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Our Courses
AL Prelicense Fundamentals (with E-book)
Proctored Exam Required
This extensive prelicense course covers property rights and characteristics, ownership, land use, real estate math, agency, contracts, property transfers, finance, appraisals, fair housing laws, Alabama license law, and other required subject matter prescribed by the Alabama Real Estate Commission. Use the valuable tools and features built in to the course including a glossary, real estate dictionary, instructor and tech support, hyperlinks to informative Web sites, a discussion forum, online exam prep, and a quiz builder. After completion of the course, you will be required to take a final proctored exam, which qualifies students to take the Alabama licensing exam. When you have passed the licensing exam, you will apply for a six-month temporary license. Within this six-month period you must complete the 30-hour Alabama Post License course and pass another proctored exam. Testing Agency
AL Post License
Proctored Exam Required
This comprehensive course, a requirement for obtaining a permanent license, begins with a discussion of business plans and prospecting techniques. Discover how to manage your time and money, explain the home buying process, and calculate a buyer’s estimated closing costs. Valuable information on communication skills, buyer presentation packages, and conducting showings is also included followed by overviews of loans and fair housing laws. Explore effective methods of preparing purchase agreements and CMAs, writing clear offers, and completing estimated closing cost forms. This course also helps students prepare listing presentations, determine a reasonable listing price, complete an Exclusive Seller Listing Agreement, and assemble marketing portfolios. Learn about negotiating offers, guiding buyers and/or sellers from contract through closing, property condition red flags, the importance of documentation, and environmental.
Intro to Property Management
This comprehensive course covers commercial, office, industrial, and residential property management with a special emphasis on managing a property management company. Topics include leases, risk management, security, maintenance, advertising, fair housing, and tenant relations. This course provides tips, advice, sample forms and case examples.
Alabama Real Estate CE Package
Description Pending
Homeowner's Association Management
This course will give the student a broad view of Homeowner Association Management. It starts by showing the manager how to set up a non-profit association and the legal documents required. The board of directors and their role in running the association, drawing up bylaws and how the board operates are covered thoroughly. The course also covers CC&Rs and other restrictions and laws that all managers need to know. Resolving disputes through litigation and non-litigious means are also covered in the course.
Basics of Real Estate Finance
This course will provide the student with an overview of the history of finance and the major theories, trends, and cycles in real estate finance. Students will explore the government agencies that regulate the economy as well as banking and finance laws. The course also features valuable information about the real estate cycle, monetary system, and interest rates. The roles of the primary market, the secondary market, mortgage companies, and federal and state regulations will also be discussed. The student will learn about investment, federal credit agencies, consumer protection, and the various financial instruments used in lending.
Property Management - Taking Care of Business
This property management course focuses on the operational aspects of running a property management firm. Students will learn how to analyze and manage liability risks and insurance and the security and safety responsibilities of a property manager. The course discusses the pros and cons of private maintenance companies, setting up a maintenance system, evaluating a property's maintenance needs, and common maintenance problems that property managers deal with. Proper recordkeeping, promotion, and advertising are also covered. This course teaches students how to handle problem tenants, complaints, waiting lists, late rent, evictions, fair housing issues, and owner relations. The course also contains valuable information about the organization of a property management office, creating policy manuals, management costs and fees, the hiring process, employee management and evaluation, and what it takes to open and maintain a successful property management firm. NOTE: This course contains lessons from Introduction to Property Management.
Environmental Basics
Identifying environmental hazards and how they affect the real estate industry is the basic goal of this course, including environmental factors that may require a disclosure statement. Other topics covered are air quality, radon, asbestos, urea formaldehyde foam insulation, mold, ground water, smart growth, and green housing. Students will learn about the major health effects and remedies of these substances, as well as ways of preventing or eliminating biological pollutants.
Real Estate Math
Real estate mathematics can be very daunting and confusing. However, by beginning with a review of basic math skills and reinforcing what is already known, students will soon learn to apply real estate terminology and specific formulas to problems and tasks common in the real estate industry such as area and volume calculation, the Rectangular Survey System, the Metes and Bounds System, proration, commission rates, and property values. This course will help students develop the skills to complete a review of settlement costs and explain this information to clients.
Home Inspection
The value of a home inspection is not always obvious to home buyers, so it is important for licensees to understand the basic requirements of the property inspection and the responsibilities of the licensed inspectors. The inspection areas discussed include the fundamentals of exterior and interior construction, heating, cooling, plumbing, and electrical systems, and mold problems and the health effects.
Advanced Home Inspection
This course takes the student through the maze of learning the major components of a home. By first teaching the student what constitutes good construction and maintenance and the operation of systems within the house, the student will have a basis to understand what to look for in the inspection. Each lesson pinpoints the exact markers to inspect for the benefit of the licensee, the buyer and the seller.
NARPM Tenancy
This course provides the student with the knowledge and skills to analyze and deal with the factors affecting residential housing. Explore federal fair housing legislation, the Americans with Disabilities Act, Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, and Megan’s Law. Students will learn about common issues and problems that arise in the tenancy cycle such as tenant screening, disclosures, and unlawful detainer actions, as well as how to handle tenant relations and maintenance and security issues. Learn how to create an effective policies and procedures manual, and maintain consistent documentation in every aspect of residential tenancy.
The Loan - An Overview
This course provides the student with an overview of the home loan process. Students will learn how to fill out a loan application and what information lenders require. Elements of conventional financing, loan-to-value ratios, and private mortgage insurance will be discussed. Then students will explore commercial loan products, construction loans, special purpose loans, and the loan needs of farmers and ranchers. The course also examines various kinds of alternative financing, adjustable rate mortgages, FHA and VA loans, purchase money mortgages, wrap-around financing, land contracts, lease/option plans, and other types of creative financing.
Pricing Property
Students will be introduced to the concepts, types, and approaches to value. They will learn about market value; selecting the best comparables when estimating real property value; and accurately determining square footage. This course addresses how to correctly make adjustments to value, market timing, and the reasoning and strategies as to why property sells.
Human Land Use
Human Land Use is one in a series of courses covering many areas of human ecology. This course emphasizes the history of land use, ownership, controls, zoning, boundaries, viewshed analysis, geology, land use conflicts, court decisions affecting land use, and the relationship between human quality of life and land ownership.
Managing - All Types of Rental Units
This course offers an overview of the different types of properties that property managers handle and the specific processes and procedures they involve. Students will examine residential property management contracts and learn how to set rents, screen applicants, and prepare, show, and lease property. Rent collection and eviction procedures will also be discussed. Then the course explores the unique challenges of managing commercial, office, and industrial properties as well as managing other types of properties such as condominiums and resort properties. NOTE: This course contains lessons from Introduction to Property Management.
AL RECAD
The purpose of the Alabama Real Estate Consumers and Agency Disclosure Act is to address buyers’ confusion about agency representation. This course clarifies the duties of brokers and licensees, the differences between a client and a customer, required disclosures, and agency representation. Students will also learn about the Minimum Services Law. RECAD is put to the test of everyday situations through a series of questions and answers.
AL License Law
Students will be introduced to laws governing the licensing and conduct of real estate professionals, as well as the organization and duties of the Real Estate Commission for the state of Alabama. They will learn about the requirements for securing and maintaining a license, real estate related activities that require a license, and the qualifications and responsibilities of the broker. This course also provides an overview of the Alabama Real Estate Consumers Agency and Disclosure Act (RECAD), the Real Estate Recovery Fund, and the appropriate handling of trust funds. The final lesson provides the student with essential information regarding violations of the Alabama License Law and Commission Rules, the disciplinary action process, and the designated penalties for those violations.
ADA Fair Housing
The student will be introduced to a basic history of civil rights laws in our country, the protected classes, the Americans with Disabilities Act, penalties for violations of fair housing laws, and advertising as it pertains to these requirements and laws. The course also differentiates between violations and exemptions.
Meth Madness
Methamphetamine use has become a fast growing problem with meth labs springing up all across America, leaving a menacing wake in its path. Not only is this substance highly addictive, it’s inexpensive to produce and easy to use, but the chemicals used in processing this drug are volatile with very toxic by-products. This course is designed to heighten the knowledge and awareness of the imminent dangers, not only to the populace, but to the environment and its effects on consumers, clients, real property ownership, and the real estate practitioner. Students will learn about the history of meth, its composition, how to recognize a meth lab, the cost and time involved in remediation of a meth lab, and where to obtain additional, updated information so they may stay apprised of new laws, polices and the latest methods for meth lab detection.
Real Estate Ethics
This course provides licensees with an introduction and guide to general business ethics. Students will gain the information and knowledge necessary for them to make sound, ethical decisions in real estate and other business transactions. Topics covered include the history, structure, and enforcement of the Code of Ethics; Articles vs. Standards of Practice; key concepts associated with ethics and case interpretations regarding the Articles and Standards of Practice.
Contracts
The basics of contracts and contract law and how contracts are used in the real estate industry are addressed in this course. Students will learn the differences between express and implied contracts and bilateral and unilateral contracts as well as how to classify a contract as being executed or executory; the legal effects of a contract; the elements necessary for a valid contract; how a contract can be discharged or terminated and the various other contracts used in real estate.
Energy Resources
This course concerns the concept of energy, what it does, its principal sources and the evolution of human energy reliance. It will help the student gain an understanding of the current use of energy in the U.S. in the industrial, transportation, residential and commercial sectors, the fuels used, and some of the technological advances for conservation. Topics covered include the challenges of global warming, the nature and sources of greenhouse gases, the Kyoto Protocol, and the problems global warming is causing and likely to cause in a variety of settings in the world. Also discussed are the nature and effects of global oil depletion, the Hubbert curve, some possibilities for future energy supplies, and the ideological standoff between supporters of growth versus conservation as it relates to any further reliance on coal and nuclear power. The student will gain knowledge of the dire predictions of running out of cheap energy, the nature of Earth's biosphere as a complex, hierarchic, adaptive, self-organizing system, the threat of a major phase transition, and the promise of New Urbanism as one approach to addressing the transition to a new energy regime in a more urban setting.
Water Resources
Thousands of times every day real estate licensees influence choices that home buyers and sellers make about the homes, neighborhoods, and the communities in which they live. Those who take particular care to acknowledge and demonstrate the importance of efficient, well built homes, and conservation are helping to make these desirable properties and communities more available and more valuable. Water Resources is one in a series of courses involving human ecology. Special attention is given to global water systems, water usage, the effect on the world’s population, pollution, water quality standards, wetland protection, and the importance of conservation with the strategies for achieving these goals.
A Day in the Life of an Appraiser
A Day in the Life of an Appraiser is designed to introduce the field of appraisal to the student. This course covers the licensing needed, government officials, and how to satisfy the entities that will need appraisal information. Navigating tax forms, the assessor's office and the fee appraisal process are also introduced. The course then tours the home, pointing out the important factors of appraisal, what to look for and how to record it. The appraiser's day ends with figuring valuation and relating to customers.
Client Focused Communications
This course teaches the student how and why we communicate. Learning these basics will provide the student the basis for effective client communication. Knowing what the client wants and being able to find the perfect property based on good communication skills will result in more sales and satisfied clients.
Agency - The Big Picture
This comprehensive overview of agency explains the origins of the MLS system and explores different types of agency relationships: buyer agency, seller agency, dual agency, designated agency, implied agency, sub-agency, and single agency. The course examines a 1983 FTC report and the effect those findings had on disclosure of agency relationships.
NARPM Ethics
This three-hour course, required by NARPM for all RMP® designees, explores ethical issues and professional standards related to property management. The NARPM Code of Ethics and the Standards of Professionalism and fair housing laws are reviewed in depth to remind NARPM members they must subscribe to the highest ethical and professional standards. Case studies relating to everyday property management issues are also included.
Qualifying - Buyer and Property
This course explores the roles and practices of underwriters and appraisers as they qualify borrowers and properties for loans. Other requirements for loans, leases, and titles will also be discussed. The student will examine loan settlement procedures, the role of the Truth-in-Lending Act, and the effects of the Fair Housing Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Bad Loans - Predatory and Fraud
Bad Loans delves into predatory lending practices and common mortgage fraud schemes. Students will learn to identify and avoid the tactics of predatory lenders and fraud perpetrators. The course examines the lines on mortgage forms, good faith estimates, fees, discounts, prepayment penalties, and how these items are used by predatory lenders. This course also features valuable information about dealing with issues such as late charges, tax reserves, property insurance, foreclosures, and note modification. Then students will explore popular mortgage fraud schemes and examples from real cases. Fraud tools such as flipping, straw sellers and buyers, No-Doc loans, silent second mortgages, and false money will also be discussed.
AL Risk Management
This required course addresses the delicate balancing act of risk management by guiding students through the liability pitfalls that agents face in sales transactions and daily practices, beginning with common property disclosure issues such as caveat emptor, home inspections, misrepresentation, and the seller’s disclosure statement. Next is a review of Alabama License Law, penalties, and the proper way to handle earnest money. Students will then examine agency relationships and RECAD. The course analyzes contract elements and contract do's and don'ts. The final lesson provides an overview of antitrust, fair housing laws, and illegal practices.
Introduction to Employee Relocation
This 3-hour course explores the unique challenges of the employee mobility industry. Providing relocation services involves working simultaneously for two different clients with two distinctively different service requirements, some of which overlap. This course surveys corporate relocation policies, tax issues, relocation management companies and the services they provide, home sale programs, corporate listings, RMC guidelines, and Worldwide ERC.
AMP Exam Prep
What’s on the test? Eliminate the guess work with an exam prep created by John R. Morgan, national and international real estate test developer. This 100-question sample exam follows the test specifications as outlined and approved by AMP, the test vendor. An exam assessment breaks down your scores by topic areas and allows you to identify the subjects requiring more study. Retake the sample exam as many times as you want.
Supplemental Materials
AMP Exam Prep
What’s on the test? Eliminate the guess work with an exam prep created by John R. Morgan, national and international real estate test developer. This 100-question sample exam follows the test specifications as outlined and approved by AMP, the test vendor. An exam assessment breaks down your scores by topic areas and allows you to identify the subjects requiring more study. Retake the sample exam as many times as you want.
