Top 4 Washington State Online Real Estate Schools in 2023
There are over 40 proprietary education providers that offer real estate courses that have been approved by the Washington Department of Licensing (DOL).
When you start going down the list, you begin to notice a pattern: they all sound the same.
They all say, “we have the best program,” “our courses get the highest pass rates in the industry,” or “look at our long list of glowing recommendations from our students.” Some schools will even post reviews on themselves. And wouldn’t you know it? They always come back with the highest ratings.
To make matters more complicated, everyone has different study habits. So, what may be a great school for one person is not going to necessarily be a good fit for another person.
Having researched through the entire list, we have narrowed down our picks on who we feel are the 4 best real estate schools for obtaining your broker license for the state of Washington.
Aceable has solidified its position as one of the top real estate schools by quickly adapting to the ever-changing landscape of the education industry and finding new innovative ways to help people learn. They don’t believe that studying has to be boring and leverage technology to not only keep you engaged, but study more efficiently. The result is that you finish your courses faster and get your real estate license sooner.
Right when you open up their online courses, you will notice that their course material doesn’t read like your standard textbook. Instead of being dry and sounding monotone, Aceable has incorporated a down-to-Earth writing style so it feels like a real estate instructor is talking to you and not at you. This makes studying a lot less intimidating and easier to understand.
Aceable’s program filters out the most important topics you need to know for you and then provides you with audio and video lessons to cover them in greater detail. You can play these recorded content as much as you need until you feel like you have an adequate understanding of the material. This allows you to focus your time on things you need to know and less on time on things you don’t.
If you still feel like you may need more help, Aceable has a robust support options that can work with anyone’s schedule. With their Premium package, you get access to a 1-on-1 private tutoring session for an hour to discuss any topic of your choice at a time that is convenient for you. Aceable also provides live webinar sessions 5 times every week, where you can virtually join with a group of other students to ask your questions.
Best suited for: Busy People
While most other real estate schools make you feel like you are receiving a mass-produced course, Aceable has put in the extra effort to create a thoughtful, personable program that keeps you motivated. They have a variety of time-saving tools to help you study more efficiently. If you have a busy schedule or working a full-time job, this program will help you stay focused and finish at a good pace.
Colibri Real Estate, who recently rebranded from Real Estate Express, is currently the nation’s top real estate educator and was established almost 30 years ago. They have a refreshingly modern website loaded with tons of content. Being a big school, you get a sense that they have a system in place for everything, with a track record of success to back it up.
They list 4 different packages on their website that you can pick from. The Basics package covers the bare minimum requirements of the 90 hours of pre-license education. The next package called Exam Preparation includes practice tests and a money-back guarantee that you will pass the state exam. If you want to be able to ask a live instructor questions, you’ll need to get the Exam Preparation Plus package. The top package, Ultimate Learning, gives you all of the above plus hardcopy textbooks.
The Colibri Real Estate online courses look nice and clean. However, it is just reading the text. There are no videos or interactive exercises. You really have to have the discipline to study on your own to succeed with this format. They do offer a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee for the first 7 days. If you are not happy with it, they will give you your money back. No questions asked.
A key differentiator with Colibri Real Estate is the massive amount of content they have available for when after you get licensed. They have a Career Hub which contains hundreds of useful blog posts that will help you hit the ground running. Also, if you subscribe to their Professional Development program, you get access to webinars, video tutorials, job aids, and more.
Best suited for: Getting a Good Deal
Colibri Real Estate gives you the best overall value at a great price. They score top marks in pretty much every category. The online courses can be a bit dry at times, so you do have to be diligent in your study habits. If you are looking to get the most bang for your buck, there is no better choice.
The CE Shop is one of the largest real estate providers in the country. They are a 100% online school, so they don’t have any physical study materials available. Their approach to learning is heavy on data and analytics. They like to monitor their student’s performance closely and fine-tune their courses to get the optimal results. With an overall satisfaction rate of 96%, their method seems to be working.
The CE Shop built their own custom platform, called LEAP 2.0, to deliver their courses. The interface looks clean and simple, making it very easy to find what you need in the system. It is also very mobile-friendly, allowing you to seamlessly transition from any internet connected device, such as your laptop, tablet, or smartphone. Although the course consists primarily of online reading, they also include a healthy dose of video clips and interactive activities.
What makes The CE Shop different from other schools is how difficult their courses are. There are frequent quizzes to test your knowledge all throughout the program. There are no shortcuts here. This program will force you to genuinely learn the material inside and out. This may cause some people to spend more time to complete the course. However, mastering the course material will also give you a better chance of passing the real estate exams.
If you need any help along the way, The CE Shop is one of the few schools that offer support 7 days a week. You can contact them through phone, email, or chat. They also have a self-help resource that you can access if you want to try to find the answers for yourself.
Best suited for: the Knowledge Seeker
The CE Shop not only arms you with the knowledge needed to get licensed, they require that you master it. Their learning system follows a rigid format that will most likely have you spending more than 90 hours to complete the program. However, you will come out of it knowing the material like the back of your hand, and ultimately, you will be able to pass the test with ease.
Kaplan Real Estate Education is one of the more well-known names in the education industry. They have an online program that is second to none. However, the courses are only available online, so it is like reading a book on the computer.
There are 3 packages available to obtain the Washington broker license:
The 90-hour Licensing Package fulfills the basic requirements of the 60-hour Real Estate Fundamentals course and the 30-hour Real Estate Practices course.
The next package at Kaplan Real Estate Education adds on the Master Exam Prep, which gives you access to two of the industry’s most powerful test engines: the National PSI Real Estate Drill and Practice QBank and the Washington Real Estate Drill and Practice QBank. These advanced testing platforms are interactive and allow you to simulate nearly any testing scenario. You also get access to the Interactive Study Group which covers the national portion of the state exam through live webinars with other students and faculty.
The Career Launcher Package is the top package. This includes everything mentioned above plus additional state exam prep for both the national and state components through video courses that you can watch at any time. Kaplan Real Estate Education also gives you the Real Estate Accelerator course, which is also in video format. This 16-hour program teaches you everything you need to know after you get licensed so you can launch your real estate career quickly.
Best suited for: the Independent Learner
Kaplan Real Estate Education offers one of the most comprehensive state exam prep materials in the industry. They will be able to diagnose and analyze the areas that you need to work on the most and provide you with all of the tools. However, you will be the one to have to put it together.
Notable Mention | Rockwell Institute
UPDATE: Rockwell Institute was acquired by Colibri Real Estate.
Rockwell Institute is based in Washington and has been around since 1974. They used to have a really strong program. However, real estate education is fiercely competitive and rapidly evolving. They are one of the smaller schools and haven’t been able to keep pace with the other real estate schools on the market. Still, if you haven’t found a school to your liking, they have a pretty decent program that you may consider.
The live classes are led by instructors who present complex materials in a way that is easy to understand. Throughout the lecture series, students are quizzed with questions that will prepare them for the state exam. Instructors encourage active participation and classroom discussion during the course.
Rockwell Institute offers only one location in Bellevue for the live lectures. They are held during regular business hours from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. There are new classes that start every 2 to 3 weeks, and you can complete all 90 hours of pre-license coursework plus the state exam prep in 3 weeks.
If you can’t make it to the class, they offer an online program as well. The interface is a bit antiquated, but if you can look past the appearance, it delivers reliable content. There are hundreds of challenging exercises and quizzes, along with thousands of sample state exam questions.
Rockwell Institute backs their programs with a guarantee, provided that you have completed the courses with them and passed their Cram course with a score of 80% or better. They will refund you the test fee if you fail on your first attempt.
UPDATE: Mbition was acquired by The CE Shop.
OnCourse Learning is the company behind Mbition and is one of the fastest-growing online real estate schools in the market. While the company was officially founded in 2007, they have acquired well-established brands over the years that bring more than 40 years of experience.
Mbition has 3 simple packages for obtaining the Washington Broker’s license. The Silver package gets you the two required online courses. The next level up is the Gold package, which adds on their proprietary Exam Prep to help you study for the state exam. If you want to study out of hardcopy books, then you will want the top package called Platinum Solution.
All of their packages include flashcards, some exam prep, and live instructor support.
OnCourse Learning gives you a clean interface and deliver high-quality content. They don’t do anything flashy or have a bunch of bells and whistles. They focus on delivering the information you need in a way that is easy to digest.