Educating Realtors®
Students are welcomed by the modern design of the Institute’s lobby. (Photo courtesy of SnapWerx)
State-of-the-art facilities and technology distinguish the Canopy Real Estate Institute.
Canopy Real Estate Institute
Founded in 1972 by Vane and Margrette “Mike” Mingle, Canopy Real Estate Institute is one of the oldest and most successful continuously operating real estate schools in North Carolina.
The Institute offers licensing (pre and post), continuing education, designation and certificate courses for people seeking to begin or advance their real estate careers in North and South Carolina. Staff and instructors are accomplished real estate professionals who teach classes weekdays, evenings and weekends for the convenience of students.
“Let our experience be your best teacher” has been the Institute’s motto since it began.
Classes are typically held in the professional, technology-equipped classrooms at the Canopy Realtor® Association headquarters, which opened in 2019 in Midtown Charlotte. During the pandemic, classes moved online in the spring of 2020, where they continue to be held through the first half of 2021.
Early Days
The Institute began in March 1972 as a single review course in Raleigh for the North Carolina real estate licensing exam. Bemis Lawrence and Vane Mingle —who had served as the Association’s first executive officer in the late 1950s and early 1960s — taught the course.
Two months later, a similar class was held in Charlotte. The Mingle School of Real Estate grew from those modest beginnings to an established education operation housed at Queens College (now Queens University) starting in 1976.
The Association bought the school in 1993, moved it to its offices and retained the Mingle School of Real Estate name for more than two decades. In 2019, the name changed to Canopy Real Estate Institute as part of the rebranding of the Association and its entities under the Canopy umbrella.