Top 4 Online Real Estate Schools in Virginia
Becoming a real estate agent can be a challenging but rewarding experience. You get to be your own boss, help people achieve their dreams, and are only limited by your own potential.
The first step to become a real estate agent is to obtain a real estate license through the Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation Real Estate Board. They require that you complete 60-hours of approved pre-licensing education and pass a real estate exam at a testing center.
Where you get your coursework done will play a critical role in how successful you will be when you first embark on this new career. We have reviewed all of the real estate schools in Virginia and selected the ones that will give you the best chance for becoming a real estate agent in Virginia.
Best School for Busy People
Aceable has re-invented online real estate courses by taking a fresh approach to learning. 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.
Everything is laid out in a very simple and easy-to-use format. Even the three packages that are available for you to choose from are easy to understand and don’t use any obscure terminology. This personable approach translates into the course material as well. When you read the online book, the writing style makes you feel like you have an online coach helping you through the lesson.
One of the significant things that separate Aceable’s program from other schools are their time-saving tools for studying. For example, they have a narrated audio version of the course, so you can listen to it while you are commuting to work or exercising at the gym. They are also one of the few schools to have a mobile app that you can download to your iPhone or Android smartphone. The app shows you bite-sized pieces of material that you can digest quickly while you are waiting in line at the grocery store or sitting in the waiting room at the doctor’s office.
Best School with the Lowest Prices
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 depending on your needs. They also have frequent promotions so you can usually get the best deal.
You have two options to take the course: online or livestream.
The online course is text-based and self-paced, which means you are are reading an online book and taking quizzes along the way. They do offer a hardcopy version of the book as well for an additional fee. With this format, you are studying independently and can move as slow or as fast as you want for up to 6 months. If you need assistance, you still have access to their instructors via phone and email.
The other option is their livestream format. This is a live webinar over Zoom where you get to watch an instructor teach the course in real-time. This format provides the maximum engagement if you have trouble staying focused. However, with any live class, this means you do have to make sure you attend the class on time. They currently only offer the livestream format about once a month and sessions may be all day or evenings only, so you will have to make sure this limited availability fits your schedule.
Best School for Knowledge Seekers
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 as 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.
What really makes The CE Shop different from other programs is the level of difficulty. They don’t make it easy. That is done by design because they want you to master the material and genuinely understand the concepts. You get quizzed and tested more than other schools with this program. However, the result is that you will be better prepared to pass the exam successfully.
Best School for Formal Training
Kaplan 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.
Kaplan takes on a more conservative approach to learning. You won’t find a bunch of flashy animations or high-tech apps to download. The tone and style of instruction is similar to that of sitting in a college classroom. If you prefer doing things the traditional way, this will be a great format for you.
The 60-hour course itself is presented in an online book format, where you read through the material online and answer multiple-choice questions at the end of each section. You can study at any time and move at your own pace. This course also includes access to their Interactive Study Groups, which are live webinar sessions that allow you to interact with faculty and your fellow students for questions.
