CA Official-outline study map
Study the blueprint before you study the questions.
The salesperson examination is 150 questions in 3 hours with a 70% passing score. Use DRE's content list to decide what to learn, then use original practice questions to check your understanding—not to guess the real exam.
Practice & disclosures
Practice of real estate and mandated disclosures
This is the largest area of the salesperson exam: fiduciary and professional duties, listings, marketing, and the transfer, natural-hazard, and environmental disclosures a salesperson is responsible for. Expect the most questions here.
Agency & contracts
Laws of agency, contracts, and conveyancing
Understand agency relationships and who the agent represents, contract essentials and the statute of frauds, and how deeds and escrow transfer ownership. These concepts anchor the legal questions.
Finance & appraisal
Financing instruments and value concepts
Learn deed-of-trust mechanics, loan terms and costs (including points), and the appraisal valuation approaches used for single-family residential property.
Ownership & other laws
Property ownership and related legal subjects
California tests types of ownership, transfer rights, and the legal aspects that bind the transaction. Treat these as the foundation you return to when a scenario is ambiguous.
A durable study loop
Use four passes instead of chasing a raw question count.
- Map: read DRE's content list and make a checklist of every subject area.
- Learn: build fundamentals in practice-and-disclosures before drilling finance and legal details.
- Apply: use original scenario questions, review every rationale, and follow the cited law when a rule is involved.
- Simulate only when coverage is earned: run timed mixed sets after you can account for each subject area, then keep a miss log by topic.