Allied Schools

What it is

Allied Schools is a real estate school that teaches online. It covers the whole licensing path: pre-licensing courses, state exam preparation, continuing education for license renewal and broker upgrade courses, plus a set of professional development certifications for working agents. The home page calls it "California's leading real estate school" and says it brings "over 30 years of real estate education", and the California page adds that "More than 350,000 real estate professionals got their start with Allied Schools." The business is Allied Schools, LLC. Its footer links to related services under a "Home Services" heading, among them Colibri Real Estate, McKissock and the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing.

The learner is someone entering real estate or already working in it, and the site describes the school as "a partner for your entire real estate career". Most of the detail on the site is for California, where Allied sells a 135-hour pre-license program in both online and livestream versions. The menu also offers a California Membership and a Multi-State Membership, and the course selector includes a training program in Spanish.

Getting licensed in California

The Essentials package is "The required 135-hour pre-license coursework", taken online at the learner's own pace. The school also sells its online courses one at a time, each listed at 45 hours: Real Estate Principles, Real Estate Practice, Legal Aspects of Real Estate, Real Estate Appraisal, Real Estate Economics, Real Estate Escrow, Real Estate Finance, Real Estate Office Administration and Real Estate Property Management. The Principles course "covers all the subjects mandated by the California Department of Real Estate", from real estate law, ownership, titles, liens and taxes to appraisal, finance, closings and professional ethics. The Practice course covers agency relationships, listing agreements, property disclosures, pricing property, preparing and negotiating offers, completing a residential purchase agreement, loan qualifying and closing transactions. Each course carries the sponsor code S0639, and the California page gives "Allied Real Estate Schools Provider Approval number S0639".

The online course comes with a set of study tools. Learners get live instructor support for questions, downloadable PDF versions of the course e-books, and audio narration so they can listen to the material while reading along. For the exam there are flashcards, vocabulary matching tools and simulated practice exams "that mirror the state exam", plus a Readiness Indicator that tracks progress and shows when a learner is ready to sit the state exam. Instructor-led exam prep webinars run live, and the page says learners can join as many as they like. Printed textbooks are part of the top package or can be bought separately.

Learners who want a class schedule can take the livestream version instead, taught by instructors "live and in real time" with other classmates, from home. The California page lists cohorts on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, Tuesday and Thursday full days, and Saturday and Sunday full days, with start dates spread across the fall.

Exam prep and the guarantee

Allied sells exam prep on the point that "your real estate exam can have questions not covered in the state's pre-licensing curriculum." Its headline offer is the Pass or Don't Pay guarantee. The terms on the California page read: "After completing our prep program, we guarantee a first-time pass on your state exam. If not, send us your state's failure notice and we'll reimburse the original cost of either your full pre-licensing or exam prep package you purchased." On that page the guarantee is attached to the Professional and Ultimate Learning packages, not to Essentials. The page also carries the banner "HIGHEST PASS RATE IN STATE OF CALIFORNIA", without a figure behind it.

Most of the reviews shown on the California page are about the instructor-led prep, and especially about instructor Gary Farris and his crammer sessions. Debra Tourigny writes that "The 3-hour Wednesday sessions are packed with valuable insights", and Alan Hsu credits Farris's "pre-recorded lectures and 12 practice quizzes" for passing his salesperson exam. Sonam Popli says Farris "made complex real estate concepts easy to understand and focused on the topics most important for passing the exam", and Claudia E says he "creates an amazing online classroom atmosphere that is engaging, supportive, and easy to learn in." Several reviewers say they passed the California salesperson or broker exam on the first attempt. The review widget shows "4.3 Based on 208 reviews", and the page states that the online courses "earn an average rating of 4.3 out of 5 stars." The school says its courses are "designed and taught by experienced real estate professionals" and that its instructors "have almost 80 years of combined real estate experience".

Prices and payment

The California page publishes its prices. Essentials, the 135-hour coursework on its own, lists at $165. Professional, which adds what the page calls comprehensive exam preparation and the guarantee, lists at $299. Ultimate Learning, "Everything in Professional, to guarantee you pass the exam, plus printed textbooks", lists at $429. Each livestream cohort lists at $499. Single online courses are $68 each, except Real Estate Practice at $99, and printed textbooks are $14.95 each. The page also shows promotional codes beside the packages (SAVENOW20, SAVENOW30 and SAVENOW40) that take 20, 30 or 40 percent off. Payment can be spread through Affirm, subject to an eligibility check; the disclaimer gives rates between 0 and 36% APR. A Financing Options page and a Refund Policy sit in the site menu.

Continuing education, broker courses and development

For licensed agents, the home page explains that "All licensed agents have to renew their real estate license on a regular schedule" and that Allied has "course packages to help you meet this requirement and stay compliant." The menu lists a California Membership and a Multi-State Membership next to the continuing education courses. Stockton Farnsworth of Salt Lake City, a reviewer who holds six designations, writes that "this course and membership provide more resources than any other."

Agents moving up to broker get broker license courses that offer "refreshers of pre-licensing materials as well as new education that will help you pass the exam and improve your skills." Beyond licensing, the professional development line covers Certified Real Estate AI Specialist, Certified Commercial Real Estate Essentials, Certified Property Management Expert, Certified Negotiation Expert, Certified Buyer Agent Expert, and Real Estate Leadership and Career Achievement, with the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing listed alongside them.

The Spanish-language training program shows up in testimonials written in Spanish by agents at Canvas RE, United Realty and Partnership Realty. They praise the team, the quality of the materials and the way the workshop is run, and one recommends it to new and established licensees alike.

The site also runs free resources: a Free Practice Exam, a California Real Estate Journal, a Career Hub with career guides, a career expo and a broker finder, and a commission calculator. Support runs by phone and through enrollment advisors, and the school promises plenty of live support.

Who it suits

Allied fits people working toward a California salesperson license who want a packaged route with live help and a refund if they fail the exam on the first attempt. The Professional package is the cheapest one that carries the guarantee. Learners who study better on a timetable can choose a livestream cohort, and those who just need the required hours can buy Essentials or single courses. It also suits California agents moving to a broker license, and agents who want designations in areas such as negotiation, property management, commercial real estate or AI tools.

It is a narrower fit outside California. There is a Multi-State Membership, but the pre-license courses, prices and approval number on the site are California's. Learners who choose Essentials or single courses to save money should note that the guarantee belongs to the higher packages. And it is a school for real estate licensing and practice only, so it offers nothing to anyone training for another profession.