Being stuck at home due to social distancing is the perfect time to take some free online real estate classes.
Making money in real estate requires some knowledge. So before you start investing in real estate, it is good to get some real estate education. To invest successfully, you need to understand the terms and processes in buying, selling, and renting properties. You also need to know how to check an investment property’s potential and how to calculate some financial metrics. It is also good to be familiar with the different methods of financing a real estate investment so you choose the optimal one for your needs. You also need to know a bit about rental strategy, dealing with tenants, property management, and even preparing to sell. It sounds like a lot but fear not. Beginner real estate investors in the US housing market have access to the same information experienced investors and realtors do.
Related: The Ultimate Guide to Getting Started in Real Estate Investing
In case you are wondering, there is no need to go to a specialized real estate school to learn all this. There are plenty of free online real estate classes anyone can access. They take between an hour and a few days and will give you many of the real estate skills you need to be confident in your first investment.
MIT Real Estate Classes
The open-access MIT knowledge base includes some of the best online real estate classes for free. Since it is one of the top universities in the world, you can be sure the quality is superb. You can download all course materials and go through them at your own pace. Only, keep in mind that these courses are a bit higher-level and focus on how to invest in real estate and finances. They are excellent if you have some financial knowledge and want to build a property investment business.
Udemy
Udemy is a popular online resource for learning anything so why not try their free online real estate classes? Usually, the creators of the videos are experienced professionals in the field. They share practical knowledge on very specific topics like house flipping, Airbnb renting, residential mortgages, property investment analysis, and so on. And they list the total duration of the course so you can plan your learning session. Although they are not all free online real estate classes, prices start at $12. You get lifetime access to the course materials and a certificate of completion, too.
Skillshare
Skillshare is another popular online learning platform offering real estate courses. Most courses are short, between one and three hours. Topics range from first-time home buying to real estate marketing and networking for real estate investing. Some courses are free. For others, you will have to get the paid plan, but at least the quality of the videos is excellent.
Related: 16 Things to Know About Real Estate Before You Invest
Khan Academy
Khan Academy is mostly a platform that helps students with school material, but it also has videos for learning real estate online. They are more like explainer videos of basic real estate terms and concepts for beginner real estate investors. It is not a bad site to check when you’re just starting out.
Coursera
Coursera puts together real estate programs online from Yale, Università Bocconi, Columbia, University of Pennsylvania (Wharton Business School), and many others. It lets you enroll in online classes by serious professors and cover all the coursework for free.
You can also find and read real estate investor websites where people share their own journeys. The real-life experience of someone who has already done it is very helpful when studying real estate on your own.
Just a quick note on what resources we do not recommend you trust when first starting out in real estate. Some bloggers would try to get new readers with an ebook about real estate without any actual knowledge to share. The same is true for general-interest newspaper articles. They are written for a mass audience and are not the best sources of insider knowledge.
An Alternative to Classes: Mashvisor’s Real Estate Investment Blog
If you do not want to take real estate classes online, you can trust an insider’s blog instead. Mashvisor is a real estate analytics platform making investing in real estate easier and more profitable.
To learn more about how we will help you make faster and smarter real estate investment decisions, click here.
Mashvisor’s blog is a great alternative to free online real estate classes. It covers every topic in real estate investing: how to buy a rental property, how to deal with tenants, and what types of properties to invest in. Thanks to Mashvisor’s data on the US housing market, the blog is full of advice on where, when, and in what exactly to invest. You can find analyses of the housing market by city as well as upcoming trends to prepare for.
Related: Location Location Location: What Makes for the Best Place to Invest in Real Estate?
The best thing is that the blog can be your source of real estate knowledge throughout your journey – from how to become a real estate investor to how to make money online in real estate. It is neatly organized in categories for investors, Airbnb rentals, property management, buyers and sellers. Whichever role you find yourself in one day, you can read about it. Who knows, you might even switch careers and become a real estate agent! Mashvisor’s real estate investment blog has got you covered on all relevant topics.
One of the platform’s best features is the investment property analysis. It looks at the specifics of a property and estimates its investment potential: cash on cash return, rental income, maintenance costs, etc. Users get a ready evaluation of the property they are considering buying. The blog explains how these metrics are calculated, how much you should charge for rent with the help of an Airbnb calculator, how to increase your passive income, and how to find lucrative properties for sale.
You can also check out Mashvisor’s Youtube channel for videos on everything real estate.
So, where to take real estate classes online? All big learning platforms offer some for free and an expert blog is a good option, too. Good luck and profitable investing!
To get access to our real estate investment tools, sign up for a 7-day free trial of Mashvisor today, followed by 15% off for life.