Knowledge is what separates highly successful real estate agents from average real estate agents. The more you know, the better equipped you’ll be to serve clients under many circumstances in a multitude of situations. Real estate agents need to learn something new every day. Trends, laws, and markets constantly evolve, and positioning yourself at the forefront will push you ahead of your competition.
These free real estate classes and educational opportunities will provide you with the knowledge you need to succeed. Best of all, you can start using these tools right now.
1. Listen to Podcasts
Podcasts aren’t necessarily classes, but they have the potential to be just as helpful. The Tim and Julie Harris podcast covers lead generation, tips for buying agents, tips for listing homes effectively, business planning, and even the mindset and motivation real estate agents need to succeed. We regularly interview top producers who share their wealth of knowledge with hopeful real estate agents looking to make a name for themselves in the area they serve.
The best thing about learning from podcasts is how easy it is to learn just as effectively as you would from a lecture. Real estate agents spend a lot of time commuting. It doesn’t take any additional effort to listen to a podcast instead of the radio when you’re on the road.
Every moment you spend in your car, working out at the gym, cleaning the house, or cooking dinner can serve as a dual opportunity for learning.
Listen to podcasts on every topic, or focus on the areas where you feel you need the most help. If you’re great at crafting perfect listings but struggle with lead generation, start where you’ll gain the most knowledge. Use the tips and insights you’ve received to fortify your current strategy or create a better strategy that will improve your chances of success.
2. Work with a Mentor
Many new real estate agents will find a mentor or a more experienced agent through their brokerage. This situation often works as an internship. You’ll work alongside an experienced and accomplished real estate agent who has already developed a recipe for success in your local area. You’ll have ample opportunity to make observations and ask questions.
Although working with a mentor is unlikely to stack your bank account or help you pay your bills, it’s the closest thing to real-time one-on-one training that most real estate agents will ever experience. Your real estate courses taught you laws, rules, and regulations. Your mentor teaches you how to apply them to your everyday life while peppering in experience-based knowledge.
3. Use Free Online Educational Courses to Fill Your Knowledge Gaps
The required courses for real estate only teach you the things you’re legally required to know in order to help clients buy or sell their properties. They don’t prepare you for all the other skills you’ll need to develop to succeed.
Real estate agents have to be excellent writers and even better photographers. They need to design graphics, maintain their websites, run effective advertising campaigns, brand themselves, navigate social media, and negotiate deals. This is learning you’ll need to do at your own pace, and you don’t necessarily need to pay for university courses to get the information that you need.
Free online courses are everywhere. Massive open online courses are often offered to the public for low to no cost. Some of them offer certificates of completion for free or for a small fee. These courses are self-guided and peer evaluated. They’re usually comprehensive and highly specific.
Remember: you don’t have to have a degree or a formal education in these areas. You only need to know what you’re doing. If you can take a self-guided approach to learning these skills for free or cheap, it certainly won’t hurt.
4. Check Your State’s Continuing Education Resources
Some states provide free additional educational resources to licensed real estate agents after they’ve passed their required courses. These courses contain information that the state or the federal government doesn’t mandate that real estate agents learn but would still benefit from knowing.
Not every state offers these courses. Check in with your local real estate regulatory board and ask them about free optional education. Some of these resources will be provided exclusively online, while others teach real estate agents in a lecture setting.
5. Watch Experts Talk
YouTube is an educational goldmine when you’re looking in the right places. Real estate experts and top producing agents often have their own channels where they share information. Sometimes, they contribute to other channels that cover a broad array of topics like success or marketing. If you click around long enough, you’ll be able to find all the information you need.
The best part? Their tips will likely work for you. The chances are slim that the real estate agent you’re learning from works in the same real estate market you do. If you absorb as much information as you can before other real estate agents in your area do, you’ll own the playing field with expert information. Get to it first.
6. Read Books
Books don’t have to cost money. Even though they’re usually inexpensive, if you have an unlimited service for audiobooks or eBooks, you can download as many as you want with your plan. Many people find audiobooks more convenient because they keep their hands free. Listen while you fold the laundry or walk the dog.
Whether you prefer to read or listen, you’ll have access to on-demand information about real estate topics you’d like to learn a little more about. You’ll be able to take notes or save passages that you find particularly useful or revisit your books when you need a refresher.
Harris Rules: A Real Estate Agent’s Practical, No-BS, Step-by-Step Guide to Becoming Rich and Free by Tim and Julie Harris is a definitive compendium of everything real estate agents need to know. It debunks subpar practices and cuts straight to the heart of the matter on a wide variety of real estate topics and strategies.
7. Attend Events Held by Other Real Estate Agents
You can walk right into an open house and watch the way the agent shows the property and speaks to potential buyers. Many real estate agents never think to do that, but it could prove to be one of the most useful learning experiences for selling agents. While you’re there, you might even meet an interested buyer who would benefit from your services. It’s an educational opportunity and a business opportunity in one shot.
If you see a local real estate agent holding a seminar for first-time home-buyers (or any other similar event), sit in. Pay close attention to the way they explain things and present scenarios; take note of the language they use. You might learn a thing or two about crafting a pitch or motivating people to buy.
Should You Pay for Real Estate Classes?
General information is wonderful, especially if it’s free. You should seek to collect as much free information as possible. You’ll find plenty of helpful tips, new perspectives, and unique strategies that you can apply to your career. There’s just one problem.
Free lectures and resources aren’t designed for you. They’re designed for the general public. There is no interactive exchange. You don’t have the opportunity to ask questions or discuss your specific challenges or goals. If you’re having trouble in a specific area, there’s no guarantee that the free information you find will lead to a useful solution.
Since there is no college degree for real estate agents or elective courses for specific areas of real estate, this makes obtaining formal education somewhat difficult. Many real estate agents would benefit from market-tested resources and regular correspondence with a coach or an educator, but there aren’t very many places to get such specific instruction.
That’s why utilizing both approaches is best. Using a “some of column A, some of column B” approach will allow you to obtain a wealth of knowledge, apply it directly to your career, and get extra help where you need it.
Get Real Estate Coaching
Harris Real Estate University is designed to provide coaching to real estate agents in all areas of expertise and at any level of skill. Our coaching programs provide real estate agents with a massive library of resources and information they can browse at their leisure.
One-on-one calls with real estate coaches help you to describe your goals and obstacles while receiving individualized help from Harris Certified coaches.
You can schedule a free coaching consultation to learn more about how you would benefit from Harris Real Estate University.
Sources
What Traditional Lectures Can Learn From Podcasts | Journal of Graduate Medical Education
Who’s Benefiting from MOOCs, and Why | Harvard Business Review
Audiobooks for Adult Literacy? It’s Not a Myth! | ProLiteracy
