If you’re considering getting your New York real estate license, the first step is choosing a New York Real Estate Course Provider that offers the NY 77-Hour Real Estate Pre-Licensing Course. With a plethora of options on the market, it may be difficult to choose one that best fits your needs and lifestyle.
Completing your NY 77-Hour Real Estate Pre-Licensing Course is a huge step toward getting your New York real estate license, so it’s important to choose the right course provider, keeping in mind that the New York real estate license course that you choose will play a major role in setting you up for success as a real estate agent.
Read on for an in-depth comparison of two New York real estate course providers, Real Estate U and Kaplan. We compare these two schools side-by-side, so you have the information you need to decide which course is best for you.
Real Estate U Overview
Real Estate U is an online, Florida-based provider of New York real estate pre-licensing courses. With Real Estate U, students complete their New York Real Estate Pre-Licensing course at their own pace by watching pre-recorded video from a library created in 2013. This coursework emphasizes audio so working professionals can learn while in transit.
Real Estate U has developed a reputation for providing various types of real estate-related courses, including real estate pre-licensing courses, continuing education courses, and real estate investing courses. Real Estate U is a great option for someone who is interested in advancing their real estate career through commercial investing techniques after getting their New York real estate license.
Kaplan Overview
Kaplan Real Estate Education is a division of Kaplan, Inc, a provider of online courses related to real estate, insurance, architecture, engineering, finance and IT. Real Estate Education includes a broad spectrum of courses that include pre-licensing, but also continuing education, appraisal, home inspection, and contracting.
Their training is highly standardized across all of their training platforms. This standardization does impose certain technical requirements and may limit the specificity of some coursework, but coursework does include both text and video.
Real Estate U vs Kaplan - Side By Side Comparison
Now that you have learned about the core features of Real Estate U and Kaplan, let’s compare the two NY real estate course providers side by side. We took a look at the 18 most commonly discussed features amongst students choosing a New York real estate course.
| Course Features | Real Estate U | Kaplan |
| State Accreditation | Approved by NY Department of State | Approved by NY Department of State |
| Pricing | $99 | $379 |
| Online Course Options | Course offered online. | Course offered online. |
| Mobile Access | Course can be accessed via any mobile device. | Not all features are compatible with all tablets and phones. |
| Reviews | 3 5 Star Reviews | 4.3 Stars out of 1,005 Reviews |
| Support | Customer support accessed via contact form on website. | Support availability varies by need, but is generally available M – F by phone or 7 days a week by email. |
| Instructor Quality | Course instruction is provided by 21 real estate professionals, most are real estate attorneys and tax professionals, none are sales professionals. | Course instructors average nine years of real estate teaching experience and include brokers, attorneys, appraisers, mortgage experts and CPAs, but no Real Estate Salespersons. |
| Deadline to Complete Course | Students have access to course for 12 months. | Students have access to course for 6 months. |
| Curriculum Creation | No information about curriculum creation provided. | Curriculum developed by experienced New York real estate professionals. |
| User Experience | Course designed to be user-friendly and easily navigated. | Course designed to be user-friendly and easily navigated. |
| Course Interactivity | Course includes fill in the blank activities and quizzes. | Course includes quizzes, unit exams and practice activities. |
| State Exam Preparation | State Exam preparation resources offered as an additional course for $49. | State Exam preparation resources offered as an additional course for $69. |
| Practice Exams | Practice exams offered as part of an additional course for $49. | Practice exams with real questions from the NY State Exam as an additional course for $69. |
| Exam Pass Rate | New York State Real Estate Exam pass rate not listed. | New York State Real Estate Exam pass rate not listed. |
| Career Advice | Career advice is not offered to students. | Career advice is not offered to students. |
| Job Placement Assistance | Job placement assistance is not offered to students. | Job placement assistance is not offered to students. |
| Course Features | Real Estate U | Kaplan |
| State Accreditation | Approved by NY Department of State | Approved by NY Department of State |
| Pricing | $99 | $379 |
| Online Course Options | Course offered online. | Course offered online. |
| Mobile Access | Course can be accessed via any mobile device. | Not all features are compatible with all tablets and phones. |
| Reviews | 3 5 Star Reviews | 4.3 Stars out of 1,005 Reviews |
| Support | Customer support accessed via contact form on website. | Support availability varies by need, but is generally available M – F by phone or 7 days a week by email. |
| Instructor Quality | Course instruction is provided by 21 real estate professionals, most are real estate attorneys and tax professionals, none are sales professionals. | Course instructors average nine years of real estate teaching experience and include brokers, attorneys, appraisers, mortgage experts and CPAs, but no Real Estate Salespersons. |
| Deadline to Complete Course | Students have access to course for 12 months. | Students have access to course for 6 months. |
| Curriculum Creation | No information about curriculum creation provided. | Curriculum developed by experienced New York real estate professionals. |
| User Experience | Course designed to be user-friendly and easily navigated. | Course designed to be user-friendly and easily navigated. |
| Course Interactivity | Course includes fill in the blank activities and quizzes. | Course includes quizzes, unit exams and practice activities. |
| State Exam Preparation | State Exam preparation resources offered as an additional course for $49. | State Exam preparation resources offered as an additional course for $69. |
| Practice Exams | Practice exams offered as part of an additional course for $49. | Practice exams with real questions from the NY State Exam as an additional course for $69. |
| Exam Pass Rate | New York State Real Estate Exam pass rate not listed. | New York State Real Estate Exam pass rate not listed. |
| Career Advice | Career advice is not offered to students. | Career advice is not offered to students. |
| Job Placement Assistance | Job placement assistance is not offered to students. | Job placement assistance is not offered to students. |
What We Think
The cost of Kaplan makes the New York pre-licensing course unaffordable for many students. Real Estate U provides a far better value. Both Real Estate U and Kaplan offer standard pre-licensing coursework and neither offers state exam preparation resources or practice exams as part of their coursework. The $99 course through Real Estate U is therefore a significant savings over the $379 course through Kaplan despite the similarities in content.
Further, Real Estate U allows students access to course content for a full 12-month period
while Kaplan requires students to pay for any extension of time beyond six months. The Real Estate U pre-licensing course seems to be a more practical option than Kaplan for all of these reasons, but Kaplan may prove a great option for continuing education because they offer coursework in home inspection, appraisal, mortgages and wholesale real estate transactions.
If you’re looking for a more affordable New York real estate pre-licensing course that also offers job placement assistance, a user-friendly, online course, and State Exam preparation resources, check out Corofy.