Best Online Real Estate Schools in Michigan

Choosing a real estate school is the first big decision of your real estate career. The right school can prepare you to pass the real estate exam and launch your career! And the wrong school could be a source of serious frustration, even causing you to give up on your goal of becoming a licensed real estate professional.

When it comes to choosing among the best online real estate schools in Michigan, there are several factors to consider:

• Course curriculum: is the material engaging and memorable?
• Exam prep: will you be ready to pass your exam after completing your course?
• Coursework access: can you access your course materials on-the-go from your phone or tablet?
• Instructor access: will you be able to contact an instructor or real estate professional when you have questions about the course content?
• Affordability: does the real estate school offer good value for your financial investment in your education?

With those factors in mind, we’ve ranked the best online real estate schools in Michigan.

Here are the Best Online Real Estate Schools in Michigan:

1. AceableAgent
2. Colibri Real Estate
3. The CE Shop
4. Kaplan (KAPRE)
5. RealEstateU

1. AceableAgent

If you haven’t heard of AceableAgent before today, that’s because we’re fairly new to Michigan. But that doesn’t mean we don’t have an outstanding track record in other states. AceableAgent started in Texas in 2012 and has boasted some of the highest real estate exam pass rates in the state ever since. You may think it’s presumptuous of us to claim the top spot on our list of the best online real estate schools in Michigan, but when you see what AceableAgent has to offer, we think you’ll agree that AceableAgent is objectively the best online real estate school in Michigan.

Our claim to be the best starts with our curriculum. AceableAgent courses have been created by a team of veteran real estate experts, Harvard-educated instructional designers, and professional writers, resulting in the best curriculum in the industry.

But the way the curriculum is presented might be even more impressive. Instead of offering digital textbooks as PDFs for you to struggle through, we created interactive course materials, designed with smartphones and tablets in mind. In fact, AceableAgent is the first real estate school in the country to offer mobile-first coursework. You can access your coursework directly from your phone, tablet, laptop, or home computer, and because your courses sync across all your devices, you’ll always be able to pick up where you left off, whether you’re settling into a study session at home or making good use of your time waiting in line at the grocery store.

We’re also proud to offer exam prep and access to instructors with every course, at no additional charge. If you see a real estate school offering a lower price than AceableAgent, check to see if their price includes exam prep and access to instructors before thinking they’re offering the better deal. Because exam prep and instructor access are included, we’re so confident you’ll pass your real estate exam that we’ll give you a full course refund if you can’t pass in three tries.

But don’t take our word for it. Check out Trustpilot, Google Reviews, and Facebook Reviews to see what AceableAgent’s students are saying about their experience.

Where AceableAgent excels: Including exam prep and access to instructors in the affordable course prices sets students up for success and leads to more students passing the real estate exam (which is why we offer our Ace or Don’t Pay Guarantee). Combine this with the world-class interactive curriculum and innovative mobile-first course design, and you can see why AceableAgent consistently gets rave reviews from students.

Where AceableAgent could use a little work: Because AceableAgent is comparatively new to the Michigan market, we’re not a big name there yet. And it will take a little time for AceableAgent to complete the course design for continuing education courses in Michigan.

2. Colibri Real Estate

Colibri Real Estate, formerly Real Estate Express, has offered real estate classes since 1996 and currently offers online courses in more than 30 states. Having been around for so long and in so many states, Colibri Real Estate is among the most well-known online real estate schools in the country.

Colibri Real Estate is known for providing a reliable customer experience. Students can choose their courses online, enroll quickly, and access the course materials easily. While Colibri Real Estate doesn’t directly provide continuing education courses in Michigan, they do offer these courses through their partner, McKissock Learning.

The learning experience generally works well for people who learn best by reading a textbook. The coursework is well-written, but it is essentially a digitized textbook with comparatively little student interaction. So if you require more engagement to make the course content memorable, Colibri Real Estate might not be the best fit for you.

The only major downside is that exam prep and access to instructors is not included in the base-price package. You’ll need to upgrade to the Exam Preparation Plus package to get these critical educational elements. Colibri Real Estate's normal rates, that will cost you around $125 more than the basic package, and even at discounted rates, it’ll be around $90 more than the basic package.

Where Colibri Real Estate excels: Colirbi Real Estate is well-established with one of the most recognizable names in online real estate schools.

Where Colibri Real Estate could use a little work: Creating engaging course materials that prepare you for the real estate exam. As one Trustpilot reviewer noted, “The course content will never help you with the exam.”

3. The CE Shop

The CE Shop comes in close behind real estate express. It doesn’t offer the name recognition of real estate express, but The CE Shop is among the fastest-growing real estate schools, and it boasts exceptionally high exam pass rates. According to the company website, its Michigan salesperson pass rate is an impressive 94%.

The coursework is interactive, and most students are satisfied with their experience with The CE Shop. Unfortunately, like most other online real estate schools in Michigan, The CE Shop doesn’t include test prep in their base-level package. You’ll need to pay an extra $60 at retail rates (or around $45 at discounted rates) just for the exam prep. Compare this to AceableAgent, which includes exam prep in the cost of the course and even guarantees that you’ll pass the exam in three attempts, or you get your money back.

The biggest complaint among students of The CE Shop on Trustpilot is the short course windows. Michigan students have only six months to complete their pre-license course. If the course is not complete by then, a one-month extension will be granted free of charge, but all subsequent months will cost 20% of the current retail price for the course.

Where The CE Shop excels: The CE Shop has high exam pass rates (just make sure you purchase the more expensive package that includes exam prep).

Where The CE Shop could use a little work: The CE Shop charges extra for exam prep and gives students only seven months to complete the course before being charged to extend the course timeframe.

4. Kaplan (KAPRE)

Kaplan Real Estate Education (often just called KAPRE) is actually more popular in Michigan than The CE Shop, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the better option.

KAPRE has the distinct advantage of serving a wide audience as part of Kaplan Inc. KAPRE offers online real estate courses in all 50 states, and offers courses for brokers, appraisers, and home inspectors as well. So KAPRE is more widely known than The CE Shop. But it falls behind when it comes to curriculum and service.

The curriculum is dated. A quick look at the Kaplan website shows that their online user experience has not been updated in several years. And the Trustpilot reviews indicate that KAPRE’s customer service could use some work.

On a positive note, KAPRE offers practice exam questions through an online test engine, which can help prepare students for the exam far better than the pre-license course itself. Yes, you still have to pay extra for exam prep with KAPRE, but only around $20 extra, so it’s not quite as expensive as other online real estate schools in Michigan.

Where Kaplan excels: Kaplan offers a wide range of real estate industry licensure courses in all 50 states. And while you still pay extra for exam prep, it’s not an overly expensive add-on.

Where Kaplan could use a little work: Kaplan’s tech and curriculum are dated, and students are quick to call out the less-than-impressive customer service.

5. RealEstateU

Founded in 2013, RealEstateU is another newcomer to Michigan’s online real estate school scene. RealEstateU earned a spot on our list of the best online real estate schools in Michigan because of its innovative audio course design and its affordable rates.

RealEstateU courses are primarily audio, so if you learn best from hearing content rather than seeing or experiencing it, RealEstateU might be a great fit for you. You can consume your course content while driving, exercising, or doing chores around the house.

And because RealEstateU doesn’t have to create lots of print content, it is able to keep course rates low. RealEstateU is among the most affordable online real estate schools in Michigan.

The downside is that RealEstateU doesn’t work well for visual learners. There are some supplementary visual materials, but most of the coursework is presented as audio, so you may struggle to retain the information if you prefer to read your content.

The audio format also makes studying difficult since you can’t easily bookmark or highlight certain sections for later review. And you can’t look up the answers to practice questions easily in the audio format.

Where RealEstateU excels: RealEstateU offers innovative audio courses and is one of the most affordable online real estate schools in Michigan.

Where RealEstateU could use a little work: The course material doesn’t work well for visual learners.

Enroll Today!

Your real estate career starts with your pre-license real estate courses. Enroll in your course through one of the best online real estate schools in Michigan today!