DRE

DRE is the normal abbreviation for the California State Department of Real Estate. Its relevance to live/work is that any subdivision-- including condominiums-- of five units or more must go through a rigorous process of approval-- mostly paperwork-- called the Subdivision Public Report. This normally takes a minimum of 6 months and can be done concurrently with construction. Units cannot be sold prior to its completion and the issuance of a so-called "white paper", which is the Final Subdivision Public Report.