Chamberlin Real Estate School

What Chamberlin Real Estate School is

Chamberlin Real Estate School is a California real estate school that sells its licensing courses online at reschool.com. It is a learner product, built for someone who wants a California real estate salesperson or broker license, and for licensed agents who need continuing education to renew. The school lists a San Jose address, describes itself as "Family Owned & Operated Since 1949", and its home page headline calls it "California's #1 Real Estate School Since 1949." Everything it teaches is specific to California: the pricing page says "Since 1949, we have delivered California specific content and exam prep to help you pass the state exam."

The site's program list covers six areas: the California Real Estate License, a Pre-License Course Package, the California Broker License, California Real Estate Continuing Education, California Real Estate Exam Prep, and an MLO License Renewal Course for mortgage loan originators. The home page invites you to "Join Over 100,000+ Professionals Who Started Their Career with Chamberlin."

How the pre-license courses work

California requires three approved pre-license courses before you may sit the state exam: Real Estate Principles, Real Estate Practice, and one elective of your choice. Chamberlin's FAQ explains how its online courses run. You can "Access courses 24/7 from any device", and "Course progress is saved as you go." Each course has 15 chapter quizzes of 10 questions, each needing 60% to pass, and the final exam stays locked until every quiz is done. The final itself is a 100-question multiple choice exam with a 2.5-hour limit and a 60% pass mark, and it is open book, as California pre-license finals are.

If you fail the final, the FAQ says you can take it again immediately, though the school recommends going back over the course first. Fail it a second time and you wait "2-1/2 weeks (18 days)" before the next attempt and must retake the quizzes, which the school notes is a DRE regulation.

Pacing is set by the state. The FAQ says the Department of Real Estate allows a final exam no sooner than 18 calendar days after enrolling in a course, so three courses take at least 54 days. The DRE's maximum is 1 year from enrollment, and Chamberlin gives that full year: "Chamberlin allows the maximum of 1 year. Many schools only allow 6 months to complete courses and then charge you an extension fee." After the three courses you apply to the DRE to take the state exam, and the FAQ warns the application can take 6 to 8 weeks to be approved.

Help comes from a named person. The school says "All pre-license students are assigned a 'Personal Instructor' to answer content-related questions," and that its instructors "are licensed real estate professionals with real-world experience." The About page frames this as a selling point against "impersonal out-of-state online schools", saying you will always speak to one of its staff during the licensing process. Technical problems with the course platform go to the ProU.net Help Center.

Textbooks and electives

Chamberlin publishes the textbooks behind its courses, and each comes as an online course or a printed book. Real Estate Principles uses "California Real Estate Principles" by Charles O. Stapleton III and Martha R. Williams, which the site calls "the most comprehensive introduction to the California real estate business." Real Estate Practice uses "California Real Estate Practice" by Lowell Anderson, William H. Pivar and Daniel S. Otto, which the description says has been updated to include content on unconscious bias. Elective and broker titles on the course description page include California Real Estate Finance (Minnie Lush and David Sirota), California Legal Aspects of Real Estate (William Pivar and Robert J. Bruss), California Real Estate Economics (Ignacio Gonzalez), Property Management (Robert C. Kyle and Maria S. Spodek), Real Estate Office Administration using Real Estate Brokerage: A Management Guide by Erica Ramus, California Real Estate Appraisal (Ventolo & Williams) and a course on escrow and title. The same catalog of courses serves the broker license, which the site lists under "Upgrade to Broker."

Exam prep and the crash course

The state exam is where the school puts its emphasis. The exam prep page offers "California Exam Questions" and a "1-Day Zoom Crash Course", says both are "continuously updated to provide the most current information", and recommends daily practice quizzes while you wait for your test date and attending the crash course "1-2 weeks before your test." The home page describes the exam prep and crash course as "updated from student feedback." Student reviews keep returning to it: one reviewer writes, "Take the crash course with Gene it is key to passing!"

Packages and prices

The pricing page and home page list three pre-license packages, each shown as a sale price against a higher list price:

• Premier Package, $440 (from $586, "Save $146"): "Courses + Exam Prep + Crash Course - Get three textbooks with Free Shipping!"
• Career Package, $350 (from $466, "Save $116"): "Courses + Exam Prep + Crash Course", described as "Our most popular package to pass on the first try!"
• Essential Package, $260 (from $317, "Save $57"): "Best if you are a self starter. Get the courses and exam prep needed for the state exam."

The feature list on the packages covers payment "in 4 installments with Afterpay", a "30 Day Money Back Guarantee", an audio version of the course ("Listen to Audio Course"), the 3 pre-license courses, California exam prep, instructor support, "12 months Access to Course", exam application assistance, the "Live 1-day Webinar Crash Course with Hot Questions" and three physical textbooks with no shipping fee. Going by the package descriptions, the textbooks come with Premier and the crash course with Premier and Career, while Essential is the courses plus exam prep.

The guarantee reads: "If you don't like the courses over the next 30 days, we will happily refund your purchase. No questions asked." It is signed by Marty Zankich, Owner. It is a satisfaction refund on the courses, not a pass guarantee.

Approvals and history

The school says it "is accredited by the Department of Real Estate (DRE) in California for both pre-license education and continuing education," with DRE Sponsor No. S0692 and CE Sponsor No. 6354, and the footer adds NMLS Sponsor ID 1400276 for its mortgage loan originator renewal course. Its FAQ confirms that "all Chamberlin California courses are approved by the California Department of Real Estate."

The About page tells the history in four generations. Carol Chamberlin started the school in 1949 to help people preparing for the state licensing exam. Her son George took it over in 1959 after earning his broker's license, with his wife Louise running staff, front office and accounting. Their son Mark took over in 1989, and in 1997, the page says, Chamberlin "became the first DRE approved real estate school to offer online courses." Since 2022 the school has been owned by Marty Zankich, whose family came from banking and commercial real estate; the page describes the sale as a transfer "from one local family to another local family."

Who it suits

Chamberlin fits a California resident starting from zero who wants a structured route with a person to call. The FAQ says the courses "are designed for beginners just entering the real estate profession or switching from another career." The full year of access suits people studying around a job, and the Career and Premier packages suit learners who want the live crash course rather than practice questions alone. Licensed agents can come back for CE and the broker courses, as several reviewers did. One writes that she used the school for her license "almost 8 years ago" and then for her first and second renewals.

It is no use outside California, since every course and the exam prep are written for the California exam and DRE rules. Out-of-state residents can still apply for a California license; the FAQ says they file a Consent to Service of Process form (RE 234) with the DRE. Phone support runs Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 4:00pm, so evening-only learners will lean on the online course and the Help Center.