Real estate is the largest industry in the world with more than $320 trillion in assets. There are many different career paths that you can take, including property management, development, investment, asset management, architecture, engineering, city planning, and more. A free real estate online course can bring your career to the next level.
Within the last few years and decades, the real estate industry is changing drastically. Sustainability is becoming more important than ever before and thanks to technology, new possibilities for improving efficiency and profitability are emerging.
Overview of the Courses
1 | Construction Project Management
3 | Pathways to Property: Starting Your Career in Real Estate
5 | Sustainable Building Design
6 | Socially-Responsible Real Estate Development
7 | Data Science for Construction, Architecture and Engineering
9 | Renewable Energy and Green Building Entrepreneurship
10 | Project Delivery Methods and Contracts in Construction Management
The 12 Best Free Real Estate Online Courses
The following courses offer you high-quality knowledge from numerous renowned universities and institutions from around the world. Depending on what your career goals are, there will be a programme that fits your needs.
1 | Construction Project Management
- Costs: Free
- Time: 25 hours
- Certificate Available: Optional, for a fee
- Language: English (subtitles in other languages available)
The Construction Project Management course by the Columbia University is a great start for professionals that want to specialise in this sector. It will also be a good choice for anyone that wants to enter the real estate development or construction industry.
In order to complete a commercial real estate project successfully, certain management skills and knowledge are necessary. It is not sufficient to only have the technical know-how on the construction, but a combination of these skills will lead to a truly successful building.
This free real estate online course provides you with fundamentals and new trends in the construction industry. Furthermore, the lecturers will teach you how to apply this information to your next project.
The construction project management includes the following content:
- Overview of the construction industry
- Planning a construction project
- The project development cycle
- Project delivery
- Real estate trends, including sustainability, BIM, and PropTech
- What are the tasks and responsibilities of a construction manager?
The real estate course is created by the Columbia University, which is located in New York City. The 250-year-old private Ivy League college has gained a high reputation for its science and engineering department. Furthermore, it is one of the top universities in the US and globally.
Coursera is the provider for this free online course. The platform has an intuitive and engaging website that helps you succeed in your courses and career.
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2 | Construction Finance
- Costs: Free
- Time: 17 hours
- Certificate Available: Optional, for a fee
- Language: English (subtitles in other languages available)
Another vital part of any construction project is the financial planning and identification of suitable financing options. To create profits from real estate development, having a detailed and precise plan is essential. By acquiring skills in this field, you will be able to work in numerous sectors of the property industry. From financing and valuation to development and construction.
The free real estate online course “Construction Finance” by the Columbia University offers insights into economical and financial theories of the property market, specifically the development phase of buildings. If you want to advance your career in this field, the course will provide you with valuable knowledge.
Within this programme you will learn about the following topics:
- Basics of economics and money
- Financial theories for the real estate lifecycle
- Commercial projects
- Financing
- Risk
- Different types of partnerships
The real estate course is created by the Columbia University, which is located in New York City. The 250-year-old private Ivy League college has gained a high reputation for its science and engineering department. Furthermore, it is one of the top universities in the US and globally.
Coursera is the provider for this free online course. The platform has an intuitive and engaging website that helps you succeed in your courses and career.
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3 | Pathways to Property: Starting Your Career in Real Estate
- Costs: Free
- Time: 6 hours
- Certificate Available: For free
- Language: English
In “Pathways to Property: Starting Your Career in Real Estate” by the University of Reading, you will learn what it takes to start a career in the real estate industry. It is perfect if you just started to get interested in the field and want to explore different paths.
While you might already know in what direction you want to go to in your future real estate career, it can be interesting to find out what other jobs might be interesting for you. Furthermore, since the programme is relatively short with just 6 hours of learning, you can easily do this while studying at university or next to your current job.
Even though the certificate that you will receive might not be as valuable compared to other more extensive programmes, it can still show future employers or universities that you are dedicated to the topic.
This free real estate online course teaches you different property skills, including:
- Property development
- Analysing properties
- Issues in the management and financial sector of real estate
- Important trends
- Different career paths
- How to choose the right career for yourself?
The course presented by the University of Reading, specifically their so-called “Henley Business School”. The college is located in Reading, the UK, and has received a high reputation on the national rankings for its land and property management programmes.
When it comes to the online learning itself, it will be available through the website “Future Learn”. The platform offers numerous types of study material and allows you to easily track your progress. Furthermore, one of their core features is the focus on social interaction with tutors and other students. This will help you to succeed successfully.
4 | Step into Construction
- Costs: Free for 2 weeks
- Time: 4 hours
- Certificate Available: Optional, for a fee
- Language: English
One major part of the real estate industry is the construction sector. If you are looking to start your career in this field, the “Step into Construction” course by the City & Guilds Group might be a good choice.
Nowadays, construction faces many challenges and problems that are changing the way of how buildings are created. Sustainability is becoming increasingly more important and new trends such as 3D printing, prefabricated houses, and new materials are impacting the industry significantly.
By taking this free real estate online course, you will understand the different types of stakeholders and partners that are responsible for the construction process.
In addition, this programme will teach you the following topics:
- Impact of construction on society
- Important skills and qualifications
- Health and safety considerations
- How to start a career in this industry?
- How to start a business in the construction sector?
All the learning material is supported by experts and professionals that will help you to find the right start in your professional construction career.
The City & Guilds Group is an organisation that has the goal of helping people to find the right skills that fit them and then start a promising profession. They provide numerous qualifications in different sectors that are recognized by nearly all employers, which will allow you to advance your career.
The online learning journey is provided by the website “Future Learn”. The platform offers numerous types of study material and allows you to easily track your progress. Furthermore, one of their core features is the focus on social interaction with tutors and other students. This will help you to succeed successfully.
5 | Sustainable Building Design
- Costs: Free
- Time: 130 hours
- Certificate Available: Optional, for a fee
- Language: English
Sustainability is an important aspect of modern buildings and needs to be implemented on a large scale, globally. The market is growing rapidly and new professionals in this sector are highly demanded. This is why the “Sustainable Building Design” course by the MIT is a great opportunity to advance your career.
While most of the previous programmes take more of a business and management approach, this one takes a look at building design and architecture. If you are interested in these technical topics and also want to get to know computer-aided design, this course will be beneficial for you.
Furthermore, this programme will teach you the following subjects:
- The characteristics of climate
- Thermal comfort and design
- Lighting
- Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning Systems (HVAC)
- Different simulations and sustainability projects
The MIT or Massachusetts Institute of Technology is offering “Sustainable Building Design”. This institution is ranked as the number one university worldwide and its architecture department has been recognized as the best globally as well for many years in a row. Choosing this course will provide you with great opportunities to advance your career.
You can access the course through the online platform “edX”. The organisation provides high-quality online courses in cooperation with internationally recognised universities and companies. Currently, they offer more than 3,600 programmes and have around 42 million users.
6 | Socially-Responsible Real Estate Development
- Costs: Free
- Time: 25 hours
- Certificate Available: Optional, for a fee
- Language: English
Sustainability is divided into three categories: environmental, social, and economic. The course: “Socially-Responsible Real Estate Development” is analysing one of these aspects in detail and provides insights into how developers can create a positive, social impact.
Since this programme focuses on a very specific topic, it can be a great option for advancing your career if you want to go in this direction. You will learn about various assessment methods to analyse the social impact of a real estate project and the involvement of public stakeholders.
Other content of this free real estate online course includes the following:
- Social Impact Assessment (SIA)
- Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
- The theory behind socially-responsible property development
- How to create value for different stakeholders
- Applying the knowledge to an up-to-date case study
The MIT or Massachusetts Institute of Technology is offering “Socially-Responsible Real Estate Development”. This institution is ranked as the number one university worldwide and its architecture department has been recognized as the best globally, as well for many years in a row. Choosing this course will provide you with great opportunities to advance your career.
You can access the course through the online platform “edX”. The organization provides high-quality online courses in cooperation with internationally recognised universities and companies. Currently, they offer more than 3,600 programmes and have around 42 million users.
7 | Data Science for Construction, Architecture and Engineering
- Costs: Free
- Time: 42 hours
- Certificate Available: Optional, for a fee
- Language: English
Real estate projects are very complex and have individual needs for each building. Compared to other industries it is still relatively inefficient. One aspect of this problem is the management and utilisation of information, of which there is a lot.
When taking the course “Data Science for Construction, Architecture and Engineering” by the National University of Singapore, you will get to know the different sources of data and will learn how to use them in the most efficient way.
In this 42-hour programme, you will also get informed about the following topics:
- Why coding is an important skill for the property sector
- Fundamentals of Python and Pandas data analysis library
- Managing and analysing data
- Statistics and visualisation of data
- Machine learning
- Real-world examples and case studies
This free real estate online course is provided by the NUS or National University of Singapore. They offer a variety of business, management, real estate and data science courses that are recognized globally. The college has recently been ranked as the second-best university in Asia, as well as the 29th best university in the world.
You can access the course through the online platform “edX”. The organization provides high-quality online courses in cooperation with internationally recognised universities and companies. Currently, they offer more than 3,600 programmes and have around 42 million users.
8 | Sustainable Cities
- Costs: Free
- Time: 54 hours
- Certificate Available: Optional, for a fee
- Language: English (subtitles in other languages available)
More and more people are moving to cities and this trend of urbanisation does not seem to stop soon. Therefore, these areas must be adapted to house this large population while respecting the society, environment, and economy.
If you want to find out which measures need to be taken to create sustainable cities, the course “sustainable cities” by the SDG Academy will be a good fit for you.
You will get to know the issues that currently exist in the urban environment and will also learn about the basic theories of cities.
Other content in this programme includes the following subjects:
- Managing urban systems
- How to reduce poverty in cities
- Enhancing the local economy and reducing inequality
- Improving infrastructure
- Managing resources efficiently
- Government and implementation of changes
The SDG academy has created this course, which is an initiative for the United Nations. They are an organisation that has the goal of educating people around the world on sustainable development and currently has more than 600 thousand enrolled students.
You can access the course through the online platform “edX”. The organisation provides high-quality online courses in cooperation with internationally recognised universities and companies. Currently, they offer more than 3,600 programmes and have around 42 million users.
9 | Renewable Energy and Green Building Entrepreneurship
- Costs: Free
- Time: 18 hours
- Certificate Available: Optional, for a fee
- Language: English (subtitles in other languages available)
In the course “Renewable Energy and Green Building Entrepreneurship” by the Duke University, you will learn how to create a successful business in the real estate sector that has a positive impact on the environment.
If your career goal is to start an entrepreneurial journey or if you want to work in a management position, this programme will definitely help you. Not only is it focused on properties, but also has a large part related to renewable energy.
Furthermore, you will get to know a number of concepts and theories:
- Green building design
- Opportunities in renewable energy
- Fundamental of entrepreneurship
- The process of creating a startup
- Many real-world case studies and examples
This free real estate online course is provided by the Duke University, which is located in Durham, North Carolina. The college is ranked 5th in the US and 23rd worldwide. More than 16,000 students are currently enrolled and there are also a number of famous alumni, including CEOs from global companies, US presidents and politicians.
Coursera is the provider for this free online course. The platform has an intuitive and engaging website that helps you succeed in your courses and career.
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10 | Project Delivery Methods and Contracts in Construction Management
- Costs: Free
- Time: 12 hours
- Certificate Available: Optional, for a fee
- Language: English
The real estate construction process is a complex phase which involves many different stakeholders. Architects, engineers, planners, and other consultants all work together to achieve a successful project for the development company or investor.
Coordinating these tasks and people while providing high-quality and staying within the budget, as well as time horizon, needs careful planning. This is where the course “Project Delivery Methods and Contracts in Construction Management” falls into place.
If you want to understand how to manage the construction process, collaborate with different stakeholders and manage various contracts, this free real estate online course is for you.
Other content includes:
- The tasks of a construction manager and contractors
- How to adapt and modify a project
- Controlling costs
- Different types of contracts
- Project management skills
The programme is provided by the University of Maryland and the University System of Maryland. It is one of the top public colleges in the United States and offers numerous courses in real estate, architecture, management, and business.
You can access the course through the online platform “edX”. The organisation provides high-quality online courses in cooperation with internationally recognised universities and companies. Currently, they offer more than 3,600 programmes and have around 42 million users.
11 | Real Estate Fundamentals: Find, Fund, Fix, and Flip
- Costs: Free
- Time: 5 hours
- Certificate Available: Optional, for a fee
- Language: English
One popular way of gaining profits from real estate is by buying properties that are not in the best condition anymore, renovating them, and selling them for a higher amount. In the course “Real Estate Fundamentals: Find, Fund, Fix, and Flip”, the instructor Armando Montelongo will teach you the best strategies to flip buildings successfully.
These strategies can be applied to a variety of properties, from single-family residential homes to multi-family buildings and even other commercial buildings. The course is essentially divided into two parts: one focuses on creating sufficient profits and the other one focuses on receiving funding, including the importance of leverage.
The content includes:
- Identifying suitable properties
- Purchasing them and assessing the deal
- How to add value
- Tax strategies (only for the US)
- Structuring a financing deal
Compared to the other courses on this list, this one has not been created by a university or institution but rather by a private person. Therefore, the certificate gained in this programme might not be as valuable for improving your career. On the other hand, if you are just interested in the topic or want to start your own business it will still be useful. “Real Estate Fundamentals: Find, Fund, Fix, and Flip” was created by Armando Montelongo. He invests in properties and claims to have made around $50 million in profit. In addition, he was also featured in the TV show “Flip This House” and educates others about real estate investment.
The course is offered by Udemy, one of the largest providers of educational online courses. They offer more than 190,000 courses with about 712 million enrollments. Udemy’s programmes range from business, management and finance to art, design and fitness.
12 | Real Estate Essentials
- Costs: Free
- Time: 1 hour
- Certificate Available: Optional, for a fee
- Language: English
The free real estate online course “Real Estate Essentials” by Pierre Carillo, introduces you to property investment and provides a number of strategies that you can use to build up a profitable portfolio.
Even though the course is relatively short compared to others, it will still be a good introduction to the topic of real estate finance because of the wide range of topics that it covers.
Content that will be taught in “Real Estate Essentials” includes:
- What is required to start investing in real estate
- Investment and financing strategies
- How to value and analyse properties efficiently
- Basics of property management
Compared to the other courses on this list, this one has not been created by a university or institution but rather by a private person. Therefore, the certificate gained in this programme might not be as valuable for improving your career. On the other hand, if you are just interested in the topic or want to start your own business it will still be useful. The course was created by Pierre Carillo who is the content manager of the real estate investment company “Roofstock”.
The course is offered by Udemy, one of the largest providers of educational online courses. They offer more than 190,000 courses with about 712 million enrollments. Udemy’s programmes range from business, management and finance to art, design and fitness.
Conclusion
There are many different real estate online courses that are free to access and complete. The variety of topics allows you to advance your career in the right direction, whether you want to work in real estate investment, development, city planning, or also sustainable real estate.
Each of the online platforms that provide these courses offers engaging content, chances to collaborate with other students, and high-quality information. While most of the programmes are offered by renowned universities, some are also created by private people.
If you want to learn more about commercial real estate, PropTech, smart cities, smart buildings, and sustainability, feel free to take a look at our other articles.
