paper, Not Pass Paper, Not actual text questions, not shortened version reading, Not downloadable]

4. Buy books available in the market 

5. Examination handbook http://www.eaa.org.hk/en-us/Examination/Examination-Handbook and for other documents, please refer to: http://www.eaa.org.hk/zh-hk/Examination/Preparing-for-qualifying-examinations

Estate agent Exam Questions 

For mock exam questions you can reference the official EAA questions: 

You can also use 2CEXAM’s mock exam questions, or buy practice books from other shops. If you don’t plan to pay for the review materials, you can borrow some reading materials from the library.

How can we help you?

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:

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