California DRE salesperson exam prep
California real estate exam prep, one clear next step at a time.
Start with 249 free practice questions and guides to all seven DRE content areas. Review the rules behind your answers, work through calculations, and use your results to choose your next study session.
On the App Store or Google Play, or study in your browser. Everything on this site is free to use now, with no account and no email. Try five questions with explanations for every answer.
249 original practice questions
Practice matched to all 7 official weights
Confidence and missed-question review
Immediate explanations without a result wall
Pass California
Mobile study app
Today's weighted plan
Study what moves your score
100%
- Practice and Disclosures25%
about 38 of 150 questions
- Agency and Fiduciary Duties17%
about 26 of 150 questions
- Ownership and Land Use15%
about 23 of 150 questions
- Valuation and Analysis14%
about 21 of 150 questions
- Contracts12%
about 18 of 150 questions
- Financing9%
about 14 of 150 questions
- Transfer of Property8%
about 12 of 150 questions
What would help you study today?
Choose a short task, then use what you learn to plan the next session.
Practice across all seven areas
Try a weighted set and review the rules behind your answers.
Practice choosing the calculation
Solve mixed California exam math without a topic label giving away the formula.
Review a formula and worked example
Check how commission, loan, valuation, and property calculations are set up.
Study away from the screen
Print the exam outline and reference sheets for a focused review session.
Plan around your available hours
Allocate time across the official areas, then adjust for your weaker subjects.
Return to a mistake or a guess
Revisit saved answers in this browser and explain the rule in your own words.
Try a practice question
See how a practice question becomes a study lesson.
Choose an answer. The explanation appears here, without asking for an email or hiding your result. Each question is mapped to DRE's topic list and recorded locally so your weak areas can guide what you study next.
- Original questions, not copied examination material
- Immediate reasoning for the rule and the exam trap
- Progress stored in your browser, not behind an account
A salesperson receives a $5,000 good-faith deposit check made payable to the seller. What must happen to it?
Written to DRE's published topic list. Not a real examination question, since reproducing those is a misdemeanor under B&P Code section 123.
The California salesperson examination, at a glance
150
questions
Four options each, no penalty for guessing
3 hrs
to complete it
About 72 seconds a question
70%
to pass
105 of 150 correct
5
examination centers
In person only, no remote option
Start with the official weights. Adjust with your results.
The three heaviest areas account for 57% of the examination. That is the right baseline for a new study plan, but your practice results should move time toward any weaker area.
Weight gives you the baseline
DRE publishes the percentage assigned to every content area. Begin with that distribution so a low-value topic does not quietly consume a high-value share of your week.
Your results personalize it
A published weight cannot know that agency is already your strength or financing is your weakness. Practice by area, then direct the next study block where weight and performance show the largest risk.
Every number remains checkable
Fees, deadlines, exam rules, and content weights link to the DRE page used and show the date reviewed. You can confirm a regulated claim before acting on it.
Start with the answer that matches your situation
Choose where you are now and continue with a route built for that moment.
One California-specific preparation system
Everything from first application to the final answer choice.
Follow California's licensing steps, learn the exam subjects, practice calculations, and prepare for exam day. Each part links to the next so you can return to a rule, try a question, or check an official source.
The California DRE candidate library
86 guides answer the decisions, edge cases, and exam questions that need more room than a product page. They follow one editorial roadmap, avoid repeating the core site, and connect each answer to the next useful action.
Guide 1 of 156
11 min
California Real Estate License Requirements in 2026: A Plain-English Checklist
A source-checked qualification checklist for first-time California salesperson applicants, including the requirements people miss and the credentials they do not need.
Guide 27 of 156
13 min
California Real Estate Exam Questions, Time, and Passing Score
The authoritative numerical answer, with transparent passing and pacing math, approximate-weight limits, electronic-delivery facts, and score-report interpretation.
Guide 47 of 156
20 min
California Trust Account Deadlines: Deposit, Record, and Reconcile
A trigger-based timeline from salesperson receipt to deposit, control and beneficiary records, monthly close, broker-share removal, and three-year retention.
Guide 71 of 156
30 min
Option Contract vs Right of First Refusal
Use the control test, then examine formation, trigger, notice, exercise, commercial equivalence, lease status, and the post-decline sale.
A reference you can audit
Accuracy is part of the interface. You should be able to see where a regulated claim came from, when it was checked, and how we handle uncertainty.
Primary sources first
DRE pages, California statutes, regulations, and official forms take priority over prep-company summaries and recycled search results.
Review dates stay visible
Articles show their recorded source-review date separately from publication and editing dates. Check the linked official source before acting on a rule that may have changed.
Uncertainty is not hidden
When official DRE pages conflict, both positions are shown. Corrections and editorial standards are public, and no pass guarantee is invented.
The Pass California mobile app
Try the lessons here. Keep your study routine in the app.
The app is designed to turn practice into a personal study loop: answer, rate confidence, understand the rule, revisit mistakes, and direct the next session by official exam weight. You can test the whole teaching approach on this site first, free and without an account.
View app features and store linksPass California
Mobile app preview
Your next highest-value move
Practice and Disclosures
25%Continue with your heaviest unfinished area
Practice
and review
7
areas
Saved
progress
What the official pass-rate number does and does not mean
DRE reports that 51% of salesperson examinations administered in August 2026 received a passing result. That is the latest monthly rate available on August 27, 2026, and it includes first attempts and retakes. DRE has separately published historical first-time cohorts; those have different periods and populations. We do not relabel the monthly overall number. We also publish no real examination questions, because reproducing them is a misdemeanor under Business and Professions Code section 123 with damages up to $10,000. How we decide what to publish
Common questions about the California salesperson exam
How many questions are on the California real estate salesperson exam?
150 multiple choice questions with four options each, in a three-hour session. You must answer at least 70% correctly, which is 105 questions, to pass. The broker examination is different: 200 questions over four hours with a 75% pass mark.
What does it cost to get a California real estate license?
The examination fee is $100 and the license fee is $350, or $450 filed together on the combined RE 435 application. Live Scan fingerprinting is $49, paid to the provider rather than to DRE. Those fees increased on July 1, 2024, the first increase since 1997, so older figures still circulating are wrong.
Do I need to live in California to get a California real estate license?
No. There is no California residency requirement. Out-of-state applicants must file a notarized, irrevocable Consent to Service of Process on form RE 234 with their application.
How many courses do I need before the California real estate exam?
Real Estate Principles, Real Estate Practice and one of twelve approved electives. DRE-approved private-school courses are at least 45 hours each; qualifying college courses carry three semester units or four quarter units each. Continuing education does not satisfy this requirement. California State Bar members have a statutory course exemption.
Will I be told my score if I pass the California real estate exam?
No. DRE states that because the examination is qualifying in nature, examinees who pass are not informed of their final score. You are told the actual score, and the percentage correct in each subject area, only when you are unsuccessful.
How many times can I retake the California real estate exam?
There is no limit during the two-year period following the filing of your original application. After two years you must file a new application, requalify against all statutory requirements, and pay the fee again. Do not reapply before your results arrive, or your record is flagged and results withheld while additional fees are assessed.
What is the California real estate salesperson exam pass rate?
DRE reported a 51% overall pass rate for salesperson examinations administered in August 2026. That includes first attempts and retakes. DRE has also published first-time results for earlier fiscal-year cohorts; those are a different population and period. An overall monthly rate is not your personal chance of passing.