Enrollment is open. California Real Estate Exam Prep is live — get full access or start with the free sample exam.
California does not split its salesperson exam into national and state portions. The California Department of Real Estate (DRE) administers one blended, computer-based exam itself: 150 multiple-choice questions in 3 hours, and you pass by answering at least 70% correctly. PassProfessor’s California program gives you 19,994 original practice questions organized by the DRE’s own seven content areas — heaviest where the real exam is heaviest — with full practice exams generated fresh at the real exam’s weights, topic drills for every area, and results that break down by area so a weak spot shows up in practice before it shows up at a DRE exam center. A free sample exam is included.
What’s included
A California bank built on California’s outline. The DRE publishes exactly what its exam covers — seven content areas in its Examination Description (form RE 425) — and this bank is organized area by area on that document, not on a generic national outline with a California chapter bolted on. Of the 19,994 questions, 8,066 test California-specific law and practice (trust funds, statutory disclosures, agency duties under California law), and the rest test the general principles the same outline requires. The single largest block — 4,995 questions — sits in Practice of Real Estate and Disclosures, because that is where the real exam puts a quarter of its questions.
Practice exams at the real exam’s weights. Each full practice exam is generated fresh for that attempt: 150 questions drawn in the same proportions the DRE publishes — roughly 25% practice and disclosures, 17% agency, 15% ownership and land use, 14% valuation, 12% contracts, 9% financing, 8% transfer — with questions you have not seen served first. You never sit the same practice exam twice, and the mix you practice against is the mix you will actually face.
Drills that match how the exam is built. Drill a single content area — agency and fiduciary duties, transfer disclosures, contracts — or sit a full timed simulation. Because California blends everything into one score, a drill habit matters: there is no separate state portion to cram the week before, only seven areas feeding one result.
Feedback that finds your weak areas. Your results break down by DRE content area, so “I keep missing trust-fund and disclosure questions” becomes visible in your first sessions instead of in a result notice. Per-question analytics track how every item performs across students; questions students find suspiciously easy or suspiciously hard are pulled for review, and anything found wrong is fixed or retired.
Questions that stay honest. Every question in this bank is original — written for this program from the DRE’s published outline and California law, never copied from the real exam, a textbook bank, or another provider. The bank you practice on is monitored and corrected after launch, not frozen as it shipped.
The real exam at a glance
Current as of October 2026, per the California Department of Real Estate — the Examination Description (RE 425, Rev. 6/25), the DRE’s salesperson requirements and exam-application pages, and the DRE fee schedule (RE 206, Rev. 7/26). Full detail — eligibility, the application flow, retakes, test day — is in our California real estate exam guide.
| California salesperson exam | |
|---|---|
| Administered by | The California Department of Real Estate (DRE) itself — California does not use an outside testing vendor for this exam |
| Structure | One combined exam — no separate national and state portions |
| Questions | 150 multiple-choice questions |
| Time limit | 3 hours |
| Passing standard | At least 70% correct (105 of 150 questions) |
| Exam fee | $100, paid to the DRE with your exam application |
| Where you test | DRE electronic exam centers in the Fresno, San Diego, Los Angeles vicinity (La Palma), Oakland, and Sacramento areas |
| Scheduling | Through the DRE’s eLicensing system, after the DRE approves your application |
- You qualify before you schedule. California requires three college-level courses — Real Estate Principles, Real Estate Practice, and one elective from the DRE’s approved list — completed before you apply to test. This program is exam preparation only; it is not one of those courses and provides no education credit.
- One score, not two. Unlike states with separately passed portions, California blends all seven content areas into a single result. A strong area can offset a weaker one — and a neglected area drags on everything.
- The DRE is the whole pipeline. Application, scheduling, the exam itself, and your license all run through the DRE and its eLicensing system. There is no vendor website to register on and no online, at-home version of this exam — you test in person at a DRE exam center.
- Passing is 70% of the questions, stated plainly. California’s standard is a straightforward percentage of correct answers — 105 of 150 — not a scaled score.
How the practice maps to the real exam
Every question in the California bank is tagged to one of the seven content areas in the DRE’s Examination Description (RE 425, Rev. 6/25) — the same document the real exam is built from. The DRE states each area’s share as approximate; counts below are the bank itself, counted question by question from the delivered workbook.
| DRE content area (approximate share of the real exam) | Practice questions |
|---|---|
| Area 1 — Property Ownership and Land Use Controls and Regulations (~15%, about 22–23 questions) | 3,000 |
| Area 2 — Laws of Agency and Fiduciary Duties (~17%, about 25–26 questions) | 3,399 |
| Area 3 — Property Valuation and Financial Analysis (~14%, about 21 questions) | 2,800 |
| Area 4 — Financing (~9%, about 13–14 questions) | 1,800 |
| Area 5 — Transfer of Property (~8%, about 12 questions) | 1,600 |
| Area 6 — Practice of Real Estate and Disclosures, including specialty areas (~25%, about 37–38 questions) | 4,995 |
| Area 7 — Contracts (~12%, about 18 questions) | 2,400 |
| Total (150 questions) | 19,994 |
Two areas deserve a study warning. Area 6 alone is a quarter of the exam — trust account management, the Transfer Disclosure Statement and Natural Hazard Disclosure, fair housing, advertising, licensing discipline, property management, and specialty topics all live there — and Areas 2 and 6 together are about 42% of your score. This bank’s depth follows that math: 8,394 of its questions sit in those two areas.
How to use it
- Start with the free sample exam. It is a fixed set of California questions spanning all seven content areas — enough to see how the program works and where you stand — then enroll for full access.
- Drill Area 6 and Area 2 early. Together they carry roughly 42% of the real exam, and both reward direct study of concrete California rules: disclosure duties, trust-fund deadlines, agency relationships and fiduciary duties. Most candidates spread their time evenly across all seven areas; the exam does not.
- Drill by content area. Work your weakest areas until the misses stop repeating, then mix areas so you practice switching subjects the way the blended exam demands.
- Sit full generated exams against the clock. 150 questions in 3 hours is 72 seconds per question. Practice the pace, not just the material — flag hard questions and return to them rather than spending three minutes on one item.
- Book the real exam through DRE eLicensing once your full-simulation scores sit comfortably above 70% — then, after you pass, complete the license step (application, Live Scan fingerprints, and a sponsoring broker to work under).
Pricing
$49 for the full California program — all 19,994 questions, unlimited fresh blueprint-weighted practice exams, area drills, and per-question analytics. One program price, no subscription.
If it isn’t for you, our refund policy gives you 14 days provided you have attempted less than 20% of the program (see the site Terms for the full policy).
Frequently asked questions
How many questions are on the California real estate exam? 150 multiple-choice questions, in one combined exam. California does not split the salesperson exam into national and state portions the way many states do — general principles and California law are blended throughout, across the DRE’s seven content areas.
What score do I need to pass the California real estate exam? At least 70% correct — 105 of the 150 questions. California states its standard as a percentage of questions answered correctly, and there is one combined score: all seven content areas count toward the same result.
Who administers the California real estate exam? The California Department of Real Estate administers its own exam. There is no outside testing vendor for the California salesperson exam: you apply to the DRE, schedule through the DRE’s eLicensing system, and test in person at a DRE electronic exam center.
How much does the California real estate exam cost? The exam fee is $100, paid to the DRE. A re-examination also costs $100, and rescheduling a scheduled exam costs $40. Kept separate: the original salesperson license fee is $350 and the fingerprint processing fee is $49, per the DRE’s current fee schedule (RE 206, Rev. 7/26). If you file the combined exam-and-license application, the total due to the DRE is $499.
What do I need before I can take the exam? You must be at least 18 to be issued a license, and you must first complete three college-level courses — Real Estate Principles, Real Estate Practice, and one elective from the DRE’s approved list (such as Legal Aspects of Real Estate or Real Estate Finance) — each a minimum of 45 hours, taken at an accredited institution or a DRE-approved real estate school. You then apply to the DRE (exam-only application RE 400A, or the combined exam-and-license application RE 435) and schedule through eLicensing once approved. Members of the California State Bar are exempt from the course requirements.
Can I take the California real estate exam online? No. The exam is given in person, in electronic format, at DRE exam centers in the Fresno, San Diego, Los Angeles vicinity (La Palma), Oakland, and Sacramento areas. eLicensing is online — the exam itself is not.
What happens if I fail? You may apply to re-take the exam; the re-examination fee is $100 per attempt. Your application window matters: you have two years from the date the DRE received your application to qualify for and pass the examination, after which the application expires and you start over with a new application and fee. Your practice results here break down by the same seven content areas, so a retake plan can target the areas that cost you.
How long do I have to finish the process after applying? Two years from the date the DRE received your application to complete the qualifications and pass the exam. That window covers retakes as well — it is the outer limit on the application, not a per-attempt clock.
Are these the actual exam questions? No. Every PassProfessor question is written by us, from scratch, to the DRE’s published Examination Description and California law. We never use real exam questions, recalled questions, or another provider’s bank — and the DRE’s own sample questions, published in RE 425 to show the exam’s style, are expressly not exam questions and are not reproduced here.
Does this program count toward my three required courses? No. PassProfessor is exam preparation only. It does not provide pre-licensing education credit and is not a substitute for Real Estate Principles, Real Estate Practice, or your elective course — those must be completed with an accredited institution or a DRE-approved school before you can qualify for the exam.
When can I enroll in the California program? Enrollment is open now — get full access, or start with the free sample exam to see how the program works first.
Why does one combined exam change how I should study? Because there is no portion to pass separately and no portion to retake separately. Your preparation has to cover all seven areas at once, weighted the way the DRE weights them — which is why this program’s drills, practice exams, and results are all organized by content area rather than by “national” and “state.”
Disclaimer
PassProfessor is an independent exam-preparation provider. This program is exam preparation only: it is not pre-licensing education, provides no education credit, does not satisfy any of the three college-level courses California requires, and is not affiliated with the California Department of Real Estate or any state agency or exam administrator. All practice questions are original, written to the DRE’s published examination description; they are not actual exam questions.