Learn how real estate brokers start their own licensing school with remote & in person classes, how to develop fee structures & compensation structures for instructors, and how to increase attendance.
If you’re a real estate broker or team leader looking to grow your brokerage, it’s time to reconsider the traditional recruiting mindset. Many brokers make the mistake of saying, “I only want to recruit top agents.” While this sounds appealing, it creates a major blind spot—and a missed opportunity. To build a thriving, scalable, and collaborative business, you need to think bigger.
One of the most strategic and effective ways to do that? Open your own real estate licensing school.
In this blog, I’ll break down exactly how real estate brokers start their own licensing school, why it’s easier than you think, and how doing so can fuel massive growth for your business.
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VIDEO: How Real Estate Brokers Start Their Own Licensing School
Why New Agents Are Essential to Your Growth
Let’s start with a foundational truth: top agents need new agents.
Unless your top producer is only selling 20 homes a year, they’re probably running a team or functioning like one. If they’re closing 50 or more transactions annually, the most valuable support you can give them is people. That means recruiting and supplying them with new agents who can fill essential roles—like buyer’s agents, showing specialists, ISAs, or listing partners.
Now imagine sitting down with a high-performing team leader and saying:
“Join our brokerage and I’ll help you recruit five new agents this year.”
That’s an irresistible offer—and it’s a game changer for your recruiting.
The Power of a Licensing School
Opening your own real estate licensing school gives you the ability to recruit by attraction. It provides tremendous value to your existing agents, your teams, and your leadership pipeline. Even better, it’s easier than you might think.
You don’t have to build a school from scratch. Many well-known companies offer turnkey solutions:
Kaplan
VanEd
First Tuesday
These providers have state-approved curriculum, pre-recorded video content, instructor manuals, exam prep kits, and more. You can simply license the content and start running classes under your own brand. Some platforms even allow live streaming or in-person instruction based on your preference.
Two Easy Formats to Get Started
There are two primary ways to operate your licensing school:
Virtual Classes – Great for brokerages with multiple offices or dispersed agents.
In-Office Classes – Even better when possible. Why? Because they create ENERGY.
When you host classes in person, the whole office benefits. The buzz and excitement from new agents learning and engaging becomes contagious. It also turns your office into a “fishing pond” for team leaders—making it easier for them to find talent right in your building.
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Brokerage / Corporate Coaching Program
With the Brokerage / Corporate Real Estate Coaching Program, ICT will help firms set up the most effective and efficient systems for recruiting, agent onboarding, commission & fee structures, agent engagement & retention systems, recruiting, administrative work-flows, transaction management, staff hiring, agent onboarding, productivity training & accountability, financials & budgeting, marketing and much more!
Monetizing & Staffing Your School
You can charge students for the course—say $500 per person. That revenue gives you flexibility:
Pay a licensing school director a cut (e.g., 50/50 split).
Incentivize them to grow enrollment.
Or even give them 100% of the fee if they bring large class sizes.
That school director role is strategic. Rather than just filling it with someone already on your team, use it to attract influential agents from outside your brokerage—people who are active in your local Association of Realtors, passionate about teaching, and already know tons of agents.
These directors often:
Only sell 6-10 homes/year.
Are highly respected and visible in your community.
Have been wanting a leadership opportunity like this for years.
And because they teach and lead classes, students become loyal to them. When those students pass their exams and get licensed, where do you think they’ll want to hang their license? Right where their teacher works—your office.
A Scalable System That Attracts Agents Automatically
If you’re burned out from training new agents yourself, chances are you lack a scalable system. Your training may not be recorded, up-to-date, or consistent. That’s what makes new agents feel like a burden.
But when you use licensing school content—video-based, prebuilt, professional—you remove yourself from that bottleneck.
Even better, you create an environment where:
Agents aren’t competing—they’re collaborating.
Experienced agents step into leadership roles.
Energy and culture soar.
New agents feel supported, welcomed, and productive.
That’s how brokerages scale. That’s how top teams thrive. And that’s why starting your own licensing school is one of the most powerful tools in your growth arsenal.
To build a thriving, scalable, and collaborative business, you need to think bigger.
One of the most strategic and effective ways to do that? Open your own real estate licensing school.
Brian Icenhower
How Real Estate Brokers Start Their Own Licensing School (Step-by-Step)
Here’s a breakdown of how real estate brokers start their own licensing school:
Step 1: Partner with an Approved Education Provider
Choose a vendor with licensing in your state. The CE Shop, Kaplan, VanEd, and others offer plug-and-play solutions. Make sure their content is approved by your state’s real estate commission.
Step 2: Choose a Format (Virtual or In-Office)
Decide whether you’ll run sessions virtually, in person, or a hybrid. In-office brings the most synergy and visibility—but virtual can broaden your reach.
Step 3: Select & Incentivize a School Director
This person should be a connector, not necessarily a top producer. Let them earn a percentage of each student’s tuition, incentivizing them to promote and grow the program.
Step 4: Promote It Like a Marketing Funnel
Create a landing page or blog post with SEO keywords like:
“Real Estate Licensing School in [Your City]”
“Get Your Real Estate License in [Your Area]”
Shoot a short video explaining the course and post it to YouTube (owned by Google). Embed the video on your landing page and share it on social, in email newsletters, and with your agents to pass along.
Step 5: Leverage Your Current Agents
Remember, most people interested in real estate get referred by an agent. If you have 200 agents and they each send one person to your school, that’s 200 new agents considering your brokerage. Make it easy for them to refer: give them flyers, links, videos, and talking points.
Step 6: Integrate Students into Your Culture Early
Invite licensing students to:
Weekly office meetings
Agent training sessions
Social events
Panel discussions
Recognize them publicly. Have them stand up. Celebrate their progress. When they’re ready to choose a brokerage, yours will feel like home.
Step 7: Use SEO to Drive Organic Leads
Local search is a goldmine. Very few licensing schools optimize their web presence. You can easily show up in Google results by:
Using keyword-rich blog titles like “Real Estate Licensing School in Scottsdale”
Embedding videos on your website
Publishing short posts that include location-specific terms
Creating redirect domains like ScottsdaleRealEstateLicense.com (use GoDaddy)
The result? New prospects will find your school via search engines or tools like ChatGPT—and ultimately, find their way to your brokerage.
Build a Leadership Bench While Growing Market Share
The best brokerages don’t just lead agents—they lead leaders. A real estate licensing school helps you build a leadership bench:
Directors become spokespeople and role models.
Teams have a talent pool to hire from.
Top producers stay engaged and motivated.
Culture deepens.
This creates a thriving, collaborative office—not one that operates in silos or holds back growth out of fear.
The Bottom Line: Growth vs. Scarcity Mindset
Some brokers stay small because they believe:
“New agents are a hassle.”
“They never make it.”
“I only want top producers.”
But that’s scarcity thinking.
What if we focused on the new agents who do make it? What if we created a system that trains, mentors, and launches careers—so that those top producers want to work with us because we can feed them?
Opening a real estate licensing school gives you the system to do just that. It’s not about saving a few bucks or getting the cheapest split—it’s about creating opportunity and momentum.
And trust me, once your school is up and running, you’ll feel the energy. You’ll see the change. Your meetings will be packed. Your agents will be engaged. Your teams will be hiring. And your brokerage will be growing—because you took the time to learn how real estate brokers start their own licensing school.
Ready to take the next step?
If you’re serious about recruiting by attraction and building a scalable real estate business, start exploring your options for opening a licensing school today. You’ll be amazed by what it can do—not just for your agent count, but for your office culture, leadership bench, and long-term success.
