Real estate license in California: cost, hours and steps
California charges more than most states for a first sales license, $499, but the license then runs 4 years before the first renewal.
Real estate license fees in California
$499
paid to the state and its exam and fingerprint vendors
| Application and license | $350 |
| Exams | $100 |
| Fingerprints and background check | $49 |
| Training: 135 pre-licensing course hours | about 9 weeks |
| Renewals in 5 years, every 4 years | 1 × $350 = $350 |
Real estate salesperson license. Fees read on official pages, October 20, 2026.
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Original salesperson examination (DRE) | $100 |
| Original salesperson license fee | $350 |
| Live Scan fingerprint processing (paid to Live Scan provider if CA resident, to DRE if out of state) | $49 |
Compiled by Radif Partners · How the totals are built · California Department of Real Estate (DRE) · read October 20, 2026
Getting a California real estate salesperson license costs $499 in fees: $100 for the examination, which the Department of Real Estate (DRE) charges itself, $350 for the original license and $49 for Live Scan fingerprint processing. Only one state of the 20 priced here ask for more, and the median across them is $203. The education requirement is three college-level courses of forty-five hours each, 135 hours in all: Real Estate Principles, Real Estate Practice and one elective. Applicants must be at least 18 years old. The license lasts 4 years, and renewing it costs $350 on time plus 45 clock hours of continuing education, so the high entry price is spread over a longer term than in most states. Tuition for the three courses is charged by the college or school on top of these fees.
Who gets paid, and when
California is unusual in that the regulator runs its own salesperson examination rather than sending candidates to a testing company's fee schedule. The DRE fee page lists the original examination at $100 and the same amount again for each re-examination, so a failed attempt is paid in full a second time. The original salesperson license costs $350.
Many candidates file both at once. The DRE notes that the examination and the license can be requested together on form RE 435, in which case the amount due to the department is $450. Filing that way saves a second application step after the results arrive; it does not reduce the fee.
The third payment goes elsewhere. A California resident pays $49 directly to the Live Scan provider who takes the prints, while an applicant who lives out of state pays the processing fee to the DRE instead. Live Scan operators may also add their own rolling fee, which the DRE page does not state, so the counter price can be a little higher than the figure counted here.
California license kept for several four-year terms
Real estate license in California, 8 years
$1,199
| First license | $499 |
| Renewals | 2 × $350 |
| Continuing education | 90 hours |
The three courses
The education rule is set in college terms: each course must be at least forty-five hours, which the DRE equates to three semester units or four quarter units. Two courses are fixed, Real Estate Principles and Real Estate Practice, and the third is an elective chosen from the department's list. At 15 hours of study a week, the 135 hours take about 9 weeks, though a community college semester calendar can stretch that.
A four-year license
Where Texas renews every two years, California renews every 4. The on-time renewal fee is $350, and a salesperson renewing an original license for the first time must have completed 45 clock hours of continuing education. Kept for eight years, the license costs $1,199 in state fees: the first license plus 2 renewals. The Texas page shows a cheaper entry but a shorter cycle, and the national comparison ranks all priced states side by side.
Every real estate fee in California, with its source
| Fee | Amount | In the total | Read on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original salesperson examination (DRE) | $100 per attempt | counted | source |
| Original salesperson license fee | $350 | counted | source |
| Live Scan fingerprint processing (paid to Live Scan provider if CA resident, to DRE if out of state) | $49 | counted | source |
| Renewal | Value |
|---|---|
| Cycle | every 4 years |
| Fee | $350 |
| Continuing education | 45 hours per cycle |
| Required training | 135 pre-licensing course hours. Three college-level courses (Real Estate Principles, Real Estate Practice, one elective), each a minimum of 45 hours (3 semester or 4 quarter units). |