Getting your California Real Estate Broker License is more than just prestigious. It also opens up more opportunities for you. Not only can you do real estate on your own and even hire your own agents, but you can conduct additional types of business. For example, your license will enable you to get involved in financing transactions, including the sale or purchase of notes secured by first trust deeds. To start taking advantage of these opportunities, though, you'll need to pass your exam. Here are six tips to help you pass.

1. Be ready for 200 multiple choice questions. The real estate broker license example spans 200 questions and you need to get 75 percent of them right to pass. You'll have a total of 5 hours of exam time, split up into a 100 question, 2-1/2 hour half in the morning and the rest in the afternoon. While the test is usually given electronically, the Department of Real Estate's Sacramento location still uses paper and pencil exams.
2. Leave everything but ID home. The DRE won't let you bring in cell phones, food or even lapel pins. Bring as little as possible with you to the exam.
3. Consider getting practice exams. The questions you'll have to answer to get a real estate broker license aren't always directly related to what you have to do in your every day business. At the same time, they're frequently worded in a way that will trip you up. To get comfortable with the format, buy some practice exams from a reputable source. They will give you an opportunity to see how you're doing and to get more familiar with the format.
4. Remember that it isn't a salesperson's exam. The real estate broker license test will include questions on topics that are specific to brokers, like maintaining trust accounts or supervision in agency. Study those along with general real estate topics.
5. Review the Department of Real Estate's List of Broker Examination Content online. It'll help you strategize about what you need to study.
6. If you don't know, guess. You need to get 150 out of 200 questions right. The exam won't penalize you for wrong answers, so there's no harm in filling in bubbles for questions that you don't know or choosing your best guess. The odds are that if you fill in every question, you'll get a few correct answers out of sheer luck.