California salesperson exam study guide
The California DRE salesperson exam has 150 multiple-choice questions across seven official content areas. DRE publishes an approximate weight for each one, from 25% down to 8%, so you can build a study plan around the real blueprint instead of treating every subject as equally likely.
7
content areas
150
questions
3 hrs
time limit
70%
to pass
Ordered by study priority, from the heaviest weight to the lightest. Each card preserves DRE's official area number so the page matches the state syllabus and your study guide.
Includes Specialty Areas
The exam's largest area. Learn trust funds, fair housing, advertising, supervision, DRE enforcement, property management and California disclosure rules as one practical system.
Official subtopics include
25%
of the exam, approximately
Who you represent, when that duty begins, and what you owe someone you do not represent. Study California's agency disclosures and the duties that continue when dual agency is properly disclosed and consented to.
Official subtopics include
17%
of the exam, approximately
What can be owned, how it is held, and what limits its use. Distinguish ownership interests, public and private controls, environmental hazards, and California water-rights rules.
Official subtopics include
15%
of the exam, approximately
All three official DRE valuation topics in one practical guide: value principles, the sales comparison, cost and income approaches, and the financial analysis that turns property data into a defensible answer.
Official subtopics include
14%
of the exam, approximately
All eight official DRE contract topics in one California-specific guide, from formation and representation agreements to purchase offers, notes, options, remedies, and advance fees.
Official subtopics include
12%
of the exam, approximately
All eight official DRE financing topics in one California-specific guide, from loan structures and government programs to foreclosure, credit laws, brokerage, and MLO licensing.
Official subtopics include
9%
of the exam, approximately
All seven official DRE transfer topics in one California-specific guide, from title insurance and deeds to taxes, probate, recording, and vesting.
Official subtopics include
8%
of the exam, approximately
The percentages are the best available planning guide, but they are not a promise about one specific test form.
DRE publishes all seven approximate weights, and they total 100%. They are the right baseline for allocating study time and building a representative mock exam.
DRE does not publish an exact count per area. Multiplying each weight by 150 and rounding produces estimates that total 152, not 150.
DRE says an individual test samples the broad field of real estate and may not cover every listed subtopic. Changes in law or practice can also add material to an area.
Why the estimated counts total 152
A 25% area works out to 37.5 questions, while 17% works out to 25.5. Rounding every area to a whole question creates the two-question overage. We show the arithmetic instead of changing an official percentage or pretending DRE published an exact count.
Start with the published blueprint, then let your own results decide where the next hour goes.
01
Begin with Practice and Disclosures, Agency, and Ownership. Together they represent about 57% of the exam. Give them the largest share of an initial plan, without skipping the other four areas.
Allocate my study hours02
A seven-area quiz with the same number of questions from each subject overstates the smaller areas. Use weighted practice for readiness, then use single-area sets to repair a specific weakness.
Take a weighted mock exam03
If practice or a failed attempt exposes a weak area, combine that weakness with its exam weight. DRE warns that the percentages on a failed result cannot simply be averaged into an overall score.
Build a retake planPractice the blueprint, not a generic question mix
Pass California includes 249 explained practice questions, area-by-area review, and weighted mock exams built around the published DRE percentages.
Direct answers about the seven DRE areas, approximate question counts, study order, and the 70% passing score.
The seven salesperson exam areas are Practice of Real Estate and Disclosures at 25%, Laws of Agency and Fiduciary Duties at 17%, Property Ownership and Land Use Controls at 15%, Property Valuation and Financial Analysis at 14%, Contracts at 12%, Financing at 9%, and Transfer of Property at 8%. DRE describes every weight as approximate.
Practice of Real Estate and Disclosures is the largest area at approximately 25% of the salesperson exam. On a 150-question test, that suggests about 38 questions, but DRE publishes the percentage rather than an exact question count for any test form.
DRE does not publish fixed question counts by area. Applying the official weights to 150 questions gives rough planning figures of 38, 26, 23, 21, 18, 14, and 12. Those rounded figures total 152, which proves they are estimates rather than a promised test blueprint.
Each percentage is multiplied by 150 and rounded separately. Seven independent rounding decisions create a two-question overage. The official percentages total 100%, but the derived whole-question estimates do not need to total exactly 150.
Weight order is a strong starting point when your knowledge is roughly even. Begin with the 25%, 17%, and 15% areas, which together represent about 57% of the exam. Then adjust the plan using practice results so a serious weakness in a smaller area is not ignored.
No. Eight percent can still represent roughly 12 questions on a 150-question exam. A passing score requires at least 70% overall, so leaving an entire area unprepared creates an unnecessary margin for error.
No. DRE says its topic lists are informational and not totally comprehensive. It also states that a particular test may not cover every listed subject because each examination samples the broader field of real estate.
DRE numbers the official areas in syllabus order. Study priority on this page ranks them by published weight. That is why official Area 6, Practice of Real Estate and Disclosures, appears first here: it carries the largest share of the salesperson exam at 25%.
By published weight, the three largest are Practice of Real Estate and Disclosures at 25%, Laws of Agency and Fiduciary Duties at 17%, and Property Ownership and Land Use Controls at 15%. Together they account for approximately 57% of the exam.
You must answer at least 70% of the 150 questions correctly. That equals 105 correct answers. DRE does not require a separate passing score in each content area.