Where does the real estate school business go in 2011?
- Nov 15, 2010 ArchiveSince the hay days of 2005, the real estate license school business, as most all real estate businesses, have done, has fallen out of the sky. Most schools found that 2009 was just horrible and 2010 has not been much better. So where is the real estate school business going as we move into 2011. Most real estate schools are still trying to find the answer.
Each school is reviewing their business plan and seeing what direction they are going. Most school realizes that to survive in this market they have to diversify and schools are trying to find the best direction to do that.
Some schools are creating courses in home inspection, and getting approved to provide the new NMLS mortgage license courses. The biggest issue has been for schools to have enough students in the seats to make ends meet and to provide a profit. Live course profitability has had a serious drop and to add to that burden more and more students are taking online courses, because of the convenience and the tuition fees. As a result, this adds to the reduced numbers in the in class courses.
As we move into the 2011, one interesting aspect of all of this is that two areas of the real estate education industry has really gone nationally. The appraisal area and the mortgage license education are all now controlled nationally. In the mortgage field the 20 Hr Mortgage Safe NMLS course is now a national course and is approved in almost every state. In the appraisal field, the AQB courses and qualification are the same in every state. The real estate education field is not yet there but, I believe in the future it will be.
So the real estate education industry is changing and challenges are there, but in the long haul, I think the student is the going to be better off for real estate schools are improving their products and schools are working harder to give the student the best education they can.
Frank Cooke
President
Cooke Real Estate School