Best Schools For Renewing Your Texas Real Estate License
If you are like most people, you view continuing education (CE) like going to the dentist for a checkup. You don’t really want to do it, but you know it is for your own good.
As a licensed real estate agent in Texas, the Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) requires you to renew your license every 2 years by completing continuing education and paying the appropriate renewal fee.
There are different CE requirements depending on your situation, so let’s take a quick moment to review what you will need to do.
Texas Real Estate Renewal Requirements
| First-Time Renewal | Second and All Subsequent Renewals | |
|---|---|---|
| Sales Agent | 90 hours of Sales Apprentice Education (SAE) 4 hours of Legal Update I 4 hours of Legal Update II | 10 hours of Elective CE* 4 hours of Legal Update I 4 hours of Legal Update II |
| Broker | 10 hours of Elective CE* 4 hours of Legal Update I 4 hours of Legal Update II | 10 hours of Elective CE* 4 hours of Legal Update I 4 hours of Legal Update II |
Now that you know how many hours you need, the next step is to choose the right school. With nearly 1,000 education providers approved to provide CE courses in Texas, this can seem like a daunting task.
Which one is the best school?
We don’t believe there is a single school that will be perfect for everyone. Everyone has a different learning style, budget, and studying habits. Furthermore, every school has their own strengths and weaknesses in their course offerings.
As a result, we have gone through the list and selected who we think are the top 5 best real estate schools that will accommodate the unique learning preferences of most individuals to renew your Texas real estate license.
Champions School of Real Estate
Packages start at $99
Champions School of Real Estate is the 800-pound gorilla of real estate education in Texas. They are the biggest and most well-known education provider in Texas. More people have taken their award-winning courses to get licensed than any other real estate school.
Champions School of Real Estate offers a variety of formats to take the courses. You can drive to one of their seven campuses (Austin, Dallas, Houston Galleria, Houston North, West Houston, Fort Worth, and San Antonio) and sit in a classroom. You have the option to attend one of their ChampionsLive! Broadcasts and live-stream it so that you can watch it from home but still get that classroom feel. You can also choose to take the regular online courses, which are available in both PDFs and hardcopy books.
After you complete the courses, they will typically notify TREC within 24 hours.
Champions School of Real Estate is perfect for someone who wants to satisfy their CE requirements in a classroom. However, they are on the high side of the price range. They give you a decent selection of course topics to choose from and do a great job of providing their students with an immersive, learning experience.
Recommended for: the Interactive Learner
Colibri Real Estate/ McKissock Learning
Packages start at $119.95
This list would not be complete without mentioning the biggest names in real estate education.
Colibri Real Estate and McKissock Learning are actually subsidiary brands under the same company called Colibri Group. They use Colibri Real Estate for all pre-license and post-license education, while McKissock is the platform used for continuing education.
If you need SAE courses, then you would get them from Colibri Real Estate. They only have one online package that includes courses in Marketing, Property Management, and Brokerage. The courses look fresh and modern looking. Plus, they just started including free proctoring on their final exams.
If you are looking for CE courses, including Legal Update I and II, then you would get them through McKissock Learning. They have a long list of elective courses to choose from, and they allow you to customize your package.
What separates them from every other school is their annual membership program. This not only covers all of your CE requirements, but it also provides you with a plethora of options for professional development. There are hundreds of how-to videos, webinars, and job aids to help you bring your game to the next level.
Recommended for: the Value Shopper
Aceable Agent
Packages start at $129
Aceable Agent is relatively new to the world of online real estate education. They are based in Austin, Texas, and currently have real estate licensing programs in four states (Texas, Michigan, Virginia, and New York).
Being the new kid on the block means that they are still growing their program. At this time, they only have CE courses and do not have SAE courses.
However, the reason they are on this list is that they are bringing a fresh approach to online education. They are actively trying to make their courses engaging and fun. Not just boring PDFs like every other school. Aceable Agent is one of the first education providers to get their courses approved on mobile devices.
Aceable Agent is a young company that seeks to disrupt the way that people take online courses. Since they are a new entrant into the space, there is some risk that they could get overzealous with their ambitious goals and bite off more than they can chew, at the expense of their students. Nevertheless, Aceable Agent is a rising star, and it will be exciting to see what they will do in the future.
Recommended for: the Millenial
Allied Schools
Packages start at $98
Allied Schools has been providing Texas real estate courses for almost 30 years. They have a solid track record of providing high-quality content at an affordable price. They were acquired by Real Estate Express. However, their programs are entirely separate.
Allied Schools offer a basic program with a limited course selection. They only provide online courses and have a single package for SAE and CE. The user interface looks a bit antiquated, but it is functional.
Where Allied Schools really shines is with their SAE courses. While most other schools give you 6 months to finish the courses, Allied Schools gives you one full year. There are no hidden fees, and you get to take their final exams as many times as you need without having to pay a re-test fee. Probably the best part is that they include free online proctoring. This gives you the convenience of taking the final exams at home.
Allied Schools provide a great program if you want a simple, no-hassle course to get your continuing education done.
Recommended for: the Straight Shooter
The CE Shop
Packages start at $139
The CE Shop has one of the most comprehensive and rigorous programs in the real estate industry. They are a 100% online-only shop and offer programs in all 50 states. This is really geared for people who are genuinely interested in learning first, satisfying CE requirements second.
The CE Shop only has one SAE package that includes the Appraisal, Brokerage, and Real Estate Investment courses. They have their own online proctoring service and charge $17.50 per test. There’s some funny fine print that you should be aware of. If you don’t pass the final exam, you can only re-take it once within 90 days. If you fail the second time, you must re-take the entire course again.
Besides their frequent promotions, what really stood out with The CE Shop was their course selection for continuing education. They currently have 26 elective CE courses to choose from, not counting the Legal Updates. They also offer the Code of Ethics training if you are a realtor looking to satisfy the bi-annual ethics CE requirement.
The CE Shop is a great choice for people who actually want to learn something and grow their knowledge of real estate. They offer a huge and growing selection of topics that will satisfy anyone’s appetite for knowledge.
Recommended for: the Knowledge Seeker
Is there a school that you think deserves to be on the list? We are always on the lookout for the best providers. Let us know in the comments section below.