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Is it Live or is it Memorex? How do you learn real estate?

When it comes to education these days, there are many options.

You can go the traditional route by attending a class
You can listen to recorded lectures on tape or CD
You can take an online course at your own pace
You can read a book and study on your own

Pros and Cons

How do you learn what you need to know for your real estate business? There are pros and cons to each method.

raising hands

Attending classes requires that you make time within your busy schedule to make it to the class. You may have to travel a distance to find the class you wish to take. Live classes typically cost more than the other options. Nine times out of ten, there are people in the class who learn slower than you and bog the teacher down with questions when everyone else understands the material and would like to keep moving. There may also be times when everyone seems to understand the teacher and you don't but are hesitant to ask a question.

Your other options allow you to learn the material at your own pace, whether faster or slower. And they allow you to take the classes at your own convenience, not at the set time and day of the live classes.

As I wrote about 12 weeks ago, I'm Taking the Next Big Step in Real Estate and taking classes to obtain my Virginia Broker's License. In that post, I delineated the reasons for pursuing a broker's license at this point in my career. One of these reasons was to "Meet and get to know other motivated Northern Virginia Realtors who I will likely be working with in the future."

Six weeks ago, after completing the Broker Law series of classes, I memorialized that milestone in 25% of My Broker's License. Now, I am 50% of the way there. Broker Finance just finished and next week starts Broker Management.

The law course was primarily a lecture and listen type of class.

mortgage payment Broker Finance was completely different. The outstanding teacher, Mary Otis brought in various guest speakers from the industry to present us with practical information. Our speakers included a senior economist at Freddie Mac, a regional owner/manager of Keller Williams Realty, a foreclosure turnaround expert, Bank of America senior vice president and regional manager, CPA specializing in real estate finance.

In addition to the speakers, we were also assigned a group project to complete a thorough analysis of an investment property. Through this group project we were able to interact with our class members in an exciting learning experience which produced a final tangible product teaching us investment analysis.

group project

Real estate remains a people business.

Here's the case for learning the traditional way by attending classes:

you meet and interact with other like-minded, motivated individuals
you learn from other people's questions and understand different viewpoints
you can ask the teacher questions
the structured schedule forces you to go, read, and study
you never know who you may meet -- maybe someone with a buyer for your listing?
live classes have a much higher pass rate percentage (on the broker's exam) than the online classes

Is it Live or is it Memorex?

I love Active Rain and the online learning and interaction.

In your local market, I believe you need to get off the computer and get out and learn.

It's your choice to make, but when it comes down to it, I'll choose live, not Memorex!

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If you plan to purchase or sell a home in the Northern Virginia or D.C. area,
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Posted by Brian Block -- Northern Virginia & D.C. Real Estate on 11/11/2007 08:25 AM

Comments (38)

broker license, education, activerain, brian block, real estate, mortgage

38 Comments on Is it Live or is it Memorex? How do you learn real estate?

NOV

2007

I enjoy classes most of the time, once I am there. It is making the time that is difficult. I love activerain, because I have hands down learned more here than any class I have ever taken.

Brian,

I too have taken the plunge to get my Pennsylvania Broker's License......most if not all the mandatory and core courses are classroom only, and that is great. As you stated the interaction is good and allows to compare notes with local colleagues.

I am not opposed to on-line courses when prudent, and I can move my goal along a bit faster.

That being said, I do prefer the classroom whenever possible.

Brian, I love self-paced classes myself. They are much more efficient with my precious time and don't interfere with money production points in my schedule. I totally agree that leader led classes are the most enriching but they are very inefficient with your time. Active Rain serves my need for time efficiency and also going at a faster pace and wider array of subjects than narrow classes. Great analysis.

Good morning Brian. I prefer attending live classes when the material is new and challenging. If it's review or simply mandatory, I look hard for an online class so I can just get it over with. I'm about to spend a week at GRI and hope to come away inspired by the classes as well as the people I meet there.

It's funny - when I did my broker's license, the law part was fabulous. An old title attorney taught it and had a way that made all of the information stick. The financing was a total snooze! I gotta give to instructor kudos for being able to make it interesting.

BRIAN: Wow! Do you guys earn your broker's license in VA or what? I almost feel guilty for the one that I took. The class was filled with a bunch of dolts that could barely understand basic material. I got a 97 on the class test, and breezed right through the state test. Do you have to have a certain amount of transactions as well to qualify?

Brian, I agree. When I moved to NC, even with 15 years of experience I had to take 75 classroom hours, take the exam and then take another 90 classroom hours to get my Broker's license. Lots of hours but the interaction, ability to ask questions and great teacher resulted what I think is a clear understanding of the real estate process and laws in NC.

Brian, I'm glad to hear that you are getting your broker's license.

Personally, I'm in favor of much tougher standards for out industry. Classroom instruction is by far the best teaching method. Online classes with multiple choice tests requiring 70% (or even as low as 60%) just doesn't cut it.

Bill Roberts

Brian - I do manage to take a class every now and then but honestly at this point in my careeer (22 years), I have found Active Rain to be a fountain of knowledge. Some of the more valuable stuff has not even been purely Real Estate. I have learned quite a lot about SEO here as well as other spots in the blogosphere.

Brian, Congratulations on taking classes towards becoming a broker. I personally enjoy taking classes where a teacher can answer my questions and I can interact with other students.

Brian,

I have always learned the most by experiences. As you well know no 2 transactions are the same. With every unique transaction I would ask other Brokers/Lawyers ect. how to resolve the issue.

I have taken 2 broker's courses in 2 different states - I will admit that I did not get as much information as I would have liked. I have always thought that Local Brokers should have a monthly meeting to go over local real estate trends.

Or at least if we come across something we should warn and inform our peers via email or newsletter. Very similar to AR but on a local level.

The choice between online instruction and classroom courses may be a matter of differing learning styles for some. I have taught in Minnesota and Wisconsin and have encountered adults who absolutely can't stay awake in a classroom setting!

There are good online courses and there are crummy ones. NAR actually does a good job with its online quadrennial ethics course. The e-PRO course is not bad either.

Online is probably fine for CE and designation courses, but it's a bad idea for courses required to earn a license in the first place.

Brian,

Like Patricia, I had a memorable instructor for real estate law...it was one of the most impressionable courses I've ever taken! Thanks, Fran

Brian-That is fabulous! You are half full :) You are really an excellent example Brian. I would love to get my Broker's license in the future, but I'll tell you, that's only settled in as a dream. No wings yet.

For me, I personally prefer live classes. I love the interaction and when people are speaking I have to give them eye contact and focus. I learn so much more that way. Otherwise I find myself distracted. No Memorex for me.

Brian - First of all, congrats on finishing another course on your way to your broker's license. I remember the old Memorex commercials. I always thought they were cool when we were kids. Have a great Sunday!

MISSY: Thanks for your comment. Making time can often be difficult, but I don't think that you can compare an online class with an actual classroom setting when it comes to getting a designation or preparing for a licensing exam.

DAN: Thanks for your comments. I have taken online courses. In fact, I took my original agent licensing class online (the technology and course has probably improved in the last 6 years). However, when I compared the syllabus of my current broker class with the online offerings, the real classroom seemed like a better course. I don't regret it for a minute. I'm glad to hear that you are pursuing your broker's license as well.

NOV

2007

GARY: Thanks for your comments. I've taken online classes and agree that the self-paced classes are more efficient in terms of time, but I do think you miss out on much of the learning that goes on in the classroom setting and you don't get to interact with your peers. Active Rain is a totally different animal, but it just opens the floodgates of learning and interaction, and is not a structured course. Hey, that just gave me an idea!

JENNIFER: Thanks for your comments and viewpoint. I'd agree with you on your distinction. The GRI classes were quite good (we had them one a month for a year). The best classes by far have been the CRS designation courses and the current broker series.

PATRICIA: Thanks for your comments. Finance was quite interesting and worthwhile. The list of guest speakers for management looks great too. Starts this Thursday.

ADAM: Yep, we have 180 hours of classroom time for the Broker License, including a class test in each of the four sections. Additionally we have group projects in 3 of the 4 classes which require quite a bit of outside work. Each state has different requirements, but it seems that we have some of the more stringent ones here in Virginia. There is no transactional requirement for the license. You do have to have been an agent for at least 3 years before sitting for the license exam. Thanks for your comments.

Great post. I got my GRI,CRS and ABR in classroom settings.It was a great experience. This year I took my continuing education on line, to get it out of the way when the market was slow, but if there are some good courses I will in classroom setting I will take them as well. I believe in education.

DIANE: Thanks for your comments. In Virginia, it's 60 hours for the salesperson license and an additional 180 for the broker license. Our teacher also teaches the review course for the exam and said that the people taking her classroom broker classes consistently know the material much better than the people in the review course who took the online classes.

BILL R.: Thanks for your comments. I'm in favor for tougher standards as well and have read tons of posts on this subject in the past few months. Even our 180 hours of classroom time isn't really accurate. We meet from 9-4 with an hour lunch break for 24 weeks. That comes out to approx. 144 hours of instruction (minus a few coffee breaks). Classroom instruction is by far the best teaching method.

BILL G: I imagine that after 22 years, you've probably been to almost all the classes already. I'm glad that you've found Active Rain to be such a fountain of knowledge -- it truly is!

MANA: Thanks for your comments and the congrats.

REBECCA: Nothing beats experience for learning. You definitely learn by doing. And there is a whole lot less doing, from what I've experienced with some online courses. We do have some annual meetings held through our association where trends are discussed and our brokerage holds regular roundtables for the agents to discuss the market.

ERIC: I've taken the e-PRO course and SRES course online as well as my initial salesperson licensing. They've been okay, but in my opinion, nothing compares to the classroom. Thanks for your comments.

FRAN: Thanks for stopping by and commenting. I had three years of mostly interesting law professors. :)

JULIE: Thanks for your spirited comments. I appreciate your enthusiasm. I know that you are probably the star pupil in your classes!

JASON: Thanks for your comments and congratulations. The Memorex commercials were pretty cool, but I think even better were the Maxell commercials with the guy in the chair being blown away!

GITA: Thanks for your comments. I got each of those designations in the classroom as well and would have felt like I missed out had I not.

Brian - I am more of a memorex guy. Although I would venture a guess that there are many reading your blog that have no idea to your reference to the old Memorex commercials. Finance I am taking now is not too difficult, and you will find management to be a breeze.

NOV

2007

DALE: Thanks for your comment. I thought most everybody would remember those Memorex commercials -- maybe not. Have you taken appraisal or law yet?

NOV

2007

Brian- Where did you get that old memorex ad? That was pretty cool! I like to listen to CD's in my Mercedes University! Katerina

Brian- Sounds like you are almost there! Congrats on getting where you are presently. I enjoy all the types of education you have mentioned. In the passed year I have done quite a bit of each... I think with attending the classes I have retained more information than with the on-line. When I think of a particular class I attended, I remember the instuctor and the topics and a lot of what they taught. With online however, I seemed to blow through them to get them over with so I forget a lot of the material. I do like going at my own, quick, pace though. I will probably continue getting eduacation from wherever I can pull it. It is nice to see who the other motivated REALTORS in the area are when attending local and non-local courses. Good luck in getting your Brokers! I hope to be not far behind. It is my goal to have it in '08!! See you around!

KATERINA: Thanks for your comment. Must have found that ad scouring around on the internet late at night! I like to listen to CDs too, but my University is run by Jeep!

KIM: Thanks for your comments. I think you are right about the retained information being greater from the classroom classes as opposed to the online courses. I'm starting the Broker Management course this morning. Good luck with your educational pursuits for 2008.

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