Have you considered a career in real estate but don’t know how to get started? Gather here let me show you how! There are free online real estate courses with certificates and I have curated them in this blog just for you. I didn’t just curate them but I provided relevant detail on each of the courses to help you know which of the courses to enroll in. Let’s jump right in!
Real estate is a trillion-dollar industry. Yes, about 4 trillion dollars at the time of writing this blog, and is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.2% from 2022 to 2030 according to Grand View Research. This is an industry that has contributed immensely to the fortune of billionaires and some celebrities.
So if you are considering getting into real estate, it is a wise choice as it has proven over and over again that it is a successful industry but only if you do it right. Doing it right means you need to learn the necessary things about the industry from experienced individuals and gain expert skills and knowledge to kickstart your journey into becoming a real estate agent.
Don’t worry, you don’t need to go through the stress of looking for experts that will teach you about real estate and how to get started. Free online real estate courses exist, which are curated here, that are taught by successful people in the real estate business. So, all you need to do is to continue reading through till you find a course that suits what you would like to learn and then go ahead to enroll in the course.
As simple as that!
These free online real estate courses can be taken from the comfort of your home, office, or anywhere that is convenient enough for you to learn. Upon successful completion of the courses, you will be issued a certificate. Taking these courses will prepare you for a successful career in the industry so take them seriously.
In addition, you may want to consider enrolling in online computer science courses to learn how to use a computer as it would be important for you as a real estate investor or agent, don’t bother about how you will pay for the computer course, it is free. We also have a wide range of free online courses on our blog, and most of them offer certificates when you complete them.
What is Real Estate?
Real estate is real property that comprises land and improvements, whether natural or man-made including water, trees, minerals, buildings, homes, fences, and bridges.
Real estate is a kind of real property and it is different from personal property. Personal properties are things that are not permanently attached to the land including vehicles, boats, jewelry, furniture, and farm equipment. Real estate investors can acquire a property by paying part of the total cost upfront and then pay the balance at a later time including interest and over time.
Most times, several people think that the real estate market is just for brokers and salespeople because the market is too big and difficult. Despite that, many people make huge sums of money from real estate. The revenue does not come from sales alone but from appraisals, property management, financing, construction, development, counseling, education, etc.
So, if you want to have an idea of what the real estate market is about and become an investor, enroll in the free online real estate courses. The good thing about the courses is that you will be awarded a certificate after completing the course.
Acquiring real estate is a profitable investment strategy and you know what is an even better investment? It would be you enrolling in courses on real estate, whether free or paid, and attending workshops, seminars, conferences, etc. that educate people in real estate to gain knowledge and stay updated with the latest strategies and happenings in the industry.
In your journey to becoming a real estate investor, you need to have grounded knowledge of finance, very important. Therefore, you should consider enrolling in an online MBA in finance program to acquire professional knowledge of finance. An MBA in finance will help make you a better business person and investor, any real estate firm will be happy to have you.
What are The Requirements to Become a Real Estate Agent?
The requirements for becoming a real estate agent vary based on state or province. Thus, the general requirements to become a real estate agent include:
1. Check your state’s requirements
Real estate agents acquire licensure from their states and not at the national level. To check your state’s requirements, visit the state’s real estate regulatory office website online or visit the Association of Real Estate License Law Officials (ARELLO) regulatory agency directory.
Every state has its own requirements for:
- Age
- Education requirements (a high school diploma or GED)
- Prelicensing courses and post-licensing requirements
- Exams and exam eligibility
- Application procedure and fees
- Background checks and fingerprinting
- Continuing education
- How to achieve the next level of licensing
- Reporting criminal history
Some states have complementary licensing agreements with other states. In other words, you can acquire licensure in one state and use it in another state without taking an additional licensing examination
2. Take and Pass a Prelicensing Course
Another step towards becoming a real estate agent is to take and pass a pre-licensing course from a recognized real estate school. Afterward, you will sit for the real estate licensing exam.
Each state has a required number of hours for pre-licensing courses that applicants will take. For instance, applicants in California are required to take three real estate classes of 135 hours.
Most states offer applicants several ways to meet the prelicensing course requirements including online courses and in-person real estate classes.
3. Take and Pass the Licensing Exam
Meet your instructor to explain how to register and pay for the licensing exam. You may still choose to visit the website of your state’s real estate commission.
The licensing exam is a computer-based test and it comprises two parts. The first part is a national portion on general real estate principles and practices while the second part is a state-specific section that deals with your state’s real estate laws.
This licensing exam comes in a multiple-choice format and the number of questions and time for the exam differ by state.
The examiners score each section separately and applicants must score a passing grade on both sections in order to pass. Applicants who fail one or both sections of the licensing exam will be allowed to retake the exam.
States have their specific rules on the number of times applicants can retake the exam, and the duration they must wait between exams and the deadline to complete resits.
4. Activate Your Real Estate Agent License
If you pass the licensing exam, submit an application with the required documents and fee receipts to your state’s real estate agency.
Once your state agency approves your application, they will send your real estate license certificate to you via email. Additionally, your name will be included on their website under the licensee’s section.
5. Contemplate Becoming a Realtor
A realtor is a bit different from a real estate agent although both of them are licensed buyers and sellers in the real estate business.
Realtors belong to the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and they abide by its code of ethics. This group is the largest trade association in the United States. The NAR has over 1.3 million members who are brokers, salespeople, property managers, appraisers, counselors, etc.
Becoming a member of the NAR is not compulsory. If you become a realtor, you will gain more reliability as a real estate agent.
6. Join a Real Estate Brokerage
All real estate agents work under a supervising broker who is licensed by the state to supervise real estate transactions and ensure that other real estate agents comply with ethical standards.
Generally, real estate agents do not make hourly wages. This is because the brokerage pays them a percentage of the commission it collects from the transactions of the real estate agents.
Real estate agents may be required to pay for desk fees, tech fees, business cards, etc depending on their arrangement with their brokerage.
How Much Can I Make from Real Estate?
The amount of money that you will make from real estate depends on the number of years of experience, hours worked, market conditions, specializations, and location. However, according to Indeed, a real estate agent earns about $95,000 per year while a real estate investor can earn over $100k per year.
Free Online Real Estate Courses With Certificates
Below are the free online real estate courses that you can take and acquire a certificate after completing the courses successfully:
- Commercial Real Estate Investing for Beginners
- Increasing Real Estate Management Profits: Harnessing Data Analytics
- Real Estate Analysis Foundations
- Pre-investing: Before Investing in Real Estate
- Intro to Analyzing Rental Income Properties
- Commercial Real Estate Investing 101
- Analyzing a Real Estate Deal
- Rental Properties 101
- Part-time Real Estate Investing
- Real Estate: Negotiating with Sellers
- Real Estate Contracts
- Seven Streams of Real Estate Income
- Real Estate: Estimating Repair Costs
1. Commercial Real Estate Investing for Beginners
Most of the richest individuals in the world are into commercial real estate. However, the average individual finds it very intimidating to go into commercial real estate.
Therefore, this course will teach you how to become a commercial real estate investor. The course explores the different classes of assets the assets that individual investors target and the reason for targeting them.
You will also learn how to examine deals easily in the fastest possible time just like professionals in the field. Additionally, you will get to know the major risks to avoid while investing in commercial real estate.
The course will also teach you tips for different types of properties such as apartments, self-storage, mobile home parks, shopping centers, and office buildings. Commercial Real Estate for Beginners is one of the free online real estate courses.
This online course is taught by Peter Harris.
- Duration: Self-paced
- Venue: Udemy (online)
2. Increasing Real Estate Management Profits: Harnessing Data Analytics
This course will require you to carry out a project using data analysis to recommend ways on how Watershed Property Management Inc. can improve its profits. The company manages several residential rental properties in the U.S.
To complete the project, you will have to obtain data about relevant variables that will help in your analysis. After this, you will draw your new MySQL database skills to obtain the data from a real estate database. Then, you will implement data analysis in Excel to point out the best ways that Watershed can utilize to increase revenue and maximize profits while managing the risks involved.
Afterward, you will create a tableau dashboard to show the company executives the results of the analysis.
- Paid certificate
- Duration: Takes approximately 23 hours to complete but you can learn at your own pace.
- Venue: Duke University via Coursera (online)
3. Real Estate Analysis Foundations
For you to master and succeed in the ever-changing field of real estate, you must have analytical skills.
In this course, you will learn how to build professional-level real estate analysis techniques that can help you examine investment opportunities, portfolios, and returns. You will also learn about free tools that you can use to examine single-unit rentals to fix flips and multi-unit apartments.
In addition, you will get to know where analysis fits in and the basic investment strategies. You will also know how to measure your returns and the impact of debt financing. This course is one of the free online real estate courses.
Real Estate Analysis Foundations is taught by Symon He.
- Start date: All Year Round
- Duration: 6 hours
- Venue: LinkedIn Learning (online)
4. Pre-investing: Before Investing in Real Estate
This free online real estate course is designed for persons who are new to real estate investment. In this course, you will get to know everything that is required to make your first real estate investment.
You will also learn how to develop an investment strategy and how to use comparable sales strategies to value property. The course will give you a proper understanding of how the various phases of the real estate market may have an impact on you as an investor. Knowledge gained from this will help to make you a profitable real estate investor.
The course is taught by Symon He.
- Start date: All Year Round
- Duration: 5 hours
- Venue: LinkedIn Learning (online)
5. Intro to Analyzing Rental Income Properties
In this course, you will learn the basics of investment analysis, especially for rental income property investments.
The course will give you a proper understanding of the key metrics that are used for analyzing rental income properties. You will also learn how to use professional-grade investment models to examine flip or rental deals.
In addition, the course explores the major concepts of real estate investing. You will get to know professional real estate investment strategies and how to analyze Flix and flip investment opportunities.
Intro to Analyzing Rental Income Properties is one of the free online real estate courses.
The course is taught by Symon He.
- Start date: All Year Round
- Duration: 6 hours
- Venue: Udemy (online)
6. Commercial Real Estate Investing 101
This course is a comprehensive beginner’s guide to apartments, retail, office, and industrial real estate investing.
Through this course, you will acquire the knowledge and skills required to land a profitable job in commercial real estate investing. You will also get to know the key metrics in real estate investment that professional investors use to analyze deals.
This course will also teach you how to evaluate commercial real estate properties before purchasing them for yourself or for clients. In addition, you will have an idea of how to use debt and equity to purchase properties and maximize profits on your first investment.
Commercial Real Estate Investing 101 is one of the free online real estate courses with certificates.
The course is taught by Justin Kivel.
- Start date: All Year Round
- Duration: 3-4 hours
- Venue: Udemy (online)
7. Analyzing A Real Estate Deal
You may have years of experience and skills in real estate as well as money but you may not succeed. Success can only be achieved when you know the right piece of property at the right price. Therefore, before making any investment, try and understand how much you can pay for the property, how much to sell it, and the profit that you stand to make.
So, in this course, you will learn how to run the numbers on any property so as to know if you will make profits or losses. You will also learn how to analyze a deal in person or online, calculate the after-repair value, and carry out research through MLS.
You will learn how to find out anomalies, check out homes in person, and close great deals. The course is one of the free online real estate courses that offer certification upon completion.
- Start date: Self-paced
- Duration: Less than 1 hour
- Venue: LinkedIn Learning (online)
8. Rental Properties 101
This course teaches how to use the right ways to buy cash-flowing rentals. You will learn how to identify your target market and how to use a deal analyzer to examine properties. In addition, you will gain experience in proactive vs. passive rentals.
Upon completion of the course, you will have the in-depth knowledge to begin your rental investment.
This course is taught by WealthFit.
- Start date: All Year Round
- Duration: Less than 1 hour
- Venue: LinkedIn Learning (online)
9. Part-time Real Estate Investing
This course will teach you how to make real estate investment a side hustle. From this course, you will learn how to use the experience of other investors to build a powerful elevator pitch.
You will find out how to prepare for growth in the real estate business and decide on the perfect real estate investment models to use.
Part-time Real Estate Investing is one of the free online real estate courses.
WealthFit administers this course.
- Start date: All Year Round
- Duration: Less than 1 hour
- Venue: LinkedIn Learning (online)
10. Real Estate: Negotiating with Sellers
Several real estate agents usually lack confidence over the phone when answering questions from a client in an attempt to close a deal. This shows that they have poor communication skills.
For this reason, this course is designed to teach you how to conduct real estate sales calls like an expert. You will also learn how to build a custom seller lead sheet that can enable you to keep track of details and improve the rate you close deals.
Real Estate: Negotiating with Sellers is one of the free online real estate courses.
The course comprises syllabuses including
- Basic Negotiation Principles and Assumptions
- Negotiating Techniques
- 48 Most Common Seller Objections
This course is taught by WealthFit.
- Start date: All Year Round
- Duration: Less than 1 hour
- Venue: LinkedIn Learning (online)
11. Real Estate Contracts
It can be very intimidating to work on contracts because they bear complicated documents. You cannot be successful as a real estate investor if you are not good at working on contract documents.
Therefore, this course will teach you how to review and execute real estate contracts. You will learn about the most common real estate investing contracts and how to approach their documents.
The course will also teach you the five clauses that you must add to a contract to make it legally binding. You will also learn the key sections of purchase and sale agreements and how to navigate emergencies.
This course is taught by WealthFit.
- Start date: All Year Round
- Duration: Less than 1 hour
- Venue: LinkedIn Learning (online)
12. Seven Streams of Real Estate Income
Investing in real estate is very rewarding and you can generate huge revenue from the real estate market in several ways.
So, this course will teach you the techniques that you can use to maximize profits in the real estate market. The course will also teach you the seven ways of making money in real estate and how you can get started.
Seven Streams of Real Estate Income is one of the free online real estate courses.
- Start date: All Year Round
- Duration: Less than 1 hour
- Venue: LinkedIn Learning (online)
13. Real Estate: Estimating Repair Costs
It is always rejected when you discover damages to a property that will cost you some money after you have purchased that property.
Thus, this course will teach you how to make better investment decisions by discovering faults before purchasing a property. You will learn how to examine all aspects of a property from the kitchen to the HVAC system. This will help you not to incur unnecessary expenses after acquiring a property.
- Start date: Self-paced
- Duration: Less than 1 hour
- Venue: LinkedIn Learning (online)
Free Online Real Estate Courses in South Africa
Many platforms such as Prop Academy offer free online real estate courses in South Africa. Despite that, some of these platforms charge a small fee mainly for the certificates that they award upon successful completion of the course.
The free online real estate courses in South Africa that are offered by Prop Academy include:
- Commercial Property Management
- Introduction to Property Ownership CPD Course
- Real Estate PDE Level 5
- NQF Level 4 Real Estate
- NQF 6 Facilities Manager Course
- Real Estate PDE Level 5
Free Online Real Estate Courses in California
Unfortunately, there are no free online real estate courses in California. You can still take online real estate courses from top online real estate schools in California but you will have to pay for it.
The following real estate schools in California offer online real estate courses for a fee:
- Real Estate Express – $119
- Kaplan Real Estate Education – $179
- The CE Shop – $129
- Aceable Agent – $119
- Mbition – $129
Free Online Real Estate Courses in Florida
There are free online real estate courses for licensed real estate professionals in Florida to acquire more education in the field. These courses are approved by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR).
Hence, the free online real estate courses in Florida include:
- Home Energy Efficiency for Real Estate Professionals Course
- Saving Home Energy for Real Estate Professionals Course
- Home Energy Score for Real Estate Professionals Course
Where can I learn free online real estate courses?
Udemy and Coursera are top platforms where you can learn free online real estate courses.
Do I need a degree to become a real estate agent?
A degree is not necessary to become a real estate agent however, getting a degree in business, finance, or a related field will give you professional knowledge and guarantee success in the field compared to someone without a degree in any of these fields.
Is a license required to become a real estate agent?
Yes, you must be licensed by your state to become a real estate agent. Without a real estate license, you will certainly get in trouble with the law if you are caught operating without a license. This is a law in every country, I guess.
Conclusion
You can take the free online courses irrespective of your location, whether you are in Canada, California, Nigeria, Kenya, the UK, or Europe you can enroll for the courses and learn what you need to on real estate.
Merci pour cet article très complet et surtout en français très clair 🙂