Best Books for New Real Estate Agents

As real estate agents, you’ll want to kick-start your careers on the right foot and set the most ambitious goals. Building a solid network and lasting relationships with clients might be one of the things you should be proficient in, but there’s more to it than that. Here are some books that can lay the groundwork for a successful real estate career:

Best Real Estate Sales & Marketing Books for Agents

No matter how successful you think you are at selling properties, there’s always room for growth. These real estate marketing books will teach you lead generation strategies, continuously refine your skills, and help you stand out from the competition.

Best Professional Development Books for Realtors

Never-ending learning for personal and professional growth is essential to be successful in the industry. In this section, I’ll outline the best books for real estate agents on improving your time management, communication and negotiation skills, maintaining focus, and more. Even if you decide to switch careers in the future, these books will still apply to you.

Best Books for Realtors About Growing Your Business

Growing your business ten years ago isn’t the same as growing it now. You probably have more competitors today compared to five or ten years ago. Building and expanding your business requires strategic planning, innovation, and focus. And with that, here are some of the top real estate books offering actionable advice, proven strategies, and inspiration for scaling your business.

Best Real Estate Investing Books

Diving into investing is a powerful way to build long-term wealth and diversify your income. You can use your industry knowledge and network to identify profitable investment opportunities. If you want to be on the other side of real estate, here are some of the best investing books that offer expert advice and proven techniques to help you succeed.

FAQs: Best Books for Real Estate Agents

Can you suggest books for realtors looking to specialize in a particular niche?

Which books can keep agents informed about the latest real estate market trends?

Which books focus on communication skills for agents?

Bringing It All Together

From books on how to be a real estate agent to books about investing, there’s no limit to the amount of information and skills you can gain from reading. Have you read any books from our list? What are your top books for real estate agents? Recommend your favorites to us in the comments!

The post The 25 Best Books for Real Estate Agents in 2024 appeared first on The Close.

I took McKissock Learning out for a test drive and am ready to offer my opinion on the learning platform, features, and pricing. I also have a few alternatives if McKissock Learning doesn’t sound like the right fit for your education needs.

The Close Score

Pros

• Flexible schedules
• Live online classes in some states
• Experienced instructors
• Focus on professional development
• Under Colibri umbrella, all your education records are in one place

Cons

• Expensive
• No in-person instruction

The Close Score

4.8

Value:

4.0

Customer Service:

5.0

Student Experience:

5.0

Features:

5.0

Reputation:

5.0

out
of

5

My Verdict on McKissock Learning

McKissock Learning is one of the best continuing education providers in the industry because it views CE as more than just checking a box—it’s an opportunity to learn, grow, and develop as a professional. If you’re already a Colibri student (they are under the same brand and it’s helpful to keep all of your education in one place), or you’re the over-achiever type, McKissock is the ideal CE partner for you.

It’s not for everyone as they tend to be more expensive than other CE providers, but their packages are so packed with features (extra webinars, access to top-notch instructors, informational videos, and a learning library with job aides like scripts and worksheets) that it’s much more than just CE—it’s an investment in your career.

What Is McKissock Learning?

Founded in 1990, McKissock Learning has provided premier online real estate education to more than 2 million professionals. In 2014, McKissock joined several other real estate education providers under the Colibri umbrella of brands. Colibri Real Estate handles prelicensing for salespeople and brokers and McKissock focuses on continuing education. The flexible, online courses are interesting, easy to complete, and come with a slew of additional features. Plus, the instructors are top-notch and have crucial real-world experience. 

McKissock Pricing

Because each state has such varied requirements, McKissock’s pricing can be a little complicated. Also, CE courses can be taken a la carte, which can make McKissock’s packages hard to compare to other providers. 

McKissock’s CE Plus is really a membership that gives students access to all of the CE courses. Instead of picking and choosing the electives in the a la carte option, students have access to every single CE course as well as the bulk discount. You’ll also get access to webinars and a toolkit for educating clients. Finally, you can get extra training in sales, negotiation, marketing, and technology, as well as discounts on other professional training resources. 

The package prices are slightly higher than comparable schools like The CE Shop and Kaplan, but about on par for the individual classes. Here are the price breakdowns for California, New York, and Texas to give you an idea of what you might pay. 

Key Standout Features

The McKissock Learning system is ideal for busy professionals who need a flexible, online course. In many states, students can choose between a live-online option or a correspondence-style course that they complete at their own pace, and sometimes it’s a mix of both. In California, for example, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) courses are livestreamed but the rest of the CE courses are correspondence style. 

Experienced Instructors

Over the years, McKissock has gained a reputation for providing quality education through experienced instructors. While other schools also brag about their instructors, it’s rare to get actual insight into the faculty and their qualifications. Here’s a glimpse at the quality of instructors that McKissock retains:

• Mel Black is a licensed broker, appraiser, and attorney, holds two graduate degrees in education, and is the vice chair of the North Carolina Real Estate Commission.
• Tom Lundstedt is a former professional baseball player, current real estate coach, and expert on real estate investment and taxation. He subscribes to the “laugh and learn” approach to teaching and is sure to offer plenty of baseball puns.
• Jeremias Maneiro specializes in professional development and has over 15 years of experience in coaching through his JMan Seminars, which are part of the CE Plus membership packages.

Professional Development

McKissock’s value proposition is providing a whole host of features within its continuing education packages. Their CE Plus memberships are perfect for professionals who want to use CE as an opportunity to grow in their careers, instead of rushing through the course because their CE hours are due next week. 

Imagine you need to fulfill seven hours of elective courses (if you’re in Texas, for example). You could choose two and get your requirement done. But what if several courses look interesting? Maybe you want to learn more about fair housing, helping buyers find their dream home, get market insights, and get a crash course in working with investors. With the membership you get access to every CE course in your state. So while you might not have to take all of those courses, you can take as many as you want. 

The single-state CE Plus membership includes:

• All of the CE courses required for your state at a discounted price
• Pro-Series webinar on-demand library
• Toolkits for educating homebuyers and sellers
• How-to videos
• 100-plus job aids: worksheets, scripts, and checklists
• Product and service discounts
• Knowledgeable education specialists

It’s also possible to purchase a multi-state package that would include all of the CE courses required for any of the states in which you hold a license, a really excellent value. If the packages are not what you’re looking for, you can always take your required CE courses a la carte. 

McKissock Alternatives 

If McKissock Learning doesn’t sound like the right fit for you and your continuing education needs, consider one of our other top picks:

The Bottom Line: Is McKissock Learning Worth the Money?

Yes. If you’re the type of agent who loves to dig deep into real estate content, soak up webinars and video seminars, sharpen your skills with worksheets and scripts, and engage with top real estate education thought leaders, you’re going to get the most out of McKissock Learning. 

But even if you’re not that agent, the a la carte options makes CE courses affordable and you still get the excellent instructors and flexible online schedule. Plus, you’d be part of the Colibri group of brands, which means that all of your real estate education could be all in one place for easy reporting to your state licensing board. In fact, if your state allows automatic submission of test scores and class attendance, Colibri will take care of all of that for you.

Methodology: Why You Can Trust My Review

To ensure that all our readers land on one of the best real estate continuing education providers, I evaluated McKissock Learning based on:

• Value and pricing
• Customer support
• Course offerings
• Career support
• Usability
• Instructor access
• Web and mobile interface
• Accreditations

Read more about our methodology here.

Bringing It All Together

Do you have experience with McKissock Learning? Have any questions, comments, or advice for McKissock students? Leave us a note below! 

The post McKissock Learning Review: Pricing, Features, Pros & Cons appeared first on The Close.

Many agents approach this task as an afterthought, just wanting to cross it off their list. But if you choose wisely, you can also gain some valuable knowledge in the process. We’re sharing our five top online real estate continuing education providers for you to choose from—highlighting our favorite features and the states in which they operate.

Every State’s Continuing Education Requirements

Not sure about your state’s real estate continuing education requirements? Our handy tool below can help you determine how many CE hours you need and how often you need them.

5 Best Real Estate Continuing Education Providers in 2023

(Continuing education providers’ typical price per course as of August 2023)

Best Overall Real Estate Continuing Education Provider: McKissock Learning

• Available in: All states
• Typical price per CE course: $19-$24
• Packages or subscriptions available?: Yes

McKissock Learning is our top pick for real estate continuing education because they offer a fantastic combination of class variety and excellent support for students.

Our Favorite McKissock Learning Features

• 50-state coverage: McKissock is a powerhouse in the real estate industry, enabling them to offer continuing education coverage to everyone.
• Instructor email support: Communicate directly and seamlessly with your instructor to ask questions, get clarification, and further your learning. If you are new to online learning, this is a very helpful tool.
• Live chat with other students: If you are the sort who learns as much from your peers as you do from the instruction, McKissock’s live student chat feature is perfect for you. Chat with other students in real time about your experience, your questions, and the parts of the material you find most helpful.
• Exportable notes: Using McKissock’s note-taking function, you can compile the notes you’ve taken during your course and export them—perfect if you are learning things you want to apply to your business right away.

Bottom Line on McKissock Learning

McKissock Learning offers a constantly growing library of continuing education options. Between its class variety, instructor accessibility, and platform features, this is a great choice for anyone looking for reliable real estate continuing education, year after year.

Enroll in McKissock Learning

Best for Real Estate Agents Looking for Class Variety: The CE Shop

• Available in: All states
• Typical price per CE course: $25-$45
• Packages or subscriptions available?: Yes

The CE Shop offers the largest selection of real estate continuing education topics and classes of any provider on our list, giving real estate agents lots of interesting ways to fulfill their requirements and learn something in the process.

Our Favorite CE Shop Features

• Offline study options: Most online platforms require you to have a screen open if you want to learn and complete your CE hours. Though you need to log on to fulfill your requirements, The CE Shop offers study material you can print and review offline to supplement your learning.
• Built-in assessments: Though it might seem basic, a lot of continuing education platforms forget to do one thing: check to see if you’ve learned what you’re supposed to. Since most of the classes you take for continuing education don’t require a passing grade in order to get credit, they will often leave out assessments, even though they’re critical to spot-checking your learning. 
• Pick up where you left off: The CE Shop’s platform is specifically designed to allow you to take your classes in bite-sized chunks, pausing partway through and picking up where you left off. While most providers will allow you to pause and restart lessons at chapter breaks, The CE Shop allows you to do so on any page, regardless of how far you’ve gotten through a particular section.
• Volume discounts: For those real estate agents with licenses in multiple states, The CE Shop offers a discount for continuing education courses if you’re going to be buying for more than one state.

Bottom Line on The CE Shop

If you live in California, Texas, Florida, or any state that requires a lot of continuing education, access to bulk discounts, a variety of CE classes, and an easy-to-use dashboard is critical. The CE Shop checks all these boxes and will meet all of your continuing education needs as a Realtor.

Enroll in The CE Shop and save 35% with our code “TheClose35”

Best for Agents Who Want Video on Demand: Kaplan

• Available in: AL, AZ, AR, CA, CO, GA, IL, IA, KY, MI, MN, MO, NV, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OH, OR, PA, SC, TN, TX, VA, WA
• Typical price per CE course: $19-$29
• Packages or subscriptions available?: Yes

Kaplan has been a household name in test preparation and professional accreditation for over 30 years. They bring that experience and expertise to the real estate continuing education space with a tried-and-true instructional approach. Kaplan has great options for professionals who want a full-on video experience or prefer a more self-paced, text-based approach.

Our Favorite Kaplan Features

• Course demos: Sometimes all you need is a chance to peek inside a course to tell if it is helpful for you, and Kaplan offers that with course demos on their most popular continuing education content.
• Instructor communication: Kaplan has long been known for its instructors, and it leverages that advantage by providing students direct email access to the course creators, as well as an option to schedule phone calls to discuss further questions.
• Real-world video content: Kaplan’s videos take students out into the field, simulating the process of interviewing and interacting with actual agents who are dealing with real-world issues that revolve around the continuing education course. These videos aren’t just translations of the text-based courses—they go above and beyond.
• 24/7 technical support: If you’re having trouble accessing your continuing education material, Kaplan provides 24/7 phone and email support, which can come in handy if you’re racing the clock to finish and submit your CE requirements.

Bottom Line on Kaplan

If you’re the sort of learner who likes to choose how you consume content, Kaplan is a great place to go for your real estate continuing education needs.

Enroll in Kaplan and save 5% with our code “Kapre5”

Best for Agents on a Budget: 360training

• Available in: AL, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, IN, KS, LA, MI, MN, MS, MO, MT, NE, NV, NJ, NY, NC, OH, OK, OR, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA
• Typical price per CE course: $25-$30
• Packages or subscriptions available?: Yes

With 360training’s CE packages, you can fulfill your entire CE requirement at about $10 an hour, a practically unbeatable price. We also really like how 360training has made the CE experience easy and flexible. After all, you probably want to be out there building your real estate business, not taking classes.

Our Favorite 360training Features

• Ease of use: The 360training website and interface are clean, modern, and easy to use. The course offerings and packages are straightforward and the classes are easy to navigate. They even submit your course requirements to the appropriate state licensing board. 
• Learners for life: 360training has taught more than 3 million students and prides itself on serving “learners for life.” It’s constantly improving its content and adding animations, videos, downloads, quizzes, and instructor-led sections.
• Bargain pricing: Though most of the continuing education courses feature competitive pricing, 360training also offers some seriously discounted options perfect for real estate agents on a budget or in need of a single course hour.
• Customer support: Not all online schools offer live support seven days a week, but 360training does. Problems or questions? They pride themselves on their quick response rates and accessibility. 

Bottom Line on 360training

If you’re looking for the lowest-priced real estate continuing education experience that is easy to use with strong customer service, 360training is a great option.

Enroll in 360training

Best for Real Estate Agents in Texas: Aceable Agent

• Available in: Georgia, New York, and Texas
• Typical price per CE course: $26
• Packages or subscriptions available?: Yes

Aceable Agent offers prelicensing options for soon-to-be real estate agents in multiple states across the country. In terms of continuing education, this Austin-based company coordinates directly with the Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) to offer continuing education that meets the state’s specific standards every single year. 

They’re working with other real estate commissions across the country and already have partnerships with Kaplan in Georgia and New York, so expect to see Aceable Agent options in other places soon too.

Our Favorite Aceable Agent Features

• Particularly mobile-friendly: Just like their prelicensing product, Aceable Agent offers continuing education options that not only work on mobile devices—they’re designed for mobile devices. Yes, they also look great on desktop too, but if you want to knock out your CE on your commute every day, this is the place to do it.
• Endorsed by the TREC: All of the content on Aceable Agent is endorsed as CE-friendly by the Texas Real Estate Commission, ensuring that none of your hard work will go to waste.
• Interactive content: Aceable Agent’s mantra for continuing education is “no more boring PDFs.” They live that ideal with interactive content, great videos, and easy-to-digest formats, especially for mobile users.
• Great prices: The fact that you can knock out your entire 18-hour CE requirement for less than $90 is pretty amazing and something Texans won’t likely find anywhere else.

Bottom Line on Aceable Agent

Aceable Agent’s partnerships with Kaplan and TREC make them a great choice for agents and brokers alike, and their package deal for all 18 hours of a Texas agent’s CE can’t be beat.

Enroll in Aceable Agent and save 25%

How We Selected the Best Continuing Education Providers for Real Estate

To ensure that all our readers land on one of the best real estate continuing education providers, our team at The Close evaluated the schools based on course offerings, cost, usability, instructor access, web and mobile interface, and more. Read more about our methodology.

Best Real Estate Continuing Education Providers: FAQs

Still have a few questions about your CE? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Here are some of the most frequently asked questions about real estate continuing education.

How many hours of continuing education do real estate agents need?

Why do real estate agents need continuing education?

How do I check my CE credits for real estate?

Is real estate continuing education tax-deductible?

Bringing It All Together

Your continuing education doesn’t have to be boring or unproductive. Use this time to learn about your business, educate yourself on the issues that are most important to your clients, and do it on your own schedule with the convenience of an online continuing education provider.

Curious about leveling up your real estate license? We’ve got a great guide on some of the top real estate designations to consider, plus a handy comparison of all the differences between real estate agents and brokers if you think you might be ready to consider getting a broker’s license.

The post The 5 Best Real Estate Continuing Education Providers appeared first on The Close.

That’s why I was thrilled to get a chance to review Ryan Serhant’s new course, Sell It Like Serhant: How to Build Your Personal Brand. The course promises to teach agents the personal brand-building secrets Ryan learned while I was busy renting out 5th-floor walk-ups on Avenue A. But does it deliver on that promise? Can you really learn how to build a brand like Ryan’s?

What This Review Covers

Course: Sell It Like Serhant: How to Build Your Personal Brand
Pricing for May 2022: $997
Experience level: 0-10+ years
Best for: Mid-level – experienced agents
Topics covered: Personal branding
The Close Score: 4.9 (out of 5)

The Pitch: What This Course Promises to Teach Agents

Pricing: Is the Sell It Like Serhant Personal Branding Course Worth $997?

Is This “Brand Strategy System” an Actual System? Will It Work for Most Agents?

Who This Course Is Best For: Potential ROI & Drawbacks

The Pitch: What This Course Promises to Teach Agents

The Sell It Like Serhant: How to Build Your Personal Brand course pitches itself as an actionable, step-by-step plan showing Realtors how to build and promote a powerful personal brand using what they call the Serhant Brand Strategy System. This system is based on the strategies Ryan Serhant used to build his own renowned brand.

Pricing: Is the Sell It Like Serhant Personal Branding Course Worth $997?

For most agents, the answer is a resounding yes. I do think the Sell It Like Serhant: How to Build Your Personal Brand course is worth the price. Here’s why: First, unlike other top-tier real estate courses, this course is taught by people who have seen incredible success in the fields they teach. It is also highly actionable, engaging, and incredibly well-produced. It’s not cheap, but you get more for your money, and arguably a better potential return on investment (ROI) than you do from many other real estate courses.

Here’s four reasons why I think this course is worth the money:

1. The Teachers Have All Walked the Walk (& Then Some)

One of the dirtiest secrets in the real estate coaching world is that many of the most famous coaches in the industry have never worked as real estate agents. I won’t name names here, but if you’ve shopped around for a coach, you can probably name more than one.

That’s a big reason why this course stands out in a sea of expensive real estate courses promising agents the world. The teachers have all walked the walk. Have a look at their qualifications to see what I mean:

Ryan Serhant

The Core Identity section of the course is taught by Ryan himself. If you’re reading this, or if you have had eyeballs for the last few years, then you already know how wildly successful Ryan has been at building a personal real estate brand. In the intro to this article, I argued that he built the most successful personal brand in the history of real estate, and I stand by that. I challenge you to find any agent anywhere with a more recognized personal brand. 

He’s also a highly engaging teacher. His energy is infectious, and the delivery of the course is logical, easy to follow, and highly actionable. Basically, everything you want in a real estate course

Tyler Mount

The Consistent Content section of the course is taught by Tyler Mount, Brand Strategy & Social Media Consultant for SERHANT. Tyler has managed digital campaigns for Biden for America, NBC, Playbill, IBM, Hilton Hotels, Sofitel, T-Mobile, the Tony Awards, the Grammy Awards, and the Olivier Awards. He’s also won numerous awards in his career, including two Tony Awards, a Grammy Award, an Olivier Award, two Outer Critics Circle Awards, two Drama League Awards, a Drama Desk Award, and a GLAAD Media Award.

So when Tyler tells you a brand-building or social media strategy works, you can rest assured he is speaking from deep professional experience.

Alyssa Garnick

The Shout It From the Mountaintop section of the course is taught by Alyssa Garnick, founder of Agean Public Relations and a consultant for the SERHANT. brokerage. Alyssa has spent 25 years working with the world’s largest brands, generating ideas, integrated campaigns, and results. She is also skilled at leveraging pop culture and trends and is an award-winning PR strategist and campaign architect.

Alyssa’s section of the course focuses on sharing your newly built brand with the world, and as a consummate PR professional, like Tyler, she also speaks from deep professional experience.

2. It’s Not Cheap, But You Get What You Pay For

This course is not exactly cheap at $997, but comparable to other high-end courses from famous real estate coaches who have never even worked as agents… When you consider this course could easily become the very foundation of your real estate career, the potential ROI becomes clearer.

This is also not a “sit back and watch” kind of course. It is designed for you to actually do the work. Paying a serious amount of money might make you more likely to take the work seriously. Learning is great, but if you actually want to build a brand, you need to act.

3. It Includes More Content Than Many Other Top-tier Real Estate Courses

This course shines due to the sheet value of what’s included in it. A lot of expensive real estate courses include videos, workbooks, and access to mastermind groups. Only a handful of them are as well produced and actionable as this course (more on this later). Here’s what you get for your money:

• 55 chapters, 5+ hours of content

• 72-page brand strategy workbook

• 30 days of access to a Sell It Like Serhant Private Membership

4. The Secret Sauce: The Serhant Brand Strategy System

Of course, you’re probably not plunking down almost a thousand dollars just because the teachers have experience and offer a lot of content. You want to to be assured that their strategies will work for you, right?

Well, as someone who has spent the last five years obsessing over real estate branding and talking to some of the most qualified branding experts in the industry, I can say this: Yeah, I think the secret sauce here lives up to the hype.

Is This ‘Brand Strategy System’ an Actual System? Will It Work for Most Agents?

If you’re a natural skeptic like I am, you’re probably saying to yourself, “Yeah, he starred in a freaking hit TV show! This ‘system’ only worked for him!” I hear you, but you’re wrong.  This is indeed an actual system and one that any agent can leverage to build a powerful personal brand. Sure, you could spend a few years like I did hunting down the rough outlines of this system, but do you have years? How will you separate the bad advice from the gold?

Here’s how I see this system working for agents at different levels of their careers:

Who This Course Is Best For: Potential ROI & Drawbacks

The Potential ROI for New Agents

While admittedly some of the advice in this course is common sense for someone who has been living, eating, and sleeping real estate branding as I have for the last five years, it won’t be common sense for new agents. The experience level of the teachers, the quality of the course and workbook, and the actionable nature of the course make it an incredibly compelling career foundation for new agents.

It’s also important to remember that building a great brand is not something you can create in an afternoon. A great brand can take weeks or months to build and years to refine. It’s also an ongoing process. Your personal brand will evolve and grow as your career does. Of course, without a strong foundation, you will be building on sand.

Drawbacks for New Agents

While contributor Sean Moudry and I have been bullish on the importance of agents building brands early in their careers, some strategies in the course will be difficult for them to use right away. For example, the Shout It From the Mountaintop section of the course focuses heavily on strategies to get press. This can be an uphill battle for new agents. It’s still a great long-term strategy, but building the credibility to get regular press can take a long time.

The Potential ROI for Mid-level Agents

While getting started on your personal brand early is important, I think mid-level agents will get the best ROI from this course. Mid-level agents will have a few years of experience under their belts, so they’ll have a better idea of how they approach real estate, and what their niche could and should be.

Unlike experienced agents, they are less likely to have an established personal brand that isn’t working for them. That means they can start fresh, but with some experience to get the ball rolling faster.

Mid-level agents will also have a much easier time using all the strategies to get press that are outlined in the Shout It From the Mountaintop section of the course.

Drawbacks for Mid-level Agents

Beyond the relatively high price, I don’t think there are any drawbacks to this course for mid-level agents. If you want to build a personal brand, this is the course to take.

The Potential ROI for Experienced Agents

There is enough proprietary gold dust in the course to justify even the most experienced agents signing up. They have the most experience to roll over into their personal brands, and have a much clearer understanding of their value proposition in the market. All it takes is a little refinement to build a killer brand and this course is a great way to do that.

Drawbacks for Experienced Agents

Some experienced agents already have personal brands that are not working for them and reinvention so late in the game might be tricky. However, if you’re an experienced agent and haven’t focused on building your personal brand yet, then you have zero excuses for not taking this course. The price is a drop in the bucket for an experienced agent and will have a much faster ROI.

Over to You

Have you taken the Sell It Like Serhant: Building Your Personal Brand course? Would you recommend it to other agents? If not, which branding course would you recommend? Let us know in the comments.

The post Sell It Like Serhant Course: How to Build Your Personal Brand (In-depth Review) appeared first on The Close.