California Real Estate License Requirements in 2026: A Plain-English Checklist

California DRE states the age rule precisely: you must be at least 18 when the license is issued. The rule is about issuance, so being under 18 does not make real estate education useless. It means DRE cannot issue the credential yet.

DRE also requires applicants to be honest and truthful. Its public requirements page says a criminal conviction may result in denial. That wording matters. It is not a promise of approval, and it is not a statement that every conviction produces an automatic denial. If your history raises a disclosure question, read the current form and DRE instructions word for word. Do not rely on a school, recruiter, or blog to tell you to leave something out.

The standard route requires three college-level courses: Real Estate Principles, Real Estate Practice, and one elective from DRE's 12-course list. The elective may be appraisal, property management, finance, economics, legal aspects, office administration, accounting, business law, escrows, mortgage loan brokering and lending, computer applications in real estate, or common interest developments.

The familiar phrase "135 hours" needs a little care. DRE says each course it approves is at least 45 hours, which produces 135 hours across three DRE-approved courses. For college or university credit, DRE states the rule as three semester units or four quarter units per course. The legal requirement is successful completion of the three qualifying courses, supported by acceptable records.

Real Estate Practice courses used to qualify must include current implicit bias and fair housing components. The fair housing portion must include interactive role play from both the consumer's and the real estate professional's perspectives. That rule applies to qualifying Practice courses submitted on or after January 1, 2024.

California uses a two-part gate. First, DRE must decide that you qualify to sit for the written salesperson examination. Then you must pass it. Passing is necessary, but it does not make you licensed on the spot. DRE must also receive and approve the license application, fingerprints, fee, and any required supporting documents.

You can file an examination-only application on RE 400A and apply for the license after passing. You can also use the combined Salesperson Exam/License Application, RE 435. The combined filing costs $450 in DRE fees, the same $100 examination fee plus the $350 original license fee paid together. The best route depends on sequencing and current DRE processing queues, not on a difference in the total DRE fee.

DRE's licensing checklist requires a Social Security number or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number. Original license applicants must also submit one set of classifiable fingerprints acceptable to the California Department of Justice.

California residents normally use Live Scan and pay the $49 fingerprint processing fee directly to the provider. Applicants who live outside California submit fingerprints through DRE's fingerprint-card process and send the $49 fee to DRE with the license materials. Provider charges, if any, are separate from the state processing fee.