The whole process
How to get a California real estate salesperson licence
Six steps, with the current fee attached to each and the DRE page it came from. Fees increased on July 1, 2024, the first increase since 1997, so figures published before that date are wrong and are still widely republished.
$100
Examination fee
Same for a re-examination
$350
Licence fee
Payable after you pass, or up front on RE 435
$450
Combined, RE 435
Exam and licence in one filing
$49
Live Scan
Paid to the provider, never refundable
Pre-2024 fee figures are still everywhere
Signed into law June 29, 2024. DRE had not increased statutory fees since 1997, so pre-2024 figures are still widely republished and are wrong. If a site quotes $60 for the examination or $245 for the licence, it has not been updated since before July 1, 2024.
The six steps
01
Check you qualify
Two requirements, and one that surprises people by not existing.
You must be 18 or older to be issued a licence, and you must be honest and truthful, since a conviction can result in a licence being denied. You need a Social Security number or an ITIN.
What does not exist is a California residency requirement. Out-of-state applicants are eligible, and must file a notarised, irrevocable Consent to Service of Process on form RE 234 with their application.
- 18 years
- DRE, Requirements to Apply · checked 2026-08-27
“You must be 18 years of age or older to be issued a license.”
- No California residency requirement
- DRE, Out-of-State Applicants · checked 2026-08-27
Out-of-state applicants must file a notarised irrevocable Consent to Service of Process (RE 234).
- Social Security number or ITIN required
02
Complete the three statutory courses
Three college-level courses, each a minimum of 45 hours.
Real Estate Principles and Real Estate Practice are both mandatory. The third is one of twelve approved electives, and the choice is genuinely yours.
Continuing education offerings do not satisfy this requirement, which is the single most expensive mistake at this stage: paying for CE hours that will not qualify you to sit. Members of the California State Bar are statutorily exempt from the course requirement on furnishing evidence of admission to practise law in California.
- 3 college-level courses
- DRE, Course Requirements · checked 2026-08-27
“Successful completion of three college-level courses is required to qualify for a real estate salesperson examination.”
- 45 hours minimum per course
- DRE, Course Requirements · checked 2026-08-27
“Each course approved by the Department of Real Estate is a minimum of 45 hours in length.”
- Continuing education does not satisfy the college-level course requirement
- DRE, Additional Information · checked 2026-08-27
“Continuing education offerings do not satisfy the college-level course requirements for this examination.”
03
Choose your application route
Two routes, identical in cost and different in sequence.
The examination-only route uses form RE 400A: pay $100 now, sit the exam, then file the licence application and pay $350 after you pass. DRE publishes roughly 2 to 4 weeks of processing to examination approval.
The combined route uses form RE 435: file once, pay $450 up front, and complete Live Scan at the same time. DRE publishes roughly 4 to 8 weeks of processing. The two routes cost exactly the same in DRE fees. They differ in sequence and in processing time, not in price, and faster to the exam is not the same as faster to the licence.
- Approximately 2 to 4 weeks
- DRE, Steps to Becoming Licensed · checked 2026-08-27
For an examination-only application (RE 400A).
- Approximately 4 to 8 weeks
- DRE, Steps to Becoming Licensed · checked 2026-08-27
For the combined examination and license application (RE 435). Faster to the exam is not the same as faster to the licence.
- Missing requirements may be submitted within two years of DRE receiving a combination application and fee
04
Complete Live Scan fingerprinting
$49, paid to the provider rather than to DRE.
California residents are fingerprinted through a Live Scan provider and pay that provider directly. Out-of-state applicants submit fingerprint cards to DRE with the application instead.
The fee is nonrefundable under any circumstances, including if you never qualify or never sit. Budget it as a sunk cost from the moment you book.
- $49
- DRE fee schedule · checked 2026-08-27
California residents pay the Live Scan provider directly, not DRE. Out-of-state applicants submit it to DRE with the application. Nonrefundable under any circumstances, including failure to qualify.
05
Schedule and sit the examination
150 questions, three hours, 70% to pass, in person at one of five centres.
Scheduling is done through eLicensing once your application is approved. There are five state examination centres and no remote option at all. Rescheduling costs $40, the first time and every subsequent time.
Results for an electronic examination are given on completion. If you pass, DRE does not tell you your score. If you fail, you receive your actual score plus a percentage for each subject area, which is the most useful diagnostic document in the whole process.
- 5 state examination centers
- DRE, Examinees · checked 2026-08-27
Sacramento, Oakland, Fresno, La Palma (Orange County), San Diego. Electronic format at all five.
- In person at a DRE examination center. There is no remote or online option
- $40
- DRE fee schedule · checked 2026-08-27
Applies to the first and every subsequent reschedule.
- Examinees who pass are NOT told their score
- DRE, Notification of Examination Results · checked 2026-08-27
“Since the examination is qualifying in nature, examinees who pass are not informed of their final score.”
06
File for the licence and find a broker
A licence without a responsible broker cannot be used.
If you took the examination-only route, file the licence application and the $350 fee after you pass. If you filed the combination application, the licence is issued once every requirement is satisfied.
A salesperson may hold a licence without a broker, but may not perform any act requiring a licence without a responsible broker. So the licence is real and the practice is not, until you are affiliated.
- A salesperson may hold a licence without a broker, but may not perform acts requiring a licence without a responsible broker
- DRE, Requirements to Apply · checked 2026-08-27
“A salesperson without an responsible broker may not perform acts requiring a real estate license.”