Top 4 Online Real Estate Schools in Virginia
It can feel exhilarating when you decide to get a real estate license. Then, when you go through the steps to actually do it, you may get second thoughts.
The truth is that it’s actually a pretty easy process to start working in the real estate industry… if you do it the right way. I have friends and have talked to many others in passing that they struggled in the beginning because they simply tried to wing it or save a couple of bucks by going with the cheapest school they could find.
This is an investment into your future. If you want the best outcome possible for yourself, shouldn’t you go with the best program that will get you there? That’s why we have come up with the “Big 4” real estate schools in Virginia. You can pick any school from this list and be confident that they will help you start working in Real Estate Like A Boss.
Best Overall Value
Colibri Real Estate is by far the biggest online school in the real estate industry. They have a plethora of options available for you to choose from. While most schools offer two or three packages, they give you four packages to pick from. If you have a small budget or you are not totally committed to a full-blown career in real estate, you can try out the lowest package called The Basics. This gets you the required course to get licensed at the cheapest price. However, I would recommend, at the very least, going with the Exam Preparation package, which is the next level up. It adds on 1,000 online practice test questions to help you study for the state exam and gives you the Pass or Don’t Pay Guarantee, which means if you don’t pass the state exam, they will give you a full refund!
The courses can be repetitive at times, but I guess that just helps drill the material into your head better. I liked the interactive videos they have at the end of each section. It helps you focus on the main points that you really need to remember.
Best for Millennials
Aceable Agent is bursting into real estate education with a fresh approach. They don’t believe that learning has to be boring and are using technology to help make that happen. Their courses are designed by top-producing real estate agents, so they know what you really need to know and perhaps, more importantly, what you don’t.
They only offer one package, so you don’t have the ability to customize it based on the things you actually want. However, if you are starting out new to real estate, then this will definitely be all you need. It has the required 60-hour pre-license course and some practice tests. This package has been built to be comprehensive enough so you won’t need anything else to successfully get licensed. They also provide you with instructors called Career Mentors that can help you 7 days a week.
Believe it or not, most real estate schools don’t have a mobile app. Aceable Agent does. This makes education-on-the-go a snap. While you are waiting in line at the grocery store or sitting in the waiting room at the doctor’s office, you can easily pull out your phone and study for a few minutes. When you get back to your laptop or desktop computer, you will seamlessly be able to pick up where you left off.
Best for Prestige
Kaplan Real Estate is the 800-pound gorilla of real estate education. This billion-dollar company has been around for almost 100 years, and is one of the most recognized brands in the world. Being such a well-respected brand with top-notch instructors, they do charge premium prices for their courses.
Regarding the Virginia real estate courses, they give you three simple online options. You can get the 60 hour course as a standalone course. This is a text-based format that gives you an introduction into real estate laws. With their middle package, you get exam prep too. This is a video course with multiple-choice questions that is broken up into separate components to help you with both the national and state components of the exam. With this package, you also get to participate in their Interactive Study Groups. This is a live webinar that makes you feel like you a part of the class. You can join in on the discussions and ask the faculty your questions.
If you really want to hit the ground running, Kaplan Real Estate has a Career Launcher package for an extra $200. This includes an intense 8-hour course along with 8 weeks of professional coaching that allows you to get immediate training after you get licensed.
Best for Academic Achievers
If you are one of those people who genuinely enjoys learning, The CE Shop is the perfect school for you. While they do not offer any physical study materials such as hardcopy books, they designed their online platform to make sure you learn the material in multiple ways. You are not just reading the whole time like at other online schools. They developed their own proprietary system called LEAP to give you scenario-based examples to make it as close to what you will experience in the real world as an agent. The LEAP system also encourages active learning with frequent multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank, and matching quizzes. This system seems to be working: 77% of their students pass the national portion and 74% of people pass the state exam. Compare this with the state average of 56% and 58%, respectively.
The packages aren’t laid out very well on the website. Their Standard package gives you everything you need to get licensed. You get the 60-hour course and exam prep. If you want to add on some extra training to help get your real estate business going after you get licensed, they have offer those in the Value Package. With their top package, the Premium package, you get all of the above as well as the post-licensing course.
