Browse Featured Courses

Current Issues and Trends in Real Estate

Sexual harassment. The impact of the new tax laws. The affordable housing crisis. Discrimination claims over emotional support animals. You can't tune into the news without hearing about one or more of these hot topics, and each has implications for the practice of real estate.

Preparing a Market Analysis - Best Practices

Perhaps no task is more important than preparing a professional comparative market analysis. Whether for a buyer or seller, the CMA, properly done, can mean thousands of dollars in their pockets, and can make the difference between a sale and a sale fail. But because it’s such a well-worn tool, it’s tempting for a licensee to get complacent with the CMA, and “phone it in.” Don’t be that licensee.

Technology Tools, Trends, and Risk Management

Technology is a tool. Used wisely, it can free up time usually spent on mundane tasks to allow licensees to work at a higher (and higher touch) level of client service. Used poorly, it can alienate clients, and even put them—and the licensee’s reputation—at risk.

Clients and prospective clients are using it, and want their real estate professional to be accessible and tech-savvy on their behalf. According to a 2017 National Association of REALTORS® real estate report, staying up to date on new platforms and systems will be one of the biggest challenges for brokerages in the coming years. The industry is changing, and technology is a big driver of that change.

Marijuana in Real Estate

Marijuana: not a topic you might have ever thought you’d see in connection with your professional real estate career. No matter where you stand on the legalization issue, the issue itself has spread into day-to-day real estate activities for many professionals involved in real estate, whether working with buyers, sellers, tenants, or landlords in the residential and/or commercial real estate market.

This three-hour course reviews some of the key legislation related to marijuana, where the legal controversies exist, case studies, and the potential implications for real estate—including what’s at stake for you, the licensee.

The Code of Ethics in Action: Real-Life Applications

As a real estate professional, you’re likely to encounter unexpected ethical dilemmas as you go about your daily business. That’s why the National Association of REALTORS^® provides its members with a regularly updated Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice. Adopted in 1913, the Code consists of 17 Articles and supporting Standards of Practice that provide ethical principles for dealing with clients and customers, the public at large, and other REALTORS^®. Of course, knowing those guidelines and understanding how to efficiently put them into practice can be two different matters.

Code of Ethics: Good For Your Clients and Your Business

A solid ethical foundation is an essential part of any good business practice. That’s why the National Association of REALTORS^® asks its members to follow its Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice. Updated regularly, this Code was first adopted in 1913 and consists of 17 Articles along with supporting Standards of Practice.

The Code of Ethics: Good For Your Clients and Your Business course reviews each article, highlighting pertinent changes, and offers important takeaway points you can apply to your day-to-day business dealings to verify that you’re always ethical in your business practices.

Ethics principles are a standard component of continuing education. In addition, this course fulfills the ethics training mandated by the National Association of REALTORS^® for its members.

Commercial Ethics

A solid ethical foundation is an essential part of any good business practice. That’s why the National Association of REALTORS^® asks its members to follow its Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice. Updated regularly, this Code was first adopted in 1913 and consists of 17 Articles along with supporting Standards of Practice.

The Commercial Ethics course reviews each article, highlighting pertinent changes, and offers important takeaway points you can apply to your day-to-day business dealings. After all, most ethical issues aren’t black or white. Understanding and applying the Code of Ethics to your commercial real estate practice can help you navigate these areas of uncertainty and make the smart decision for your client and your business.

Ethics principles are a standard component of continuing education. In addition, this course fulfills the ethics training mandated by the National Association of REALTORS^® for its members.

Attracting Online Consumers: Listings and Syndication

These days, homebuyers often search the internet for homes before seeking out an agent. In fact, the National Association of REALTORS^® 2014 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers revealed a whopping 92% of buyers used the internet in some way in their home search process.

With so many homebuyers turning to the internet, the quality and positioning of your listings has never been more important. Good listing visibility is a must. Attracting Online Consumers: Listings and Syndication looks at how to put together a strong listing description and how to make syndication work for you, your clients, and your short- and long-term business objectives.

Marketing, Advertising, And Social Media Compliance

The Internet is rich with promotional opportunities. Whether it’s a post on Facebook or a tweet linking to your new listing, whether it’s a status update on LinkedIn, a virtual home tour on YouTube, or photo collage on Pinterest, there are plenty of different ways to promote your professionalism, highlight your expertise, increase your connections, and showcase your listings.

This course looks at how you can use the unique advertising and marketing opportunities now available through social media to better serve your clients and customers, and further promote your own brand.

Personal Safety

While the newsprint is still wet (and the internet still on fire) with these shocking stories, everyone vows to do better, and the topic of safety is pushed to the front of training schedules—but then complacency soon sets in once again.

That’s something criminals count on.

Personal Safety reviews studies and statistics that are somewhat unique to the real estate profession, and the methods and practices that best promote personal safety.

Residential Property Management Essentials

For many real estate professionals, property management is a natural extension of their expertise. Whether you’re thinking about taking on your first property or looking to grow your property management business, there are a number of important matters to keep in mind.

Residential Property Management Essentials provides real estate licensees with a solid understanding of pertinent property management issues by exploring the role of the property manager, common tenant issues you’re likely to encounter, and crucial federal laws that every property manager needs to understand.

Did You Serve? Identifying Homebuying Advantages for Veterans

Better serving our nation’s veterans and military families in their home purchase starts with one simple question, "Did You Serve?" Real estate professionals who ask “Did You Serve?” to every client can easily identify veterans and service members. By doing so, they can open the doors of homeownership for veterans and service members who may not have been able to purchase a home through other financing.

With more than 20 million veterans living in the United States today, real estate professionals can have a powerful and profound impact for those who served, while expanding their business in a patriotic way to an underserved market.

This course provides real estate professionals with the knowledge and skills around understanding military life, details regarding the VA home loan program, and tools and strategies for finding and purchasing the perfect home for veterans.

Roadmap To Success: Business Planning for Real Estate Professionals

First and foremost, you, as a real estate professional, are an entrepreneur. This course guides you through proven methods to assist you in developing a successful, workable business plan. You will learn about creating a vision for your business and the tools necessary to achieve that vision.

Sign Here: Contract Law on E-Signatures

Electronic transactions and e-signatures can give you the competitive edge you need to attract new business, better serve existing clients, and improve your bottom line.

This course provides you with a comprehensive understanding of how national and international laws define an electronic signature, how e-signature technology is currently being used by real estate professionals, and how you can use it in your day-to-day transactions. Additionally, this course looks at the use of email to conduct negotiations and at several real-life case studies currently affecting how you do business.

Anatomy of a Commercial Building

A foundational understanding of foundations! Includes footings and how they work with foundations to form a system, design concerns of foundations including soil conditions, water tables, and live and dead loads.

Design considerations for roofs, walls, windows, and doors.

Client Advocacy In Commercial Real Estate

Client advocacy filters into every aspect of your real estate business, starting with the method you use to pursue new clients through your follow-up call after you have executed a transaction. This course takes the concept of advocacy and applies it to everyday actions in commercial real estate. Numerous examples populate the course, including strategies to employ when pursuing new business, opportunities to educate your clients, and effective discussion points to help your clients see when an expert is needed. Good service means being an effective advocate, and this course will help polish those advocating skills.

Commercial Landlord Representation

Landlord representatives, usually referred to as “leasing agents” or “leasing brokers,” serve a key role in commercial real estate: getting tenants for their clients’ buildings. Accomplishing that goal is a lengthy, multi-step process that includes positioning the product in the marketplace, identifying suitable prospects, creating and executing marketing plans, negotiating the deal, and managing all of the steps associated with the leasing process.

Determining Value Of Commercial Properties

Real estate licensees who represent commercial clients, whether as buyers or sellers of commercial properties, must understand the process of valuing commercial properties. To best serve their commercial real estate clients, they need a solid understanding of how commercial properties are valued, how appraisers work, and how that important final number is determined.

Many of the tools and methodologies used by commercial appraisers can also be used by licensees to help their clients determine value when buying, selling, or comparing commercial real estate. While a valuation prepared by a real estate licensee will never take the place of a formal appraisal, it's important for licensees to understand the definitions of value used by appraisers, the methodologies used, the three approaches to value, and how value of commercial properties is determined. It is also important for licensees to be able to read and extract information from a professional appraisal report.

Investment Strategies In Commercial Real Estate

Commercial real estate investors have two goals: generate cash flow and produce higher returns. However, unlike other investment types, investing in commercial property is not simply a matter of buying at one price and selling for more. Commercial real estate must be considered in terms of the risks and rewards of the type of commercial property, income during the investment period, the investor’s own situation, and how value and return are impacted by the economic, market, tax, and legal conditions (particularly zoning) for the market niche.

This course presents an overview of the factors impacting value and investment potential of commercial properties, gives licensees a solid understanding of the financial aspects of commercial real estate investment, and better prepares them to provide professional guidance to their commercial real estate clients when evaluating investment properties for purchase or sale.

The Fundamentals Of Commercial Real Estate

This course provides a solid foundation for your understanding of commercial real estate. The course covers the need-to-know information on a broad range of commercial topics.

If you're an experienced residential licensee, a few of the fundamentals of commercial real estate will be familiar to you—the importance of location, for example. In many other regards, commercial differs sharply from residential real estate. You'll be working with executives, investors, and business owners in commercial real estate, individuals whose focus is squarely on the bottom line.

Equipped with the information and advice found in this course, you'll be well-prepared to grasp the more complex aspects of commercial real estate as you gain more experience in the industry.

From Contract To Keys: The Mortgage Process

From the time your buyers sign their purchase agreements to the time they finally get the keys to their new home, the mortgage process can be filled with anxiety, frustration, and uncertainty. Through your understanding of the process, you will be able to provide your clients with a roadmap through the maze.

Keeping It Honest: Understanding Real Estate and Mortgage Fraud

Real estate is no stranger to the white collar criminal, as fraud has become a major issue in the industry. Many lawbreakers use real estate as a vehicle to steal the life savings of unsuspecting homeowners and defraud lenders out of millions of dollars for their own gain. Federal, state, and local governments have taken steps to combat real estate fraud, but it remains a major problem—and one you need to have a solid understanding of to ensure you're able to shield your clients and yourself from being defrauded or unknowingly committing fraud.

Keeping It Honest: Understanding Real Estate and Mortgage Fraud has been updated to discuss the latest fraudulent schemes and explain recent government initiatives aimed at stopping fraud and protecting consumers.