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Get Licensed to become a home appraiser in California
Being an appraiser in California for the past 5 years has been great in my opinion. After coming out of the dot com bust in 2001, I quickly had to find a new business to get in to or find a really good paying job. Since the opportunity for really good paying jobs were not that great at the time I turned to some friends that were buying new cars, new homes and tons of toys and asked them what they were doing.
They were doing Real Estate Appraisals as trainees, attending appraiser school and working to get fully licensed and operate a business of their own.
At the time one of my friends said that if I could get the work, that I could work under his Licensed Appraiser. So I went out on a few appraisals with the supervisor appraiser and was told to pound the pavement to get some business. At the time the real estate market in San Diego was booming, so I printed a list of mortgage companies I found off the internet, as well as the yellow pages and organized them by zip code, then street. Heading out with newly printed flyers promising a quick turn around I sold myself to about 20 businesses the first day. At the same time I was learning how to type up the appraisal reports and learning other aspects of the appraisal business. Within no time I was helping to complete 5-10 appraisals a week.
I looked in to a number of local appraisal schools and found they cost between $1000 to $1500 to take the courses locally or via the internet. Not having the money I looked in to my community colleges and found courses that would count toward the required hours to become a licensed trainee. About 6 months later, a few local courses included the required USPAP training, and about $200.00 out the door I took the test and became a licensed trainee. At that point I completed more and more appraisals under my supervisors watch and became fully licensed. I am now up to a Certified Residential appraiser with the ability to appraise any Single Family Residence regardless of Value and am working to become a Certified General Appraiser so I can complete Commercial Appraisals without a supervisor. The four levels are
- AT - Trainee License
- AL - Residential License
- AR - Certified Residential License
- AG - Certified General License
Below is some information specific to OREA specification.
Effective January 1, 1998 |
Trainee License |
Residential License |
Certified Residential License |
Certified General License |
Education |
A minimum of 90 hours of appraisal related education covering the specific topics required by the Appraiser Qualifications Board (AQB), with at least 15 hours on the USPAP (USPAP).* |
A minimum of 90 hours of appraisal related education covering the specific topics required by AQB, with at least 15 hours on USPAP.* |
A minimum of 120 hours of appraisal related education covering the specific topics required by AQB, with at least 15 hours on USPAP.* |
A minimum of 180 hours of appraisal related education covering the specific topics required by AQB, with at least 15 hours on USPAP.* |
Experience |
None |
A minimum of 2,000 hours of acceptable appraisal experience. |
A minimum of 2,500 hours and two and one-half years of acceptable appraisal experience. |
A minimum of 3,000 hours and two and one-half years of acceptable appraisal experience.At least 1,500 hours of the experience must be non-reresidential properties. |
Exam |
Must pass the AQB approved residential examination. |
Must pass the AQB approved residential examination. |
Must pass the AQB approved certified residential examination. |
Must pass the AQB approved certified general examination. |
Scope |
Must work under the supervision of a licensed appraiser. May assist on any appraisal within the scope of practice of the supervising appraiser. |
May appraise non-complex 1-to-4 unit residential property up to a transaction value of $1 million, and complex 1-to-4 unit residential and all non-residential property up to a transaction value of $250,000. |
May appraise all 1-to-4 unit residential property without regard to complexity, and non-residential property up to a transaction value of $250,000. |
May appraise all types of real estate. |
Additional Requirements to Become a Real Estate Appraiser
In addition, to become a real property appraiser and to be effective January 1, 2008, you must have an Associates Degree to become a Certified Residential Appraiser and a Bachelors Degree to become a Certified General Appraiser. Trainess also must be supervised by a certified licensed appraiser under the new criteria and a supervisor can not supervise more than three trainees.
In my area, there is only one appraiser school, so my only options were to drive up to LA to attend some appraiser schools, to take the class locally or find an appraiser school online. Alot of my friends went to Allied Appraiser Businees Schools online to obtain their appraiser licensing. Either way you really have to be motivated to become a licensed appraiser. If you tend not to follow through, then the $1000+ tuition for online appraisal schools might not be worth it for you. You don't get as much hands on experience and I have heard of people cheating to complete sections of the course. It really is up to you on the type of appraisal school that will fit your needs.
Now on to the hardest part... Finding a supervisor appraiser to sign off your work and to really train you how to complete appraisals properly. A good supervisor is required to become a good real estate appraiser. Unfortunately, the last time I checked, there was as many licensed appraiser trainees as there were fully licensed appraisers. It is very difficult to find a supervisor. The real estate market has slowed down and there is less work to go around and competition is fierce.
My best advice is to either look through friends and family to find someone that will be willing to train you. Then offer to work for free part-time. At least you will get your foot in the door. Once you get enough confidence built up and a good understanding of the appraisal process, pound the pavement and get clients. A supervisor will pay you for your time if you are worth it.
Unfortunately we already have the maximum amount of trainees and are unable to sign on any new appraiser trainees at this time.
For more information, make sure to read the How to become a real estate appraiser blog
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