- Larry Beck
Broker Associate
"I began my real estate career with A+ Real Estate School by taking my prelicensing course and have continued to take my continuing education courses yearly with A+ Real Estate School. A+ has always been there to make my real estate career a success."
- Jan Pallas
Broker Associate
Excellence in Real Estate Education since 1994
Welcome to A+ Real Estate School. We were founded in 1994 in Denver, Colorado by Tony Portararo, Ph.D. We are licensed and regulated by the Colorado Department of Higher Education, Division of Private Occupational Schools.
We specialize in providing Colorado real estate continuing education courses to licensed real estate professionals, including real estate sales agents, broker associates, employing brokers and managing brokers. Over the years many experienced REALTORS® have learned negotiation and other advanced real estate skills from Tony and Debi Portararo at A+ Real Estate School. Students have looked to A+ Real Estate School to improve their professional practice while meeting their Colorado Real Estate Commission requirements for continuing professional education.
Tony wrote many courses, including those offered by the A+ Real Estate School, to train and motivate agents to achieve their best results. As the market changes we are adding new classes to teach the latest changes in real estate.
A Select Catalog of Online and Distance Learning Courses
We offer the state's premier selection of Colorado real estate continuing education online and distance learning courses on advanced real estate topics. Tony and Debi Portararo developed these courses based on the live courses they taught in the classroom for years.
View our online and distance learning course catalog.
Our distance learning courses are designed for convenient, efficient use on your own schedule, at your own location. Each course consists of a complete package of learning and reference materials. For course descriptions and order information, please review our Course Catalog .
Your Sole Source to Learn Effective Negotiation
Whether you're in the real estate business or any other business, we are your sole source for learning how to negotiate effectively using the principles and strategies presented in Negotiation: The Complete Story. This is the popular book and distance learning course developed by Tony Portararo based on his lifetime of expertise in human behavior and real estate sales.
About Debi Portararo
Debi Portararo is a seasoned, successful Colorado REALTOR® and educator. Since 1994, she has partnered with her husband Tony Portararo in making the A+ Real Estate School a center of excellence in Colorado real estate education.
A licensed REALTOR® since 1994, Debi first won distinction as a top sales producer and top referral sales producer. Becoming a managing broker in 1996, she has administered a successful real estate business and has trained many local real estate sales agents.
During 15 years with A+ Real Estate School, Debi taught the fundamentals of real estate to students seeking to enter the industry. She also taught pre-licensing classes to prepare students to take the State of Colorado real estate license exam. Along the way, she has helped many students establish their careers in the Colorado real estate industry.
Today, as owner of the A+ Real Estate School, Debi administers the company's distance learning curriculum and continuing education services.
About Tony Portararo
Both founder and director of the A+ Real Estate School, Tony Portararo, Ph.D. was an expert in human behavior, an experienced educator and a successful businessman in Colorado real estate. He earned his doctorate from Penn State University where he studied urban form and the movement patterns of people, information, goods and services within cities.
As a university professor, he taught at Penn State University and at the University of Maryland, where he was also appointed department chair. As a researcher, he published numerous articles in professional journals. His doctoral thesis analyzed the movements of people within metropolitan Denver, Colorado.
Upon returning to Denver in 1982, Tony entered the real estate industry. He earned his GRI and CRS REALTOR® designations and became broker-owner of the highly-successful Metro Broker Real Estate Merchants, Inc. He served as president of the North Suburban Board of REALTORS® and was a director of the Colorado Association of REALTORS®. He was named by the National Association of Real Estate Executives as a charter member of The National Million Dollar Roundtable, recognizing the nation's top real estate professionals. He also received awards for being within the top 1% in sales volume of all real estate agents in the United States.
Tony wrote many courses, including those offered by the A+ Real Estate School, to train and motivate agents to achieve their best results. As the market changes we are adding new courses to teach the latest changes in Real Estate.
About Oliver Frascona
- Practice Areas. Mr. Frascona practices in the following areas: Real Estate, Brokerage, Law, Contracts, Finance, Foreclosure, Land Use, Leasing, Real Estate Title, Business Law, Association Law, and related Litigation.
- Attorney. Shareholder in the law firm of Frascona, Joiner, Goodman and Greenstein, P.C., 1974 - Present. Clients include first and second mortgage lenders (banks, savings and loans, mortgage companies), hundreds of real estate brokers and salespersons, real estate companies, developers, property management companies, builders, subcontractors, suppliers, buyers and sellers, and he represents eighteen Colorado Associations of REALTORS®.
Other:
- Instructor. Presents various programs, workshops and seminars for The National Association of REALTORS®, The Colorado Association of REALTORS® and approximately 350 various boards/associations of REALTORS® throughout the Continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii and Canada.
- Instructor Certification Designations:
- Real Estate Educators Association - DREI designation
- National Association of REALTORS® - Certified Professional Standards Instructor
- Graduate Risk Reduction Training Instructor
- Colorado Association of REALTORS® - GRI Certificate Program Certified Senior Instructor (Contracts, Law, Agency)
- Cuyahoga Plan (Fair Housing Law and Practice in Real Estate) - Certified Instructor
- 1993 Colorado Association of REALTORS® Vice President for Education
About Sheila Surber
Sheila has been a certified occupational instructor in real estate and mortgages since 1994. She obtained her Employing Brokers license in 1997 and has been in the real estate industry since 1988. Sheila received her degree in Paralegal in 1998. She belongs to several organizations, CHRB (Colorado Housing Resource Board) board member, CHRB education committee chairman and has taught Fair Housing classes throughout the state, Denver Odyssey 2001 Steering Committee, and Responsible Lending Taskforce.
About Michael Welk
Michael Welk is the Managing Broker of Short Sales at Your Castle Real Estate. He has been a real estate educator since 2007, and presents classes to the real estate community on short sales, distressed properties, and real estate trends. He has co-authored two books on real estate investing and agent development. He is the current Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Jefferson County Association of Realtors. He has been on the Board of Directors since 2007. He also serves on multiple committees at the State Association. His passion is to educate fellow Realtors and to educate and assist the general public.