Online courses for real estate license, Alabama

[Rory Fowler]

Hi everyone, 

This is actually my second post on the forums. I am a somewhat new member and I am actively looking for my first rental property. It has become painfully obvious in the last several weeks why so many investors get their real estate license. Several properties I found were under contract before the listing agent or my agent could get me in to see them and trying to schedule a contractor to look at them with me and an agent is almost impossible.

I do travel overnight with my day job and have no plans of leaving in the near future. So at the moment it looks like the online curriculum for the 60 hour prelicense course is my best option. I have many hours in hotel rooms at night and weekends are very free so the time management isn't a problem. But how effective are these courses? Is it common to use online courses and do they do a good job of preparing you for the exam? Are their particular recommended online classes? Several universities in Alabama offer online prelicense courses. Would these be the best option?

Thanks in advance for the responses.

[Richard Henry]

Online is not a bad option. I have actually done both. I let my license lapse the first time so I did the online course the 2nd time. I am in the process now of getting my brokers license online as well. 

One thing I would recommend doing in person is the 2 day cram course in Birmingham. I would schedule to take your state exam the day after the class is offered. It really helped me to know what you needed to know just for the test. I believe it is the Avery Yarborough Real Estate School. 

I think all the online 60 hour courses are pretty close to the same so I would just find the least expensive. 

I have my real estate license just for my personal use. I don't list or sell property to others but you could if you needed a way to justify the cost of it. I also have my license with the largest office in my town, Tuscaloosa. I think that is a good idea because I get to hear what all the other agent need, have coming up, and get a feel for what the market is doing in real time. No more than I sell, the split is not really an issue. Just my 2 cents but let me know if I can ever help.