Getting Your Real Estate License In California
To obtain your California real estate license and become a real estate agent in the state, you must you must meet the following guidelines:
- Be at least 18 years of age
- Proof that you are legally residing in the United States. You do not have to be resident of the state to register to be a real estate agent in California and get your real estate license. The most common type of proof is a birth certificate or a passport. DRE (Department Of Real Estate) has a more extensive list of acceptable evidence of legal residence in the United States.
- Successfully complete three college level courses: Real Estate Principles, Real Estate Practices, and one of the following electives:
- Real Estate Appraisal
- Common Interest Developments
- Property Management
- Real Estate Finance
- Real Estate Economics
- Computer Applications in Real Estate
- Real Estate Office Administration
- General Accounting
- Business Law
- Legal Aspects of Real Estate
- Escrows
- Mortgage Loan Brokering and Lending
If you are hold an LLM and a JD, you are most likely exempt from having to take classes to get your California real estate license. Just contact the DRE and send in proof of your degree.
Courses must be 3 semester credits or 4 quarter credits and must be from an accredited college. To search for a list of accredited colleges, click here.
- Register for an exam through the DRE’s elicensing web portal. The exam itself is 3 hours 15-minutes with 150 multiple choice questions. To pass the exam, you must at least answer 70% of the questions correctly.
- Once you know that you passed your exam, it is time to apply for your license.
- Everyone applying for a license must get finger-printed. You can apply to be finger-printed right after applying for the examination or after passing the real estate examination. However, the latter makes more sense since you won’t need a finger print unless you passed the exam. Also, The finger-print fee of $51 cannot be refunded if you do not pass—therefore more of a reason for you to register for a finger-print once you actually pass the exam. Once you get a finger-print, the finger print will be submitted to the Department of Justice (DOJ). You will not be issued a license until DOJ verifies that you do not have a criminal history. If the report from the DOJ reveals a criminal history, then your background check will go through a more thorough review and vetting. If you have a criminal history, it is absolutely important that you reveal that during the application process to expedite the processing of your background check.
Continuing Education To Renew Your Real Estate License
Along with the coursework and requirements of getting your first CA real estate license, you must also take additional continuing education courses in order to keep your license current. The license is good for 4 years. Before expiration of the 4 years, you should renew your license to prevent a lapse. You can apply for a renewal 90 days before the expiration of your current license.
- Upon your first real estate license renewal, the following is required of you for continued education requirements
- If you passed the real estate exam or applied for a license application on or after 10/1/2007, and are renewing an original license for the first time, you must finish 45 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.
- If you are getting your second real estate license renewal (and all subsequent renewals), you must complete the following continuing education requirements:
- 45 clock hours of DRE-approved continuing education courses consisting of:
- Either 15 hours of continuing education courses in the following subjects: Ethics, Agency, Trust Fund Handling, Fair Housing, and Risk Management OR one 8 hour course that covers all of the five mandatory subjects (Ethics, Agency, Trust Fund Handling, Fair Housing, and Risk Management);
- At least 18 hours of consumer protection courses; and
- The remaining hours required to complete the 45 hours of continuing education may be related to either consumer service or consumer protection courses.
California Real Estate Exam and License Fees
Salesperson
| Examination Fee | $60 |
| License Fee | $245 |
Total Due to DRE with RE 435  |
$305 |
License renewal fees are $245.
That’s the gist of it. The above are what you need to become a real estate agent in California. Before the credit crunch many real estate agents were doing rather well in many of the state’s big cities because of the high prices of real estate there. Since the crunch, housing prices in the state have dropped markedly. However, there are still good oppurtunities in being a real estate agent if you have what it takes to be in real estate.
Real Estate License Reciprocal Agreements
California does not have any real estate license reciprocity agreements with any other states.
Misc Info
The state’s real estate industry is regulated by the California Department of Real Estate (DRE).