I think a lot of people have been in a position in their lives where they look at what they currently have, and they’re not sure that it’s enough. A status quo that you’ve been maintaining for years can feel safe, and can certainly provide peace of mind and financial security, but it may not be bringing out the best in you, either personally or professionally. I know I felt that way back in 2009 when I was a long-haul truck driver. I kept thinking, “is this it? Is this all I’ll do the rest of my life?” Sometimes we need a reminder about what we’re capable of, and that there’s more to life than the comfy little box we’ve created for ourselves. I’m sure glad I recognized this when I did.
For me, and for many people, that decision to take a chance on yourself comes from investing in yourself. Instead of working for someone else, on a salary that they pay out to you every month, you work for yourself. Haven’t you ever thought about becoming the boss? Sure, being the boss has its disadvantages, but I know anytime I worked under someone else, I felt incredibly restricted. I always thought I could do things better, but I could never be my best because the bosses I worked under restricted me. It was incredibly frustrating for me.
As you can imagine, living on the road for 4 to 6 weeks at a time didn’t exactly make it easy for me to obtain a real estate license. Fortunately, online real estate courses exist, making it possible for even those with the most demanding full-time jobs to study for their real estate license exam from anywhere and at any time.
If you want to learn more about this, I’ll provide more detail throughout this article, but if you just want the quick answer, here are the 4 best online real estate license prep courses in my opinion:
Best Online Real Estate Schools For 2022
The Real Estate License Prep Course Minimum Requirements
First things first, before you sign up for any of the online real estate license prep courses out there, you need to make sure you meet the minimum requirements to even obtain a real estate license.
Some jobs are pretty straightforward in their requirements. The simplest jobs require you only to be an American citizen and be able to do the work required. On the other end of the spectrum, there are jobs with an enormous number of demands, such as medicine, that requires people to get a degree from a university before they can even start practicing. Real estate falls somewhere in the middle. While peoples lives might not be on the line such as with a medical professional, you will still be entrusted to help people make the largest purchase of their lives, so some due diligence is to be expected as far as making sure you are a trustworthy individual.
The below video is specific to New York State, but the requirements will likely be similar in your state as well…
The Importance Of Finding The BEST Online Real Estate Prep Courses
It’s important for you to get a very good real estate license prep course because before you are allowed to start working in the industry, you must pass an exam and upon passing that exam, you will be award an official license.
The problem with online real estate prep courses today is that most of them are extremely outdated. When online real estate programs launched, smartphones weren’t even invented yet! So, what has happened over time is these online real estate prep courses have just patched them to keep up with the times. About 20 years of “patching” later and most courses are a mess. you have to be very careful these days about which online real eastate prep courses are even worth it.
This means you’ll have to find the best real estate license prep courses to help you study for your exam, but there’s always going to be a bit of variation in what one person defines as “best,” versus another. However, I will always point out that one thing absolutely essential to add to your list of qualities for a real estate license prep course is that it must be valid for your state and modern. Just because a real estate license prep class pops up on your online search, and has a price you like, that does not mean it will be on you can actually take to qualify for writing your license exam. And likewise, just because a coures is state-approved does not mean it will be high quality.
Every state has different requirements as well as different hourly minimums for taking a class. Some states require 30 hours of study, while others need 60! And while one real estate license prep class may be highly rated by its students, it might only be valid for Texas and California, so if you live in New York, that does you no good!
However, I’ve had a lot of experience with dealing with different real estate license prep courses, and I’ve got some studied opinions on which ones are good. I think these three real estate license prep schools are ones everyone should consider.
Colibri Real Estate: The Course I Used
My highest recommended real estate license prep course is the one I personally signed up for. The real estate course I ended up going with was Colibri Real Estate. While I won’t claim to study for my real estate license was fun, easy, or exciting, I was pretty impressed with the quality of Colibri Real Estate
They offer different tiers of service that accommodate different needs and budgets. I ended up going all out and got the highest option which included physical textbooks so I could take notes and highlight in the books as I went through the online material. This was mostly a matter of personal preference, but I know many other people enjoy doing the same.
If you feel confident in your study skills and just want to absorb the information quickly, they can provide minimal, text-only instruction. On the other hand, if you want a bit more support such as being able to ask instructor-specific questions, you can pay for one of the higher tiers. As added insurance, they also have a “don’t pass, don’t pay policy” at higher levels of their class packages. This means that if you’re doing well in your classes, but somehow do your best on the exam and don’t pass, you won’t have to pay for the instruction you received.
Get The Best Price On Colibri Real Estate Here
The CE Shop: The Easiest
If you’re not tech-savvy or you simply want things to be easier, The CE Shop won’t disappoint. This real estate online school has been providing many states pre-licensing, exam prep, and continuous education for so many years now that they’re considered a must-try.
What I like about The CE Shop is that during the pre-licensing course, your modules are laid out for you on the homepage. You can also track which chapters you’ve already studied because they put check marks on completed ones.
The best part about this is that you have the freedom to jump from one chapter to another. However, a chapter isn’t considered finished when you don’t complete the quizzes.
Speaking of quizzes, The CE Shop also has a smart tool that lets you know which topics you need to work on based on your performance on the quizzes. I personally loved this feature because it gives me a sense of guidance during the whole study process.
The exam prep can be bought alone or can be part of the pre-licensing package. I suggest, if you need to get a pre-licensing course, then you get the package with the exam prep. This way, you only need to pay once and you have all the resources you need to pass the exams.
You also get career resources, digital flashcards, and additional e-books in every package offered by The CE Shop. You’ll also love the fact that this school is available in a lot of states and is state-approved.
Get The Best Price On The CE Shop Here
Kaplan: The Most Reputable
While it’s not necessarily the cheapest real estate license prep course, Brightwood, which some may recognize as Kaplan Real Estate Education, provides a great education that I like to recommend. They have everything that’s legally required for you to write and pass your course, and they’ve been around for quite some time, so have a solid, established reputation. In addition to their online real estate license prep courses, they also have physical locations across the country, so if you want to have the option of actually attending a physical location in addition to your online coursework, this could be a great hybrid.
But what I really like about this school is the variety of different teaching styles they have available to students. You can read the basic text if you’re a quick study and only need the information. But, if you prefer a more human touch, they have “on-demand” classes that are recordings of lectures by instructors. And of course, for people that want to do things the old-fashioned way, they offer traditional, physical classes in certain states.
Get The Best Price On Kaplan Here
AceableAgent: The New Kid On The Block
AceableAgent is currently only approved in the state of Texas, but this is a newcomer to the industry that is really shaking things up. AceableAgent is a tech-savvy startup company that received million in capital funding to revolutionize the online real estate training industry.
Unfortunately, many online real estate training courses have become painfully outdated. The vast majority of courses still consist of walls of text, old images, and if you are lucky enough to even get a video, it seems really out of date. AceableAgent recognized this and created their own online real estate training program with state-of-the-art video, animations, interactive features, and they have the backing of some very big-name real estate experts.
For those lucky enough to live in the state of Texas, this is the course I would recommend more than anyone else.
Get The Best Price On AceableAgent Here