I Failed the Real Estate Exam Eight Times. Here’s What It Taught Me.

I failed the real estate exam eight times.

Eight times I sat down, stared at that computer screen, and walked out without a license. And in Illinois, after every third failed attempt, I had to retake the entire course. So I didn’t just fail eight times — I sat through the full licensing course three times before I finally passed on my ninth attempt.

Eight times I had to go home and figure out what went wrong. Eight times I could have quit.

I passed on the ninth try.

And today I own 360 Florida Real Estate School in Clermont, Florida, where I teach the very exam that once defeated me repeatedly. I’ve been selling real estate successfully for 19 years. I’m licensed in both Florida and Illinois, holding a Managing Broker’s license in Illinois and a Broker’s license in Florida. Last year alone I closed 27 transactions between both states — while teaching, while running a school, while training agents, while building something bigger than myself.

Was it hard? Some days I didn’t know which direction to turn first.

But I kept going anyway. And that’s exactly the point.

What Eight Failures Actually Taught Me

The exam doesn’t measure how good of a real estate professional you’re going to be. It measures whether you’ve learned to speak the language of the test. Those are two completely different things.

I knew real estate. I lived it, breathed it, understood it instinctively. But the exam has its own language — specific terminology, specific formats, specific ways of asking questions designed to trip you up. Learning that language took me eight failed attempts and three full rounds of coursework.

Once I learned it I never looked back.

Nineteen years later I’m still selling. Still teaching. Still learning. And now I’m adding a Mortgage Loan Originator license to my credentials because the industry is changing faster than it ever has and I refuse to get left behind.

Why I Tell Every Single Student This Story

When you walk into my classroom you’re going to be nervous. Maybe you’ve already failed once. Maybe you’re terrified of failing. Maybe someone in your life is watching and waiting to say I told you so.

I get it. I’ve been exactly where you are.

But here’s what I know after 19 years in this industry and hundreds of students through my classroom — the people who struggle the most to get licensed are often the ones who become the best agents. Because they fought for it. Because it meant something to them. Because they didn’t take the easy path.

Passing on your first try is great. But it doesn’t make you a better agent than someone who passed on their ninth try.

What makes a better agent is what happens after you pass.

What We Do Differently at 360 Florida

At 360 Florida Real Estate School I don’t just teach you to pass the exam. I teach you to survive and thrive in the real world of real estate — a world that is changing faster right now than it has in decades.

Portal wars. MLS changes. New commission structures. Artificial intelligence disrupting everything. The agents who will win in this market are the ones who understand the industry deeply — not just the ones who memorized enough to pass a test.

Most real estate schools teach you to pass a test. At 360 Florida we teach you to build a career.

I built 360 Florida because I saw the gap between what real estate schools teach and what agents actually need to know in the field. Small class sizes. Personalized attention. Real world examples from someone who is still out there closing deals in two states every single day.

We’ve won Best Education Services in South Lake County two years running — 2024 and 2025. Not because we’re the biggest. Because we actually care whether our students succeed.

If You’ve Failed the Exam — This Is For You

If you failed once, twice, five times, or eight times — I want you in my classroom.

Not despite your failures. Because of them.

Because I know exactly what it feels like to stare at that screen and walk out defeated. I know what it feels like to have to tell people you didn’t pass again. I know what it feels like to wonder if you’re cut out for this.

You are. You just haven’t found the right teacher yet.

Come find me at 360 Florida Real Estate School in Clermont, Florida. Let’s get you licensed — and then let’s make you the kind of agent this industry actually needs right now.

Because the market needs better agents. And building better agents is exactly what I do.