Real Estate

Successful completion of three college-level courses is required to qualify for a real estate salesperson examination:

Real Estate Principles, and

Real Estate Practice, and

One course from the following list:

• Real Estate Appraisal
• Property Management
• Real Estate Finance
• Real Estate Economics
• Legal Aspects of Real Estate
• Real Estate Office Administration
• General Accounting
• Business Law
• Escrows
• Mortgage Loan Brokering and Lending
• Computer Applications in Real Estate
• Common Interest Developments

Salesperson renewing for the first time

Real estate salespersons who were licensed prior to 10/1/2007, and are renewing an original license for the first time, must complete five separate three-hour DRE-approved continuing education courses in Ethics, Agency, Trust Fund Handling, Fair Housing and Risk Management.

Those licensees who were licensed on or after 10/1/2007, and were required to have all three statutory/pre-licenses courses (RE Principles, RE Practice, and one additional course), must complete 45 clock hours of DRE-approved continuing education consisting of:

• Five separate three-hour courses in the following subjects: Ethics, Agency, Trust Fund Handling, Fair Housing, and Risk Management;
• A minimum of 18 clock hours of consumer protection courses; and
• The remaining clock hours required to complete the 45 hours of continuing education may be related to either consumer service or consumer protection courses

Salesperson second and subsequent renewals

For subsequent renewals, all real estate brokers and salespersons must complete 45 clock hours of DRE-approved continuing education consisting of:

• Either 12 hours of continuing education courses in the following subjects: (Ethics, Agency, Trust Fund Handling, and Fair Housing) OR one six-hour course that covers the four mandatory subjects (Ethics, Agency, Trust Fund Handling, and Fair Housing);
• One three-hour course in Risk Management; and
• At least 18 clock hours of consumer protection courses; and
• The remaining clock hours required to complete the 45 hours of continuing education may be related to either consumer service or consumer protection courses.

• Must be 18 years old
• Must have a high school diploma or GED

• The test is administered by the state. To set up your exam, contact the commission at (916) 227-0900
• The exam fee is $25
• Must obtain a 70% to pass
• The exam is in multiple choice format, with a time limit of 3 hours and 15 minutes
• Topics include property ownership and land use controls/regulations, laws of agency, valuation and market analysis, financing, transfer of property, practice of real estate and mandated disclosures, contracts

• Real Estate Fundamentals, 6th Edition
• Modern Real Estate Practices, 16th Edition
• Real Estate Law, 5th Edition
• Marketing Real Estate, 3rd Edition