Failed the California Real Estate Exam? What Happens Next

If you just failed the California real estate exam, you are in large company. According to the DRE's monthly statistics report (RE 149, June 2024), the fiscal-year-to-date pass rate was 48% for salespersons and 49% for brokers. That figure is for all exams administered in that fiscal year to date, and the report does not break it out between first attempts and retakes. So it tells you that roughly half of the people sitting this exam do not pass on a given sitting. It does not tell you how likely a second attempt is to succeed.

This post covers what the DRE actually sends you after a failure, how retaking works, what it costs, and how to change your preparation so the second attempt is not a repeat of the first.

What the DRE sends you when you don't pass

The DRE's Taking the Exam page says that if you pass, you are notified only of your passing status. If you are unsuccessful, you are notified of your actual score and the percentage of questions you answered correctly in each of the subject areas.

That subject-area breakdown is the most useful thing you get from a failed attempt. It is a map of where to spend your study time. Keep it, and read it before you open any book or app.

The exam you will sit again

According to the same DRE page:

• Salesperson: 150 multiple-choice questions, 3 hours, and you must answer at least 70% of the questions correctly.
• Broker: 200 multiple-choice questions, 4 hours, and you must answer at least 75% correctly.
• Format: the page says exams conducted in Fresno, La Palma, Oakland, Sacramento and San Diego are currently offered in an electronic format.
• Calculators: only silent, battery-operated, electronic, pocket-sized calculators that are non-programmable, have no print-out capability and no alphabetic keyboard are permitted.
• What you can bring: pencils and a calculator of that type. Phones, wallets, study materials and watches are listed as prohibited.

How to retake the exam

The key rules, all from the DRE's Taking the Exam and Reschedule Your Exam pages:

1. Wait for your result first. The DRE says not to submit a new application and fee, or otherwise try to get a new exam date, before you receive the results of the exam you just took. Doing so can cause your exam record to be flagged and your results to be withheld.
2. Re-apply through eLicensing (or with the forms in your exam result notice).
3. There is a two-year window. There is no limit on the number of exams you may take during the two years following the date you filed your original application. After that, you need a new application, current qualifications and new fees.
4. You can only be scheduled for one exam at a time. Rescheduling removes you from the exam you were booked into.
5. Fees are not refunded. The DRE cites Business and Professions Code Section 10207 for this.

The reschedule page also notes that qualified examinees can schedule themselves into an available exam through eLicensing as late as 6:00 a.m. on the day of the exam.

What a retake costs

From the DRE's Fees page and its fee form RE 206 (Rev. 7/26):

Fees change, so check the DRE's current fee page before you pay.

Second attempt: find the weak spots first

DRE publishes the approximate share of the exam for each of seven content areas (salesperson and broker content pages):

(The broker page names the largest area "Practice of Real Estate and Mandated Disclosures"; the percentages are the same.)

Here is a practical way to use that table together with your score report.

1. Rank your areas by points lost, not by percentage. A low score in a 25% area costs you more than the same score in an 8% area. Put the areas with the largest weight and the weakest score at the top of your list.

2. Study the weak areas, but do not abandon the strong ones. You need to clear 70% (or 75% for brokers) overall. A strong area you stop reviewing can slip.

3. Do timed practice exams. The real exam gives you 3 hours for 150 questions, which works out to about 72 seconds per question; the broker exam is 4 hours for 200 questions, about 72 seconds as well. Practicing at that pace shows whether running out of time was part of the problem.

4. Write down why you missed each question. Do not stop at "wrong." Label it: did you not know the concept, misread the question, mix up two similar terms, or change a right answer? Those causes need different fixes. After a few practice sets, the pattern is usually obvious.

5. Re-do the questions you missed a few days later. If you get them right then, you have learned them. If not, they go back on the list.

Before you rebook

You do not have to rebook the same day. Within your two-year window there is no limit on attempts, but each one costs a fee, so it is worth spending the first week reading your score report and rebuilding your plan rather than going back in unchanged.

For a full overview of the preparation, see our California exam guide.

Where Realty Prep fits

Realty Prep is an iOS app for the California DRE salesperson and broker exams. The California questions are in English, the same language as the exam, and every question has an explanation in English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese and Spanish. It includes timed practice exams built around the DRE content-area weights. It is free to download with a set of free practice questions, and Pro unlocks the full question bank and full practice exams. See the California exam page for details.

Realty Prep is not affiliated with or endorsed by the California Department of Real Estate (DRE) or any exam administrator.