Key Realty School

Key Realty School is an educational institution for adults that offers courses in Nevada and California real estate, appraisal, mortgage, home inspection, property management, timeshare, and community management. Customer service agents are available during business hours and as soon as you sign up for online courses you can get started right away on your computer, smartphone, or tablet. The school offers an app that you can download to take courses on the go which makes it easy to start and stop at your convenience. 

Pros Explained

• Choice of online or on-campus classes: Not all schools have both formats but Key Realty School does, allowing you to choose between a classroom environment or self-paced study.   
• Mobile App: Download the app and take the course on the go. Even if you only have a few minutes to spare, you can look at the glossary or start a practice test instead of waiting until you get home to your computer.    
• Packages with post licenses and test prep: For live online and in-person courses package options are available that include test prep and even post licensing courses.  

Cons Explained

• Website could be organized better: The website could be better organized to make it easier to find the different offerings and course information.
• No live chat: No live chat or chatbot is available if you need a question answered after hours and customer service isn’t available on weekends. 
• Primarily focused on one state: The school's real estate course offerings are primarily focused on Nevada, although it does have limited options for California as well. If you're looking to be a real estate agent in another state, this school is not an option for you.

Available Courses

Key Realty School offers pre-licensing real estate agent courses, pre-licensing courses for brokers, exam prep, post-licensing classes, and continuing education classes. Post-licensing classes are required for new agents and brokers prior to renewing their license for the first time. Continuing education classes are required to keep your license in good standing and help refresh your industry knowledge, and keep you up to date on new topics. 

Additionally, there are a variety of real estate-related courses including mortgage broker classes, appraiser classes, construction classes, and community association management classes. This is convenient if you want to pursue two fields of study from the same school. 

Salesperson Pre-licensing

Salesperson (agent) pre-licensing courses are offered in several flexible formats. You can take classes live in a virtual or in-person classroom setting and choose a schedule that works for you. The school offers morning, afternoon, and night times. Materials are included and you have instructors to answer your questions too.

Live classes whether virtual or in-person come in three packages. Basic costs $397 and comes with all course content and materials. The Works costs $597 and adds a pass guarantee, many different exam prep materials, and a prep seminar. Deluxe costs $747 and adds a post licensing course, guide to passing, and lifetime access to all materials.

Self-paced classes are offered in two different formats: Home Study which is a combination of physical textbooks and workbooks, audio, and internet content, and Online Only which is a completely digital course with no hard copy materials. Self-paced classes only have one price point for each. The Online Only costs $197 and the Home Study costs $297.

Exam Prep

Key Realty School offers exam prep which it calls test prep options. There are multiple test prep options both in class and online to choose from. For example, you can take a one-day in-person test prep class that covers both the national and state portions of the exam for $100. You do need to make a reservation in advance and these classes run from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on various days. If you prefer to only take the state portion of exam prep, that is $50 and available on select dates from 9 a.m to 12 p.m. Similarly, you can take the national test prep alone which is offered on select days from 1:00 p.m. to 6 p.m. for $75. A math review course is also sold for $50.

For at home review options you can purchase materials to study on your own for $100 or purchase the comprehensive package for $150. This packages includes the home materials plus a livestream or recording of one of the exam prep classes.

Continuing Education

Key Realty School offers continuing education classes for real estate agents and brokers. Packages range from six hours for $60 all the way up to 36 hours for $199. The 30 hour post licensing (first time renewal) course is $230. There is also a lifetime membership of unlimited classes for $490.

For subsequent renewals 36 hours are required and 18 of them must be taken live. Those who are 65 and older as well as those who have been licensed for at least 30 years have lower hour requirements to renew their license.

Other Courses

In addition to the standard pre-licensing, exam prep, and continuing education courses, Key Realty School also offers several professional courses in mortgage lending, home inspection, appraisals, community management, timeshare, and property management. Course formats and costs vary and you can contact the school directly for more information. 

Course Format

You can choose a live course (in-person or online), online self-paced course, or home study self-paced course. All courses regardless of format offer curriculums that meet the Nevada state guidelines for real estate licensing requirements. Courses are designed to be up-to-date with industry standards and practices and teach material in an engaging and easy-to-understand format. Courses include practice real estate math questions, real estate glossaries, practice test questions, and practice exams. Additionally, there are videos, course summaries, and question and answer sessions. 

Instructors

All of the instructors at Key Realty School are chosen because of their field experience and dynamic teaching styles. Your instructor will provide the best way to contact them once you sign up for class. However, the site doesn't offer bios on their instructors nor specific information on the number of years of experience they have. It doesn’t list their education levels either like some other real estate schools offer. 

Reputation

Key Realty School is known throughout Nevada and especially the Las Vegas area as a reputable provider of real estate classes. It has positive reviews from both third-party sites and from its student testimonials on its own website. Students appreciate the various course formats and the large variety of class topics. The reviews also praise the instructors for being engaging and the class material is presented in a professional way with methods that are easy to grasp.

Price 

Key Realty School offers competitively priced real estate classes for agents and brokers who want to work in Nevada. They also offer classes for professionals who already work in the state. The school has a lot of course options for most subjects, so prices do vary. Pre-licensing courses range from $197 for a basic online-only course to $747 for a live real estate package which includes exam prep and a post licensing course.

Exam prep classes range from $50 to $150 depending on whether you select an individual class or an exam prep package. Continuing education classes also vary in price depending on which package you pick. Packages range from $60 to $199. The post licensing package is $230. Unlimited lifetime continuing education courses are available for $490. This offer will only be sold to 1,000 people.

Customer Service 

You can reach customer service at Key Realty School on their website using the email contact form or via phone at 702-313-7000. The school has customer service hours Monday to Friday from 8 a.m to 6 p.m PST and is closed on the weekends and all major holidays.

Additionally, once you sign up for a class, you will get the contact information for your instructor and can communicate with them via email and phone. Each instructor does set their own office hours.  

Competition: Key Realty School vs. Real Estate Express

Real Estate Express is part of Colibri group which now also owns Key Realty School. However, they operate differently with Key focusing on Nevada and Real Estate Express along with some partner brands focusing on nationally marked online education for a variety of states. Real Estate Express is also certified by both IDECC and ARELLO while Key is not. This means that the school has met the high standards for online education that both institutions require in order to grant certifications. It teaches real estate classes in two formats: livestream and self-paced, but it doesn’t have any actual campus locations. It offers pre-licensing courses in 36 states and continuing education classes through its partners in all 50 states. Overall student reviews are positive.

We compared Real Estate Express with Key Realty School because both schools offer multiple classes online in varying formats for different learning styles. Both schools teach pre-licensing classes, continuing education courses, and exam prep classes in Nevada. They also both offer helpful student resources on their sites. 

Overall, we recommend choosing Real Estate Express because it is accredited, licensed in multiple states, and has an entire section on helping real estate agents with their careers.

Our Methodology: How We Review Real Estate Schools

We researched and analyzed numerous facets of each real estate school with a quantitative approach in mind. Some of the elements considered include costs of the classes, course formats, accreditation, and former student reviews. We also look at the overall reputation of the provider, geographic areas where the courses are available, and instructor qualifications. Additionally, we assess how easy it is to navigate the website and whether it includes additional student resources such as blogs, webinars, and career tips.