So, you’ve decided to get your real estate license. Welcome to the club!
If you’re anything like me, you prefer to go through your real estate license training online instead of in a traditional classroom. By taking an online real estate license course, there are many benefits.
Being able to go through training at your own pace, on your own schedule, and from any device are just a few of the benefits. I prefer to learn independently, so going through an online real estate license course was a no-brainer for me.
But then I discovered the problem with online real estate license courses.
They all get TERRIBLE reviews! I don’t know how long you have been researching this, but almost ALL of the online real estate schools I researched had extremely poor reviews online.
What gives?
I’ll tell you exactly why they all get rated so poorly throughout this guide, but if you want the quick answer, I ended up signing up for the Colibri Real Estate online real estate license course, and in spite of the low reviews they receive, I was pretty happy with their training. More on that later though.
Just Want The Fast Answer? Here Are The Top 4 Online Real Estate License Courses In 2023
I’m going to get into much more detail about how to find the best online real estate license course in 2023, but some of you are already pressed for time and don’t really care about the details You just want to know which course is best and you want someone else to do that research for you.
I’ve got ya covered.
Now, there really is not ONE best online real estate license course. Everyone learns in different ways and has different preferences.
So, I highly recommend you check out each of the 4 online real estate license courses below and simply go with whoever looks the best to you. Any of the below online real estate schools are perfectly legit and among the best you’ll find in 2023.
Quick Picks: Top Online Real Estate License Schools Approved In California
Beware Of Fake Online Real Estate License Course Reviews
When you start researching online real estate schools, you’ll notice something very odd.
While most customer review sites like Yelp and Google Reviews will have very low ratings for these courses, you’ll also find dozens of websites just like this one that reviews online real estate license courses. The sites you come across seem to sing their praises as if these online real estate schools can do no wrong.
Well, those reviews might just be paid reviews.
And guess what? To be totally transparent, this very website you’re on has ongoing affiliate partnerships with a few online real estate licenses courses.
There is nothing wrong with getting paid for referring business. Heck, as a real estate agent, sales commissions are how we put food on the table.
The problem is deceitfulness. Whether it’s real estate, marketing, or selling sneakers, truthfulness and integrity should be front and center.
My point is, a ton of the online real estate license course reviews you’ll find online are untrustworthy. They are simply sales pitches designed to get clicks and commissions.
Am I saying you should completely discount these reviews? Not at all! What I’m saying is, get reviews from multiple different places and pay attention to common themes. If you read enough reviews, you’ll get the real idea of what those schools are like.
So am I saying you shouldn’t even trust me or this website?
YES!! That’s absolutely what I’m saying!
While I give you my word that I’m being honest in these reviews, I’m just some guy on the internet. Compare these reviews, shop around, and really put some time into finding the best online real estate license course for your particular needs. You are laying the foundation for your new career. Don’t skimp out on this first step.
Why Almost Any Online Real Estate License Course Will Have Low CUSTOMER Reviews
The entire reason I decided to write this guide is that I know how you might feel. Chances are, you’ve already researched a bunch of these online real estate license courses and you’re feeling a bit confused.
Maybe you figured that you could find the most popular online real estate schools, get reviews for each of them, and go with the one that is rated the best.
But no, life has to make things interesting. Of all the courses you researched, they are apparently all terrible by customer rating standards, but the best thing ever created according to the gurus and expert websites.
How could this be? What’s going on here?
I explained above why all the gurus and review sites rank these courses very highly, but now let’s cover why students and actual customers seem to rate them so poorly…
Many of the complaints are perfectly valid. I just want to be clear on that. While I personally believe taking a real estate license course online is WAY better than going to a classroom, I’m very disappointed in these online real estate schools.
You’d think with how far along we’ve come with technology, you’d get something more than basically a digital textbook or pages of PDF files, especially when most of them charge over $100.
Sadly, that’s the industry standard. There are some real estate schools online that do a better job, which I’ll cover in-depth later on, but for the most part, go in with low expectations. That’s just the truth.
Here are the 6 biggest complaints you’ll find from students fo these courses:
7 Most Common Complaints About Online Real Estate License Courses
I’m not telling you all this negative stuff to discourage you from signing up for an online real estate course. Your coursework is temporary, and again, it beats the hell out of going to a physical classroom.
However, I think it is important for your success that you go into this with the right expectations. Knowing the negatives ahead of time and being ready to face them will help you succeed.
1. Outdated Course Material
I was shocked to find out that LOTS of state-approved & fully licensed real estate courses contain training material that is outdated. Not just a little outdated, but outdated to the point where people get questions wrong when taking the actual real estate license exam.
I just can’t figure out how this is allowed to happen when these courses must be certified by each state they operate in, but somehow they get away with it. There are lots of negative reviews out there from people who got questions wrong due to the outdated training material.
Here’s why it’s happening…
Online real estate license courses started popping up about 15 years ago. That’s when most of these courses were created, and while their coursework does get updated from time to time, a lot has been missed throughout the years.
I’m telling you right now, this is just something you have to expect no matter what course you take.
As far as my own personal experience, I went through the course at Colibri Real Estate, and while I found some things here and there, it wasn’t nearly as bad as all the negative reviews made it out to be. I also don’t think I got anything wrong on the actual exam because of any outdated info.
2. Poor Course Delivery Methods
Let’s face it, learning about laws, rules, and regulations surrounding real estate isn’t exactly exciting. The material that needs to be learned in order to take and pass the real estate license exam is very dry with a lot of memorization needed.
It would really help if these online real estate license training courses would offer the material through several different ways such as video, interactive features, graphics, animations, etc.
Unfortunately, most of them are mostly set up like digital e-books with quizzes mixed in. These courses certainly have not used the advancement in e-learning technology to improve throughout the years.
3. Lack Of Live Training
There is a surprising lack of live training programs. It’s nice to be able to learn on your own time and schedule, but having some live interaction is entirely possible these days. Most courses only offer something once per week.
Since COVID hit, more live streaming real estate license courses are becoming available, where instead of reading page after page of text, you have live virtual classrooms with instructors in real-time.
This seems to be a bit of a slow process to get going though. I expect more of these live streaming courses to become available throughout 2023, and as they do become available, I will update this guide to reflect that.
I personally only attended one live training event when I took my course at Colibri Real Estate, and honestly, I wasn’t all that impressed. Granted, this was several years ago, but it doesn’t seem like much has changed since I went through their program.
They only hold one live session per week and it’s mostly just a Q&A session. One place that does offer live online classrooms is Kaplan, but even then, it isn’t exactly what most of us are looking for.
4. Poor Student Support
Right after I signed up at Colibri Real Estate, I was greeted with a nice warm welcome message from a “personal instructor” that could answer any questions I had.
I honestly didn’t need to contact him the entire time I went through the course, but I’ve heard those personal instructors are difficult to get in touch with at times with very slow response times.
Colibri Real Estate is one of the only places that actually allows you to call your personal instructors. Most of them either don’t allow this, or they charge extra fees.
Colibri Real Estate and most other online real estate courses do have student forums that instructors monitor if you need questions answered. There are also weekly live streaming online Q&A sessions, so one good thing to do is have a list of questions ready to go during those sessions.
5. Lack Of Apps For Mobile Devices
Believe it or not, some online real estate license courses are still not compatible with mobile devices. Like at all. Crazy, right?!
While most of them will work on your phone, they function very poorly While I’ll get into more detail later on, there is only ONE online real estate license course I recommend if you plan on taking the majority of your course on a phone or tablet, and that course is AceableAgent.
I’ll get into why AceableAgent is the course I recommend for using on a mobile device later, but just know that most online real estate license courses do not work well on mobile devices.
6. Low Student Pass Rates
The pass rate among those who take their real estate course online vs. those who go through a traditional classroom-based setting is not that much different.
With that said, obtaining a real estate license is tough! It isn’t easy and many people want to blame someone or something else for giving up or failing their exam.
A GOOD student pass rate (students who pass their real estate license exam on the first try) is about 65%, so that is a lot of students who end up being angry they didn’t pass on the first attempt.
There is only one state that actually publishes student pass rates for real estate schools which is the state of Texas, but the pass rates in other states are pretty much the same. You can see updated student pass rates here.
How To Actually Find The BEST Online Real Estate License Course
With all the depressing facts I just gave you, how in the world are you supposed to decide on which online real estate license course to sign up for?
Well, first of all, you have to just be aware of all of this going in. Yeah, most of these online courses could do a better job, that’s for sure.
But you know what? It takes a lot for me to drive my butt down to a classroom multiple times per week to sit in a classroom and get lectured to. I was going to make this work, no matter what, and for me, the only real option was to take real estate school online. If that’s a similar story for you, then let’s do this. If I can do it, you can too.
First, I’ll go over who I personally signed up with and why I picked them. After that, I’ll give you the best alternative online real estate license courses you can sign up for in 2023.
Colibri Real Estate
I’ve already stated that I decided to go with Colibri Real Estate and that I was pretty happy with them. I prepared for the worst, but it didn’t end up being all that terrible. There might be a better option for you, but why did I personally choose to go with Colibri Real Estate? Glad you asked!
High Student Pass Rating – Of all the online real estate license courses I researched (at the time), Colibri Real Estate had the highest pass rating of them all. It isn’t uncommon for online real estate license courses to have a pass rate of 50% or less. Colibri Real Estate has an above-average student pass rate. Of all the things I consider, student pass rates are what I consider to be the most important. If students are passing, that means the course is working.
Mobile Friendliness – Things are finally slowly changing, but when I signed up, Colibri Real Estate was one of the only courses that would work on my iPhone. The other courses either had no functionality or didn’t work well at all. For me, being able to study while away from my computer was pretty important, so this was a pretty big deal-breaker for me. I wouldn’t say the mobile version of Colibri Real Estate was perfect, but it was good enough to do what I needed to do. If you’re going to use your phone to take most of the course, I actually recommend AceableAgent. I’ll get into a more detailed review of them later in this guide.
Price – While most of the major online real estate license course prices are about the same, I went with a higher plan at Colibri Real Estate that included textbook formats of all the online material. Sometimes I like to study using a good old-fashioned book that I can actually highlight and take notes in. I usually used the books alongside my online training. After all, was said and done, Colibri Real Estate ended up being the cheaper option even though they have a higher student pass rate. I was pretty much sold at that point.
Gut Feel – To be 100% honest, a lot of my final decision simply came down with my gut feeling. I was really torn between Colibri Real Estate and Kaplan at the end, and I might as well have flipped a coin, but I did end up choosing Colibri Real Estate for some of the reasons I listed above.
Updated Colibri Real Estate Video Review For 2023
Check For Colibri Real Estate Pricing Discounts Here
My Choice Might Not Be The Best Online Real Estate License Course For YOU!
So while I can give my personal endorsement to Colibri Real Estate, I do recommend you continue to research and try to find the course that you think is the best for you. Unfortunately, they all pretty much get rated poorly, so the only thing you can really do is to pick one that has a money-back guarantee for a certain period of time. If you don’t like it, get your money back and go elsewhere.
Additional Contenders As The Best Online Real Estate License Course In 2023
If for whatever reason you don’t like Colibri Real Estate, or just want to know some other good options that you can compare it to, this is a list of the other online real estate license courses that I feel are among the best in 2023.
AceableAgent
If I was going to sign up for an online real estate license course today, it would probably be AceableAgent. This online real estate school wasn’t approved in my state when I got my real estate license, but they have quickly expanded and this is arguably the single best online real estate license course in 2023. So, what makes them so special?
Highest Student Pass Rates – Anytime I research an online real estate license course, the very first thing I look for is the student pass rate. I don’t care what features they have. If students aren’t passing, the school is no good. Fortunately, AceableAgent has among the highest student pass rates in the entire industry. As of 2023, they have a nearly 80% student pass rate which is far above the industry average, which you can see here.
The Most Mobile Friendly Course In 2023 – I’ve already said it a couple of times in this guide, but I’ll say it again. If you’re planning on taking a significant portion of your real estate course from your phone, AceableAgent is your best bet. AceableAgent is one of the only online real estate license courses that offers a mobile app you can download. By far, no other course works as well on mobile devices as AceableAgent.
The Most Modern Course In Most States – AceableAgent was just built from the ground up less than 5 years ago and is constantly updated. While AceableAgent‘s course material varies from state to state, they are generally the most modern with a good mix of text, videos, and some interactive features, too. AceableAgent is a breath of fresh air in an industry that seems to be stuck in the past.
Updated AceableAgent Video Review For 2023
Check For AceableAgent Pricing Discounts Here
The CE Shop
If you are after accessibility and affordability, I suggest that you check out The CE Shop! Not only do they offer affordable online real estate courses, but they are also available in many states across the country.
Plus, they have a 90% pass rate, which is something you most definitely should not ignore!
I know I mentioned outdated content above, but that is something The CE Shop does not struggle with.
In fact, many of their students have praised them for keeping their course content up-to-date with the current trends, rules, and regulations in the real estate industry across each state they serve.
What’s more, they make sure to include interactive videos, illustrations, and even real-life examples in their lessons. This way, you don’t find yourself dozing off from boredom.
What’s even more surprising are their prices. Yes, you would think that a school with a 90% student pass rate would be charging a pretty penny, but it’s the exact opposite.
The CE Shop seems to want to keep its courses as accessible as possible to students of different socioeconomic standing. So you will find that they offer many different pricing tiers and even payment plans for their online real estate courses.
They even have a FREE trial so students like you can determine if you are a good match.
So if you need a good online real estate school that won’t hurt your budget, I recommend that you give The CE Shop a look. You won’t regret it!
Check For The CE Shop Pricing Discounts Here
Rockwell
I have a love/hate relationship with Rockwell. This really could be considered the best online real estate license course in 2023, but they are not mobile-friendly AT ALL. They even state they don’t recommend you use mobile devices. For this reason, do not sign up for Rockwell if you plan on using a tablet or phone. If you are planning on using a laptop or computer to go through the coursework, Rockwell is still a great option. Here are some reasons I recommend them even though they aren’t very mobile-friendly.
Textbooks Are Included – If you like to study via textbooks instead of staring at a computer screen, Rockwell is a good choice for you. They include textbooks in almost all of their packages. Other online real estate schools will offer textbooks on top of their online course, but they charge a ton of money for them. With Rockwell, the textbooks are automatically included in the price, making this the most cost-effective option if you do want textbooks.
Specifically Designed For PC – You ever gone to a website on your PC and realize that while it works, it was obviously designed for tablets, phones, and touch screens? That’s becoming more common with online real estate schools. Rockwell is designed exclusively for use on a laptop or computer. It’s one of the very few online real estate courses left that are still doing this, so if you plan on taking the entire thing from a regular ol’ computer, this is especially a good option for you.
Positive Student Reviews – In spite of this school being a bit outdated, it is one of the few that consistently receives high reviews from students. They have one of the highest ratings on Yelp in 2023 and are A+ rated with the Better Business Bureau. You’d think this would be the norm for online real estate courses, but it’s not. The fact Rockwell has such a positive reputation among students is something to seriously consider because that says a lot.
Check For Rockwell Pricing Discounts Here
Final Thoughts On Finding The Best Online Real Estate License Course In 2023
So, there you have it. I hope this guide was helpful and I also hope it didn’t scare you off.
Are there improvements that online real estate license courses can make in the coming years? Absolutely, and you should know about their downfalls.
However, taking a real estate license school online is so much easier, faster, and convenient. Any of the real estate license courses I’ve listed in this guide are excellent options and will get you started off on your new career as quickly as possible.
Now go get em’!
