online real estate schools

[Keith Harden]

Good afternoon Bigger Pockets world.  I have recently started educating myself on the housing market. I thought it would be a good start for me to acquire my real estate license.e  As a full time employee in construction, I want to pursue my education through online schooling. Does anybody know of a reputable online school? Has anyone gone this route and how was your experience? thanks 

[Alex Capozzolo]

@Keith Harden Never a silly question. I had some prior knowledge but not a ton (read a few books, listened to a ton of podcasts, kept up with articles, things like that). 

It's funny, I actually originally started for educational purposes only, not expecting to work full-time as an agent. 

Purely from an educational standpoint as an investor, I would say it's not 100% necessary. The information you learn from it is practicable as an investor, such information about laws, zoning, forms of ownership, how to transfer ownership of property. Other pro's of being licensed: Access to the MLS. Not as useful nowadays because rockstar deals are not nearly as common as they used to be, but that doesn't mean they don't exist there.

If you're not interested in MLS access, I would recommend against getting your license since it's time consuming, and focus your time on mentoring under a local investor who's doing exactly what you want to do. Help them and add value in any way in exchange for knowledge! You can probably get more 'actionable' information that way, and quicker. Also, befriend an investor-friendly agent who can give you good insight into your local market.

The reason I'm now an agent is because I wanted to get as fully ingrained with the industry as possible. Being an agent is short term for me, simply something to pay the bills and fund my investment career. After passing my test, and now that I am finally in the front lines of things I'm really soaking up a ton of information about how to work deals and the local market. 

Hope this helps !