Your Guide to Indiana Real Estate Classes

With over half of the American workforce looking to make a career change, now is a great time to broaden your professional horizons. If you’re good with people, you might take this opportunity to achieve your real estate certification. And you may be surprised to find out that it’s a much closer goal than you think. In fact, for Hoosiers, you can take Indiana real estate classes and become a licensed real estate agent in less than a year. If you’re looking to start a real estate career in Indiana, keep reading for more information. 

What Do Indiana Real Estate Classes Cover?

The steps to getting your license are rather straightforward, and first things first is a pre-licensing course. These are designed to dive deep into the information you need to know. Topics include national laws, regulations, and ethics on a federal level, to Indiana housing laws and regulations. 

And as a plus, if you ever move out of state, you’ll already have a basic understanding of the law. That way you can follow through with any requirements necessary to switch your license over. 

Pre-licensing courses go over market analysis, property management, and disclosures, among other topics. Indiana-specific courses will go over the Indiana Real Estate Commission and other regulatory requirements. 

Why Are These Classes Important?

You may be wondering why you need to take real estate classes on market research and Indiana regulations. Isn’t being a real estate agent at its core about showing and selling homes? Yes, but that’s only part of the equation.

Being a real estate agent is a skilled profession. So you’ll not only need top-tier communication and time management skills but an understanding of housing laws as well. This is so you’ll have everything you need to put your best foot forward as a new agent.

House tours and general administrative work such as scheduling appointments and answering emails are part of the job. But the best real estate classes give you more information on the nitty-gritty details. This includes processing contracts, creating budgets, and even crafting and implementing marketing campaigns.

For Indiana, there are also fair housing laws that you’ll need to be familiar with. For example, statutes involving tenant rights and protections that have to do with the physical conditions of the property.

Additionally, one of the most important skills you’ll learn on the path to getting your real estate license is how to write and read a contract. One of which is the sale contract or purchase agreement. This document goes into the details such as the likely closing date, deposit, and the current condition of the property. 

But real estate agents work in the best interest of their clients. Because of that, contracts should include other relevant information. This can include details on who will be paying the closing costs as well as if a home inspection needs to be done before the sale is finalized.

FAQ

But the classes alone don’t cover everything you’ll need to know. It’s also important to think about the format of the courses as well as the other skills you’ll need to have to be successful as an agent after your real estate certification is complete. 

Can I Take Classes Online? 

You might be all in to take real estate classes for your license at this point. But maybe you don’t have time to go in person or prefer a remote learning environment.

If that’s the case, you’re in luck. Online classes are a great option to earn your certification.

And you won’t need to worry about any content being cut out or the course not working with your learning style. Instructors know how to keep students engaged and work with each student to explain the material.

What Other Skills Should I Have?

The pre-licensing course is the first step to starting a real estate career, but it’s not the end of the line. Working in real estate involves career-long education, and that starts with the tools of the trade that you’ll be using.

As a real estate agent, it’s helpful to have a basic understanding of a number of software tools. Excel, a customer relationship management system (CRM), and a project management tool of your choice are good places to start.  

What Happens After I’m Licensed? 

Once you have your real estate license, you’re due for some congratulations. But don’t forget that you’ll need to also take classes for post-licensing and continuing education. A post-licensing course is a 30-hour program that goes over further details on topics such as listing and purchase agreements, required disclosures, and financing. It is a great refresher and is mandatory for all licensees to take within the first 24 months of being licensed.

Once you have a bit of experience in the field, continuing education courses allow you to gain more detailed knowledge of these topics and others from qualified instructors. These are some of the best real estate classes to take following your licensure as a way to brush up on your skills and learn new ones as the industry evolves.

Start Your New Career

Working as a real estate agent can be an incredibly rewarding and profitable career. With easily accessible Indiana real estate classes and experienced instructors, you’ll be able to fit your pre-licensing course into your daily life and know that you’re getting a quality education.

If you’re ready to set out on a new professional journey and get your real estate license, sign up for a pre-licensing course with Indiana Real Estate Institute. With over 30 years of experience, we’re qualified not only to explain the basics but provide context for them in the form of real-life scenarios to prepare students for the future of the industry.