Great Lakes Realty Systems
Great Lakes Realty Systems is a Michigan-based, founder-led provider of state-approved real estate and builder continuing education and prelicense courses, delivered online via glrsonline.com and greatlakescourses.com and through live classrooms across Michigan cities.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1994
- HeadquartersGrandville, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Great Lakes Realty Systems does
Great Lakes Realty Systems, Inc. is a privately held Michigan corporation founded in 1994 by Jack A. Miedema and headquartered in Grandville, Michigan (Grand Rapids metro area). The company provides state-mandated real estate and builder education in Michigan, including online continuing education (CE) for licensed salespersons and brokers, prelicense courses for aspiring real estate professionals, and prelicense plus continuing competency courses for licensed builders, delivered through two main digital properties - glrsonline.com for CE and greatlakescourses.com (an affiliate-referral partner site) for prelicense and builder content - supplemented by live classroom CE courses conducted in cities across Michigan and in Ohio.
The technology stack is a standard web-based e-learning platform with SSL-encrypted transactions, PCI-DSS compliant payment processing (retaining only card type and last four digits), and multi-session course completion paced at roughly 25-30 minutes per lesson, accessible 24/7 across Mac, PC, iPhone, iPad, and major browsers. Course content is organized by Michigan license year (e.g., 2024-2025, 2025-2026, 2026-2027) and bundles mandatory legal-update and fair-housing credits with elective CE hours. The firm has also developed course materials licensed to third-party educators who train agents across the continental US, providing indirect distribution of the content asset.
Revenue is generated primarily through one-time, unit-priced course sales (individual courses at $15-$50) with no subscription model, supported by extended phone and email support hours. Customers are fragmented individual Michigan real estate professionals and builders satisfying license renewal requirements; no enterprise or institutional customers are disclosed. The company is founder-owned and operated, with Jack Miedema serving as President, and reports 11-50 employees with no disclosed external investment or parent entity.
Great Lakes Realty Systems firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Great Lakes Realty Systems
- Legal name
- Great Lakes Realty Systems, Inc.
- Website
- https://glrsonline.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1994
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Great Lakes Realty Systems is a Michigan-based, founder-led provider of state-approved real estate and builder continuing education and prelicense courses, delivered online via glrsonline.com and greatlakescourses.com and through live classrooms across Michigan cities.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Great Lakes Realty Systems industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Real Estate Education
- NAICS
- Educational Support Services (611710), All Other Schools and Instruction (61169)
- SIC
- Services-Educational Services (8200)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Real Estate & Property Services (EDABALAW)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Real Estate Licensure Exam Prep (Salesperson/Broker, Appraiser) (EDANAIAH)
Keywords
Where Great Lakes Realty Systems is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Grandville
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
Great Lakes Realty Systems business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Online Course Sales: One-time purchase of online continuing education courses. Individual courses sold at various price points ($15-$50 per course) with separate courses for different license years and requirements.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | 6 Hour Continuing Education Course - 2026-2027 |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | 3 Hour Legal Update - 2026-2027 |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | 6 Hour CE Course - 2025-2026 |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | 3 Hour Legal Update - 2025-2026 |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | 1 Hour Fair Housing - 2024-2025 |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels2 records
Great Lakes Realty Systems product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Great Lakes Realty Systems, Inc. provides Michigan-specific real estate and builder education, including online and live classroom continuing education courses for license renewal, and prelicense courses for real estate salespersons, brokers, and builders. Courses are sold individually and delivered via a self-serve online platform with multi-session completion, supplemented by in-person classes across Michigan cities.
Product overview
Great Lakes Realty Systems offers a portfolio of real estate and builder education products consisting of Online Michigan Real Estate Continuing Education Courses (organized by fiscal license year with 6-hour, 4-hour, 3-hour, 2-hour, and 1-hour modules covering legal updates, fair housing, and electives), Michigan Real Estate Salesperson Prelicense Courses, Michigan Real Estate Broker Prelicense Courses, Michigan Builder Prelicense Courses, and Michigan Builder Continuing Competency Courses (the latter four delivered via greatlakescourses.com partner platform), plus Live Classroom Courses offered at Michigan and Ohio locations. Supporting infrastructure includes a Course Store for purchasing and a Student Login Portal for continuing enrolled coursework.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Online Michigan Real Estate Continuing Education Courses Online continuing education courses for Michigan real estate agents to fulfill their license renewal requirements, including 6-hour, 4-hour, 3-hour, 2-hour, and 1-hour course modules covering legal updates, fair housing, and elective content. Sold individually at $15-$50 per course and accessed 24/7 via the company's self-serve platform with multi-session completion.
- Michigan Real Estate Salesperson Prelicense Course Prelicense course for individuals seeking to become licensed Michigan real estate salespersons, delivered through the partner platform greatlakescourses.com under an affiliate referral arrangement.
- Michigan Real Estate Broker Prelicense Course Prelicense course for individuals seeking to become licensed Michigan real estate brokers, delivered through the partner platform greatlakescourses.com under an affiliate referral arrangement.
- Michigan Builder Prelicense Course Prelicense course for Michigan builders seeking initial licensure, delivered through the partner platform greatlakescourses.com under an affiliate referral arrangement.
- Michigan Builder Continuing Competency Course Continuing competency course for licensed Michigan builders to maintain their credentials, delivered through the partner platform greatlakescourses.com under an affiliate referral arrangement.
- Live Classroom Continuing Education Courses In-person Michigan real estate continuing education courses offered at locations across Michigan (including Grand Rapids, Detroit, Lansing, Kalamazoo, Alpena, Ann Arbor, Battle Creek, and others) and Ohio, with registration handled directly through the company.
Companies that use Great Lakes Realty Systems
Customer profileSegments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Great Lakes Realty Systems technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature4 records
Great Lakes Realty Systems partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators3 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Great Lakes Realty Systems competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- RealEstateU: Online-only real estate school offering prelicense and CE courses in select states. Closely comparable to GLRS in product, online self-serve delivery, and pricing approach, though with a different geographic footprint.
- Career WebSchool: Online real estate school offering prelicense courses in multiple states. Directly comparable product offering and self-serve online delivery model, serving the same licensed-professional customer base as GLRS.
- VanEd: Online real estate education provider offering prelicense and CE in select states. Comparable in product scope and self-serve online delivery to GLRS, with similar regional/single-state concentration dynamics.
- The CE Shop: Leading online provider of state-approved real estate prelicensing and continuing education across the US. Directly comparable to GLRS in product offering (online CE and prelicense), self-serve delivery model, and target customers (licensed real estate professionals), though operating at much larger scale and across many states.
- Colibri Real Estate (formerly Mbition / OnCourse Learning): Large online real estate education platform offering prelicense, CE, and exam prep across multiple states. Directly comparable in product scope and self-serve online delivery, with greater scale, broader state coverage, and stronger brand investment than GLRS.
Broad incumbents
- 360training (now part of Vervint): Continuing education and training marketplace spanning real estate, financial services, and other regulated industries. Comparable in delivering state-approved online CE for real estate licensees, but serves a much broader industry mix at significantly larger scale.
- Kaplan Real Estate Education: National real estate education brand offering prelicense, CE, and broker licensing courses across most US states. Comparable core product set to GLRS but operates as part of a much larger professional education portfolio with broader geographic reach and marketing budget.
Emerging players
- Institute of Real Estate Education: Smaller online real estate education provider focused on continuing education and prelicense courses in selected states. Comparable in core product and online delivery to GLRS but smaller and less differentiated.
Others
- Real Estate Educators Association (REEA): Industry trade association that awards the DREI designation held by Jack Miedema. Adjacent ecosystem organization rather than a competitor, but it both signals GLRS's industry standing and shapes instructor credentialing that influences buyer trust.
- Michigan REALTORS® (state association): Michigan's state REALTOR association that influences CE standards and whose Instructor-of-the-Year award was given to GLRS's founder. Not a competitor but a key ecosystem participant that sets content expectations and could partner with or compete against GLRS as a CE provider.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Great Lakes Realty Systems social profiles
Digital presenceGreat Lakes Realty Systems compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
Great Lakes Realty Systems financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Great Lakes Realty Systems leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Great Lakes Realty Systems funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Great Lakes Realty Systems M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Great Lakes Realty Systems
What does Great Lakes Realty Systems do?
Great Lakes Realty Systems, Inc. provides Michigan-specific real estate and builder education, including online and live classroom continuing education courses for license renewal, and prelicense courses for real estate salespersons, brokers, and builders. Courses are sold individually and delivered via a self-serve online platform with multi-session completion, supplemented by in-person classes across Michigan cities.
Is Great Lakes Realty Systems a public or private company?
Great Lakes Realty Systems is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Great Lakes Realty Systems founded?
Great Lakes Realty Systems was founded in 1994. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Great Lakes Realty Systems based?
Great Lakes Realty Systems is headquartered in Grandville, United States, in the North America region.
How does Great Lakes Realty Systems make money?
One revenue line is on record: online Course Sales.
Who are Great Lakes Realty Systems's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are RealEstateU, Career WebSchool, VanEd, The CE Shop and Colibri Real Estate (formerly Mbition / OnCourse Learning). Broad incumbents are 360training (now part of Vervint) and Kaplan Real Estate Education. Institute of Real Estate Education is listed as an emerging player. Others are Real Estate Educators Association (REEA) and Michigan REALTORS® (state association).
Does Great Lakes Realty Systems have an API?
No public API is recorded for Great Lakes Realty Systems.
What industry is Great Lakes Realty Systems in?
Great Lakes Realty Systems's product category is Real Estate Education. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDABALAW, Real Estate & Property Services, with a secondary code of EDANAIAH, Real Estate Licensure Exam Prep (Salesperson/Broker, Appraiser). Its NAICS code is 611710 and its SIC code is 8200.