Most agents know that training increases their productivity almost instantly, if it is applied. But scheduling time away from the office and paying to travel to a one- or two-day training course is often either cost-prohibitive or a scheduling impossibility for busy real estate professionals.

That’s why online training – or eLearning - is gaining so much traction in real estate, with more and more agents worldwide using the Internet to further their professional development.

Real estate expert Stefan Swanepoel, who is also CEO of RealtyU, the biggest network of real estate schools in the US, says the number of agents opting for online education grows every year and anticipates that at least one out of every three agents will eventually be receiving their education via the Internet.

Most of these, he says, will be “Generation X” agents who are comfortable in the online environment, have already discovered how much more marketing exposure they can gain by having a presence on the Web and are now finding out how much faster they can increase their knowledge – and earnings potential – by taking online courses that give them an anywhere/ anytime training option

An eLearning course enables agents to take the lessons in their own time, working around their own schedules, which is especially helpful if they have other business or family commitments. It affords them the opportunity to place a class on hold in mid-session if necessary in order to close that all-important sale

In addition, agents studying online can control their own pace of learning. They do not have to feel embarrassed if they still need to ask more questions before they are ready to move on to the next section – and they don’t have to wait for others to catch up if they are getting far ahead with the work.

However, there are thousands of online training courses out there – and many of them are irrelevant or just plain useless, so agents need to be very careful which they choose in order not to waste their time and money. The ideal course is run by a trustworthy organisation that offers high-quality training from acknowledged and recognised experts.

In addition, the software the course uses should be compatible with any operating system, the course material should be accessible 24/7, and the content should be current, since the knowledge, technology and laws pertinent to the real estate industry are changing all the time.

And this is certainly the thinking behind the eLearning programme that is now being rolled out by the Western Cape region of IEASA and marketed by all IEASA regional offices.

The first course in the programme is the Certificate of Competence in Sectional Title Management and Administration, and it is being offered in association with Tertius Maree, a well-known attorney specialising exclusively in sectional title. He has written numerous books, published more than 700 articles and lectures at Stellenbosch University. He is also legal advisor to approximately 750 sectional title bodies corporate and acts as an Arbitrator.

The course is of 20-week duration but being an online tutoring course, students work at their own pace at any time suitable to them. They do not need to travel to classrooms or take time off work except for a one-day final workshop and written examination.

They receive constant guidance and feedback from the tutor throughout the course and there are online multiple-choice questionnaires to test their competency as each section is completed. Their written assignments are simply uploaded to the Internet for marking.

The first 33 students just finished this course and there has been excellent feedback. Several agents noted that they had saved a lot of time and money by not having to travel to a classroom for training and miss valuable working hours. Others said they really appreciated the online quizzes, immediate response and the fact that they had been given the right answers to study. Yet others rated the course “good value for money”, “top class” and “to be recommended”.

This success has encouraged the Western Cape region to now open its courses to agents from other regions, and arrange for the tutor to travel to other destinations for the workshops and exams where there is a group of 20 or more students.

For more details, agents should contact IEASA in their region or Lee-Ann at IEASA Western Cape on 021 531 3180 or training@cape.ieasa.org.za.