If you’re considering a career in real estate but aren’t sure where to start, finding the right real estate course can be an important first step. This is because this will not only help with the initial licensure process but with the long-term success of your career as well.
In this review, we’ve narrowed down the five best real estate courses that stand out for their quality, flexibility, and value. Whether you’re a complete beginner or you’re just looking to sharpen your skills, read on to discover the top course options that will help you achieve your real estate goals.
The 5 Best Real Estate Courses
In the table below, you can find a summary of our rankings for the five best real estate courses, as well as each of their top features.
Best Real Estate Courses | |
---|---|
The CE Shop 4.7 / 5 | BEST OVERALL VALUE
|
Kaplan Real Estate Education 4.3 / 5 |
|
Colibri Real Estate 4.1 / 5 |
|
Aceable Agent 3.8 / 5 |
|
PrepAgent 3.6 / 5 |
|
The CE Shop: Best Overall Course
As our top recommendation for real estate education, The CE Shop provides self-paced course formats perfectly suited for working professionals seeking the flexible work schedule real estate agents love.
All of its packages come with extra resources, adding to the overall value of its already budget-friendly offerings. The high real estate exam pass rates of The CE Shop students make the company our go-to provider for real estate education.
The CE Shop Pros
- Fresh Learning Experience: Through its innovative learning platform LEAP, The CE Shop offers a variety of diverse and engaging lessons thanks to the range of delivery formats (e.g., text, audio, and video) that it implements
- Exceptionally High Pass Rates: As of 2024, The CE Shop’s students boast a pass rate of 64% on first-time attempts at the exam, which is 12% higher than the national average. This, in itself, would be impressive enough, but it becomes even more so when you consider that in some states, this pass rate is nearly as much as 90%
- Money-Back Pass Guarantee: The CE Shop is so confident in the quality of its online courses that it offers a money-back guarantee if you don’t pass your exam on the first try. Our team especially loved this policy as it gives students the peace of mind that they’re investing in a reliable and effective product
- Tailored Exam Guidance: Another feature that we greatly appreciated was The CE Shop’s comprehensive exam preparation materials — especially its detailed checklist and comprehensive performance reports. These tools were invaluable in keeping us organized and ensuring that we had covered every aspect of the curriculum by the day of the test
- Extended Course Access: After purchasing one of The CE Shop’s courses, you’ll have access to its content for six months — which is ample time to work your way through all of its material at your own pace. This extended access ensures that you can revisit lessons, review notes, and refresh your knowledge as needed without feeling rushed or pressured
- Affordable Pricing: While the cost of its courses will vary depending on the state you’re based in, The CE Shop offers four different types of pricing packages to ensure you can choose the one that’s best suited to your budget
The CE Shop Cons
- Lack of In-Person Option: Since The CE Shop only offers online classes, whether self-paced or through live-streamed virtual classrooms, it might not be the right choice for you if you prefer face-to-face instruction or a traditional classroom setting
- Expensive Higher-Tier Packages: It’s also worth noting that The CE Shop’s premium packages can be very steep in terms of pricing. While these top-tier packages offer significant benefits and are valuable for career advancement, they may be cost-prohibitive if you have a tight budget
Final Overview
Overall, our team strongly felt that The CE Shop stood out as the top choice for our readers out of the offerings of the other providers on this list.
On top of its exceptional combination of quality learning tools, long access period, and affordable pricing, we were particularly impressed by the exceptionally high pass rates of this course provider’s students. Ultimately, the most important factor when choosing a real estate course should be its effectiveness in helping you pass, and The CE Shop excelled in this regard.
While the lack of an in-person option and the high cost of premium packages may be drawbacks for some, the value provided by The CE Shop’s offerings far outweighs these cons. We felt that the course’s affordability — combined with its extensive resources and high pass rates — more than justifies its position as the best choice for real estate education.
Recommended Real Estate Course
We recommend The CE Shop’s online study packages, which come with a money-back guarantee and flexible pricing.
Alternatively, you can find out more about the real estate classes offered by The CE Shop in our full The CE Shop Review.
2. Kaplan Real Estate Education
Kaplan is one of the best-known brands in professional education and is renowned for its extensive range of high-quality real estate courses. While expensive, these courses are tailored to every kind of real estate career you may want to pursue and provide many valuable resources to help you achieve this goal.
Known for its premium pricing, Kaplan’s real value lies in the access it provides to a broad network of real estate professionals and valuable resources, making it a notable option for those seeking comprehensive education and industry connections.
Kaplan Real Estate Education Pros
- Excellent Video-Based Courses: Similar to The CE Shop, Kaplan excels in catering to visual learners with its on-demand video-based courses and digital whiteboards that instructors use to explain key concepts in real time. We found that this engaging format was a great help in breaking down complicated topics into bite-sized segments that we could easily understand
- Live Class Options: Where Kaplan really stands out from a number of other online real estate schools is its offering of live classes. During our testing, we found that these added an invaluable opportunity for us to engage with the instructors and find answers to questions we were struggling with
- Interactive Study Groups: Another great feature that only enhances Kaplan’s course offerings is its interactive study groups, which are included at no extra cost. These weekly Q&A webinars provide you with another opportunity to clarify any doubts you may have about Kaplan’s expert instructors and other students enrolled in the course
- Bookmark Feature: The ability to bookmark and take notes directly within Kaplan’s learning platform adds a practical element to the study process that we greatly appreciated. Integrating this as part of its platform, instead of requiring students to take notes separately, makes reviewing notes far easier and enhances the overall learning experience
- Custom Quiz Tool: Kaplan’s standout feature is its custom quiz tool, which allows you to tailor your exam preparation to your individual needs — based on specific topics, question types, and timing preferences. In particular, we found this invaluable for targeting weak areas and building up our confidence before test day
Kaplan Real Estate Education Cons
- No Money-Back Guarantee: Unlike The CE Shop, Kaplan’s professional development courses do not come with a money-back guarantee if they don’t help you pass your real estate exam. Instead, you’ll only be entitled to a refund within 30 days of purchase, which isn’t anywhere near as useful
- Lacks of In-Person Option: It’s important to ensure you’re happy and comfortable taking virtual classes before you pay top dollar for one of Kaplan’s courses, as they don’t have any in-person offerings
- Offerings Differ by State: Another key drawback that we noticed with Kaplan’s classes was that their availability and pricing varied widely from state to state — particularly depending on the number of required credit hours and the delivery format. This can make it difficult to understand exactly what you’ll get for your investment
Final Overview
In conclusion, Kaplan Real Estate Education stands out as a top choice (particularly for visual learners) due to its exceptional video-based courses and engaging teaching methods.
This is further justified due to the inclusion of both live class options and interactive study groups in Kaplan’s offerings — both of which only further enhance the effectiveness and enrich the learning experience.
With that said, Kaplan’s lack of a money-back guarantee and the variability in course offerings and pricing across states are two significant drawbacks to consider before committing to this course provider.
Despite these limitations, Kaplan’s strong educational resources and the opportunity to connect with industry professionals justify its position among the top options. For those who value interactive learning and comprehensive support, Kaplan can be well worth the investment.
3. Colibri Real Estate
For the most individual course offerings available on the calendar, consider a class from Colibri Real Estate. All of its classes use an online platform with self-paced and instructor-led, live stream classes available.
Colibri Real Estate Pros
- Access to Instructors: Enrolling in Colibri’s Exam Preparation Plus courses gives you extensive access to live instruction with up to 40 hours of live Q&A sessions each month. On top of this, you’ll also obtain access to the Exam Crammer series, which is a library of concise webinars that have been crafted to ensure you pass the real estate licensing exam.
- Easy Note-Taking: Similar to Kaplan’s system, Colibri’s platform greatly simplifies the study process by allowing you to take and organize notes directly within the learning environment. This makes it far more efficient to review material, as you can download these notes while still taking advantage of the platform’s tracking of the exact chapters and pages they refer to.
- Pass Guarantee: Colibri provides a “Pass Or Don’t Pay Guarantee” for the majority of their real estate courses. This is a great addition as it allows you to claim a full refund for the cost of the course if you haven’t passed your state’s licensing exam in one attempt within 30 days immediately after finishing the course.
Colibri Real Estate Cons
- Boring Lesson Format: Colibri’s courses rely heavily on text-based instruction, with a significant portion of lessons consisting of reading material. This text-heavy format may not be as engaging for students who prefer visual or auditory learning methods, potentially making the learning experience less stimulating.
- Limited Live Classes: While Colibri’s live classes are a great overall addition to its packages, our team was disappointed to discover that they were only available in a number of states.
- Lack of Mobile Support: It’s worth mentioning that Colibri’s courses are primarily optimized for desktop use, as the course provider does not offer a dedicated mobile app. Since its mobile website experience is limited, it may be inconvenient for students who prefer to study on the go.
Final Overview
In summary, we believe Colibri stands out as a strong contender in the real estate education space, particularly for those who value comprehensive exam preparation resources and are fine with a lot of reading.
We particularly loved Colibri’s Exam Crammer series, which provided invaluable support and targeted exam strategies. On top of this, Colibri’s money-back guarantee was another nice inclusion that made us feel more confident in the quality of this provider’s courses.
With that said, it’s important to note the text-heavy format of many of Colibri’s lessons — which may not cater to students who prefer more dynamic learning methods.
Additionally, the restricted availability of live classes in a number of different states — as well as the lack of dedicated mobile support — were the main reasons we ranked Colibri lower down on this list.
4. Aceable Agent
Aceable Agent is a prominent player in the online real estate education market and is known for its modern and flexible learning solutions.
Designed with a focus on convenience and accessibility, Aceable Agent is known for its engaging audio narration and highly functional mobile app — both of which support learning on the go.
Aceable Agent Pros
- Engaging Audio Narration: We really enjoyed the novelty of Aceable Agent’s inclusion of audio narration for text portions of the lessons, as it offers a great way to absorb material on subjects like real estate law without being glued to your screens (especially for auditory learners)
- Excellent Mobile App: Another nice touch was AceableAgent’s user-friendly mobile app — which provides a significant advantage for students who need flexibility in their study schedule. In particular, we felt the app’s modern and intuitive design allowed for easy on-the-go learning, allowing us to study from anywhere without problems
- Ace Or Don’t Pay Guarantee: The “Ace Or Don’t Pay Guarantee” ensures that you’ll obtain a refund if you don’t pass your state licensing exam after three attempts within 90 days of completing the course
Aceable Agent Cons
- Restricted Availability in Certain States: One thing our team didn’t appreciate about AceableAgent’s courses was that they’re only available in 14 states. Unfortunately, if you’re based outside of the states it caters to, you’ll need to consider an alternative provider
- “Barebones” Basic Package: Another thing that disappointed us was how limited the basic package was — only containing a state-approved pre-license course and practice exam questions. We didn’t like that this essentially forced students seeking more comprehensive exam prep resources to invest in their more expensive packages
- Pricey Package Options: While Aceable Agent provides competitive pricing, the Deluxe and Premium packages, which offer additional features like live webinars and more extensive materials, are far pricier
Final Overview
On balance, we believe that Aceable Agent is a strong contender in the real estate education market due to its innovative features and user-friendly design, though it falls short in a few important areas.
While the engaging audio narration adds a unique touch for auditory learners, and the well-designed mobile app makes it far easier to study on the go, these features don’t make up for the provider’s main limitations.
The fact that its courses are only available in 14 states is a huge downside to be aware of, as you may not even be able to access its courses if you’re based outside of these areas. Additionally, the basic package is quite limited, necessitating an upgrade for students seeking more comprehensive exam preparation.
Despite this, we still believe Aceable Agent deserves a place on this list as it represents one of the top education options for prospective real estate agents at the moment.
5. PrepAgent
The final entrant on our list is PrepAgent, which is a well-regarded name for its focus on providing targeted study materials to help candidates pass their licensing exams.
While it doesn’t offer pre-licensing education, its affordable, high-quality resources can provide a nice boost, which makes it an attractive choice among students who need last-minute exam support.
PrepAgent Pros
- Affordable Exam Prep Materials: PrepAgent provides exam preparation resources at a budget-friendly price (often as low as $80), making it a highly accessible option for almost any prospective real estate professional
- Extensive Practice Questions: With thousands of high-quality practice questions, PrepAgent ensures that you have ample opportunities to test your knowledge and prepare thoroughly for the exam
- Diverse Learning Formats: Unlike some of the other entrants on this list, which focus more on one medium, PrepAgent supports various learning styles through its use of audio and video lessons, interactive flashcards, and eBooks
PrepAgent Cons
- No Pre-Licensing Education: PrepAgent focuses exclusively on exam preparation and does not offer pre-licensing education — this limitation means it is not suitable for those who need comprehensive coursework to fulfill licensing requirements
- Limited Access to Materials: Access to PrepAgent’s study materials may be restricted, which could limit your ability to review and reinforce concepts as thoroughly as needed
Final Overview
Overall, while we believe that PrepAgent excels in its niche of exam-focused resources, it ultimately falls short in too many other areas to be used as your primary study tool.
Despite its strengths in this area, we ranked PrepAgent last in our review due to its limited appeal to the majority of students. In fact, we believe this service is best used in conjunction with one of the others on this list due to its lack of pre-licensing education offerings.
Best Real Estate Courses FAQ
What program is best for real estate?
In our rankings, The CE Shop came out on top as the best overall online real estate school. However, the best real estate schools for you will largely depend on your specific career goals and needs.
To read more about this, see our Best Real Estate Courses article.
What degree is most useful for real estate?
While a specific degree is not always required to enter the real estate field, a degree in business administration, finance, or economics can be highly beneficial. These fields provide a solid foundation in financial analysis, market trends, and real estate development, which are crucial for success in real estate.
Which branch of real estate makes the most money?
In the real estate industry, the most lucrative area for a licensed real estate agent is the commercial branch. This deals with properties used for business purposes (e.g., office buildings, shopping centers, and industrial properties).
Keen to find out how to kickstart your real estate learning? See our How to Get a Real Estate License guide.
What career is best in real estate?
The “best” career in real estate depends on individual interests and strengths, but a career as a commercial real estate broker is often highly regarded for its earning potential and impact.
If you want to learn more about this career path, check out our How to Become a Real Estate Broker guide.