How To Get A California Real Estate License

how to get a california real estate license
Getting a California real estate license is a straightforward process. There are currently about 500,000 real estate licensees in California. This page will tell you everything you need to know about how to get a California real estate license.

To get a CA real estate license, you must:

Pass the California real estate pre-license class (here’s a list of the online real estate schools we recommend)
Pass the California Salespersons Exam
Be age 18 or older
Pay the licensing application fee and submit fingerprints
Affiliate with a real estate broker*

*A California real estate salesperson has to work under the supervision of a California real estate broker. Those holding a California real estate broker’s license can work for themselves, or work under the supervision of another broker. California salespeople cannot legally work in real estate without being affiliated with (and supervised by) a broker. When you research how to get a California real estate license, you’ll see the requirements to become a broker are more substantial that what’s required to become a salesperson (mostly related to education and experience in the real estate business). Most people working in California real estate hold the California salesperson license.

There are testing locations located throughout the state of California where applicants can take the final state exam. Sometimes there is a bit of a delay in the testing centers in the big metropolitan areas, while the smaller cities have less of a wait.

The California real estate exam centers are located in the following cities:

Los Angeles
Fresno
Oakland
Sacramento
San Diego

Once you have obtained a California real estate license, you must maintain good behavior (don’t break any laws, and certainly don’t break any of the laws related to real estate or financial crimes). You must also keep-up with your continuing education. Continuing education is required for every licensee every few years to give licensees an “update” on the issues that have arisen since the last formal education about the real estate business.

Click the link if you would like to learn how to get a California real estate license and to learn about our suggested real estate school providers.