ShipTheDeal

Best 4 Online Real Estate Schools

In the real estate industry, there is a seemingly endless amount of learning to get done: sporadic continuing education courses, exams, pre-licensing, licensing, post-licensing, and so on & so forth...just to stay in the game, so to speak. Luckily, for all the real estate professionals out there, there are these wonderful companies that exist and who have dedicated their entire business to this much-needed endeavor within the real estate education space. In today's blog entry, we are going to go through the very best (i.e., the top four) online real estate schools and how we arrived at the conclusions we ultimately came to. Ready?!

 

The best part of all these brilliant real estate education companies is that they allow you to do virtually everything online or even on your mobile device, in some rare cases. Although rules and regulations change from one state to another state, many of these companies still offer classes from a good portion of the US. (With some of the most top-notch instructors, I will add, sprinkled throughout all four of our runners, today.) Maybe you are an aspiring real estate agent in Ohio. Or perhaps you are looking to upgrade your license in Georgia. Taking some continuing ed. courses in North Dakota.  You get the idea. The options are endless and the more all-encompassing each of these real estate education companies are, the better for you, as you can continue to go back to the same one each time, if you would like to, and, of course, we all love familiarity with class formats. Learning a new educational platform each time you need to level up your real estate game is not something anyone wants to do. One-stop shops for the win.

 

Before we get into all the fun stuff, let me first go through how we will and will not rate these four fine online real estate education schools.

 

We are not going to compare pricing, as, at a bird's-eye view, they are all relatively comparable. Remarkably similar, in fact. Moreover, though, there are about a gazillion different types of classes. Some of the same classes may be 60 minutes on one platform and 90 minutes on another, so it is difficult to compare them. Also, one may be for Florida and one may be for Texas, and the information needed to be learned in one of those states is far more than it is with the other.  It would just be virtually impossible to line all four of these up, pound for pound, and compare them with any semblance of an "apples to apples" baseline. I have looked into this with a lot depth, on my own, and they are all close enough in price to one another, that the differences are legit. negligible. So, again, price will not be part of this comparison.

 

What we will go over, in no particular order, will be how many & which states each real estate education company covers for all the different types of continuing education classes, licensing courses, and other advancement opportunities that exist in the real estate space. We will also go over (b) how each company's customer support stacks up in terms of the type of communication modality offered and the hours in which they make themselves available to their customers who need help. (c) Referral programs offered by all four real estate education companies will be assessed, yet factored in at a lower weight. Specifically, we will discuss how they compare and contrast. (d) We will hit on overall reviews and ratings of each of the four companies. There are some positives and negatives with each of these, but do not lose sight of the fact that these are the top four!  There are dozens who could not even make the cut. These are still your all-stars, y'all.

 

With that, let's begin!

 

1. The CE Shop

 

 

States Covered (Winner)

The CE Shop covers the most states in the US in 4/5 of the educational categories. The only one they came 2nd in was due to the fact that they do not offer continuing education to the US Virgin Islands, where one competitor does. Outside of that, however, they further cover the entire country better than all their competitors, which makes it a lot easier to come back to them if you move or are just expanding your real estate business! I may have mentioned this, but The CE Shop ran away with this competition, as a whole. Here's why: below are all the gritty details of each category.

 

Pre-Licensing (Winner)

  • 41 States+
  • AL, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DE, DC, FL, GA, HI, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, MD, MA, MI, MN, MS, MO, NV, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, UT, VT, VA, WA, WV, and WI

Post-Licensing (Winner)

  • 25 States
  • AL, AR, CA, DE, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, KY, LA, MS, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, SD, TN, TX, UT, VT, VA, and WA

Licensing Upgrade(s) (Winner)

  • 16 States
  • AL, CA, CO, FL, GA, HI, IL, MA, MI, MS, NY, OR, TN, TX, VA, and WA

Continuing Education (2nd Place)

  • 50 States+
  • AL, AK, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DE, DC, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MS, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, and WY

Exam Prep (Winner)

  • 50 States+
  • AL, AK, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DE, DC, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MS, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, and WY

 

Customer Service (Winner)

Yes, you thought right: it is super easy to get in touch with The CE Shop! Their hours of operation are 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Central Time (Monday through Friday) and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Central Time (Saturday and Sunday). They offer all three options for contacting them: chat, email, and phone. And, most importantly, The CE Shop is available to their clients a total of 88 hours per week! That destroys the closest competitor by around 10 hours per week!

 

Reviews (Winner)

The CE Shop, at the time of this writing, has a 4.3/5 score on Trustpilot with 6,373 reviews. They also are accredited with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) with an "A" rating! This category had no one even close to The CE Shop, in terms of the Trustpilot score and quantity of reviews. Spoiler alert, though, there are two companies with a better BBB score. Stay tuned!

 

Referral Program (3rd Place)

Probably the least important category, but due to the very strong community aspect of the real estate industry, we have found that many real estate professionals share these types of things with each other, especially if they had a good or bad experience, and they can definitely earn a little side hustle money via the offered referral programs of real estate education companies. I mean, everyone in the industry has to update their licensing, study for exams, and so on & so forth, right?! Below is how the rewards system operates with The CE Shop.

 

  • Referree: 35% Discount
  • Referrer: $10 Reward per Order Under $200 or $25 per Order Over $200
  • Reward: Amazon Gift Card

 

2. Real Estate Express

 

 

States Covered (2nd Place)

A great company! Could have rivaled The CE Shop if they scored a bit higher in the customer service arena, where they simply are not on the phones as many hours as the aforementioned competitor. They also have about 20% fewer state offerings for license-related education. All that said, they still finished at a very strong second place! Let's dive into the data!

 

Pre-Licensing (2nd Place)

  • 39 States+
  • AL, AK, AZ, AR, CA, CO, FL, GA, HI, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MN, MI, MS, MO, MT, NE, NV, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, SC, TN, TX, UT, VT, VA, WA, DC, WI, and WY

Post-Licensing (2nd Place)

  • 11 States
  • AL, FL, GA, IL, IN, KY, MS, OK, PA, TX, and VA

Licensing Upgrade(s) (2nd Place)

  • 9 States
  • CA, FL, GA, IL, IN, MA, MO, NY, and TX

Continuing Education (2nd Place)

  • 50 States+
  • AL, AK, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DE, DC, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MS, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, and WY

Exam Prep (2nd Place)

  • 39 States
  • AL, AK, AZ, AR, CA, CO, FL, GA, HI, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MN, MI, MS, MO, MT, NE, NV, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, SC, TN, TX, UT, VT, VA, WA, WI, and WY

 

Customer Service (4th Place)

Although Real Estate Express came in 4th place in this category, there is  no shame to garner! Their customer service hours are plentiful, even if they are less than the top competitor. With that, their hours of operation are 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Central Time (Monday through Friday) and 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Central Time on Saturday. They also offer all three communication options: chat, email, and phone. The total number of available hours for Real Estate Express clocked in at 61.5 hours per week. That is almost 62 hours of staffed phones! Respectable and, moreover, plenty of hours for you to find time to chat, email, or talk!

 

Reviews (2nd Place)

So this was an interesting one. Although Real Estate express did come in 2nd place in this category, they have only earned a Trustpilot score of 2.1/5. Ugh! The good news (kind of) is that this is only based on 10 reviews, at the time of this writing. I guess you can interpret this in a good or bad way. Regardless, it is a very small sample size. The good news is, however, that they are, in fact, accredited with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and have earned an "A+" rating with them! Bet you did not see that coming! So, obviously these numbers are conflicting to some degree. So take from them what you will.

 

Referral Program (2nd Place)

Real Estate Express does not set a threshold of the order amount to dictate its referral rewards. That is how they locked up the silver medal in this category. You receive a straight amount per order you refer. Easy peasy, taco teasy. Here are the specific deets...

 

  • Referree: 35% Discount
  • Referrer: $25 Reward per Order
  • Reward: Amazon Gift Card

 

3. McKissock Learning

 

 

States Covered (3rd Place)

McKissock Learning is sort of the godfather company in this space. They have been in this business so long and have gotten down the landscape so cold, that they have even expanded into other professional careers to help educate. Why not?! Even though they work on continuing education for all these other sectors now, they have not left behind the recipe that got them all these years of success. And so they have landed as the number three overall online real estate education company! Let's learn how.

 

Pre-Licensing 3rd Place)

  • 25 States
  • AL, AR, CA, CO, FL, GA, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, MI, MN, MS, MO, MT, NV, NY, OK, PA, TN, TX, VA, and WA

Post-Licensing (3rd Place)

  • 10 States
  • DE, FL, GA, ND, OK, PA, SD, UT, VE, and, VA

Licensing Upgrade(s) (3rd Place)

  • 6 States
  • CA, FL, GA, IL, MO, and NY

Continuing Education (Winner)

  • 50 States+
  • AL, AK, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DE, DC, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MS, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VT, US Virgin Islands, VA, WA, WV, WI, and WY

Exam Prep (4th Place)

  • N/A
  • N/A

 

Customer Service (2nd Place)

McKissock Learning is always around to help their patrons! They came in 2nd place in this category for a reason. Their hours of operation are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern Time (Monday through Friday) and 12 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time (Saturday and Sunday). They fall a little short in that they offer both chat and phone customer support but, in fortunately, no chat option. That said, they make up for it with the total hours of availability they offer each week, which is 67 hours! Woot! Great customer service at McKissock Learning, for sure. They have a format and they stick to what works.

 

Reviews (3rd Place)

Oddly, there was no Trustpilot score at all for McKissock Learning. Not sure why, as they have been in business for a very long time, as I just mentioned above. Regardless, they are accredited and have an "A+" rating at the Better Business Bureau (BBB), which is super great. Tied for second best on this roster!

 

Referral Program (4th Place)

Not a lot to say about McKissock Learning's referral program. They do have one shown on their website. But there are no details. No numbers or metrics listed. Just a few empty fields for you to input your info. to sign up. I did pull out the terms and conditions to see what I could find. However, it was 3,892 words just for a referral program. I searched via "Find on Page" this: "$." I got nothing back. There were no dollar amounts in that entire document, so, although they have a referral program, I am ranking them 4th on the list due to them not giving great info. on their site. Super silly, honestly.

 

4. Allied Real Estate Schools

 

 

States Covered (4th Place)

Although Allied Real Estate Schools has come in 4th place here today, let us not discount them in any way. They operate with very few states, but these are the states with the most intricate laws regarding real estate in all this great land we call America...and they specialize in them and all those tiny details. So, again, just because they came in fourth, this does not mean they are not good. This is a "top 4" list! And I have included them in the list because if you live in one of these states and/or run your real estate business out of them, I would probably recommend Allied Real Estate Schools to you as choice number one. Simply due to this more niche specialty: CA and TX. But, when comparing all of the dozens of these real estate education companies, Allied Real Estate Schools rounds out in the fourth place slot. Respect.

 

Pre-Licensing (4th Place)

  • 2 States
  • CA and TX

Post-Licensing (4th Place)

  • 0 States
  • N/A

Licensing Upgrade(s) (4th Place)

  • 1 State
  • CA

Continuing Education (4th Place)

  • 1 State
  • CA

Exam Prep (4th Place)

  • 2 States
  • CA and TX

 

Customer Service (3rd Place)

Allied Real Estate Schools has a great customer support squad. Plenty of hours to get in touch and only 4 hours short of coming in 2nd place in this list, too. Their hours of operations are as follows: 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Pacific Time (Monday through Friday) and 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Pacific Time on Saturday. Furthermore, they have a full availability of 62.5 hours per week. This is anecdotal, but in reading through reviews on the Allied Real Estate Schools website, I saw an uncharacteristically high amount of people specifically citing the amazing customer service they received, even if they initially had a pretty big problem. Love to hear that. Stellar, stellar, and more stellar.

 

Reviews (4th Place)

As it was with McKissock Learning, there is no Trustpilot score. (Annoying.) This, in a vacuum, is neither good nor bad. It is just not much at all, really. The bad news, though is that Allied Real Estate Schools is not accredited with the Better Business Bureau (BBB). And...cringe, they have a "D-" rating with them. Stop twisting the knife, right?! Look, this is not great. I recommend looking into the context of that rating, though, before placing too much judgement. There may be some deeper context to all that.

 

Referral Program (Winner)

Well, Allied Real Estate Schools knocked it out of the park on the referral program aspect! Really incentivizing growth! Most people do actually spend over $100, so a real estate professional could really rack up the rewards here. Below are all the details, but this is a good system. And with the few shortcomings I have already on through, gaining more customers and wowing them could pop Allied Real Estate Schools right back to the top of all its competitors! (Referral program exact info. below.)

 

  • Referree: 35% Discount
  • Referrer: $25 Reward per Order Under $100 or $50 Reward per Order Over $100
  • Reward: Amazon Gift Card

 

We scoured the internet for the best 4 online real estate schools there were, period. Many amazing educational institutions were left off this list. This was the cream of the crop. The best. Our #1 was clear, and that always makes things easier. The CE Shop is king of the hill. But, to be fair, if you were given a gift to attend any of these schools, I have no doubt you would leave with exactly what you were going for and would have a phenomenal experience. With that said, I will close up for now. Thank you very much for reading and stay tuned for the next blog! Cheers!