| Q
Must a student complete an internship to become
licensed? A
Yes, a 2 year and
2,400 hour internship is required before a registered
intern can become licensed as an appraiser. The
law clearly states and, eliminating the possibility
to complete the internship in less than a 2 year
span. (It can always last longer than 2 years,
but never less than.)
Q What
must a student complete before they can register
as an intern?
A Students
must complete at least 78 Hours of initial appraisal
education. The 78 hours of education must include
at least 15 hours of USPAP education as well as
at least 3 hours of Nevada law. The remaining
balance of appraisal education can be taken in
any approved appraisal subjects. (Key Realty School's
balance of the 78 hours of education is comprised
of Appraisal Fundamentals)
Q Who
does an intern practice under?
A After
completing the educational requirements a student
would then activate the internship position under
an already existing certified or general appraiser.
Q
Does a student
need to take an examination before they can start
the internship?
A NO.
Though there is a state licensing exam, the exam
is taken during or after the internship. This
is because the appraisal exam must be taken with
in one year of the activation of the appraisers
license, not the internship. (The appraisal license
and registered intern are two completely different
positions, but the student must complete one to
move into the next)
Q What
is the difference between the 150 Hour requirement
and the 78 Hour requirement?
A The
state of Nevada requires 78 Hours of Appraisal
education before a student can start the internship.
The state of Nevada requires 150 Hours of Appraisal
education before a student can become licensed.
The difference in education is 72 hours, meaning
that a student must take the balance of the 72
hours (in any approved appraisal education) before
the registered intern can activate an appraisers
license. Key Realty School recommends that the
balance of education (72 hours) is taken directly
before the states examination is given (therefore
exam review). Education required by Nevada
or other governing bodies may change, thus requiring
additional education during the two year internship
to activate the license.
Q How
can a prospective intern find an appraiser whom
they can intern under?
A Key
Realty School can provide students with lists
of existing licensed appraisers. Students can
then seek out the internship position from this
list or through contacts they have made in appraising,
mortgage companies or real estate.
Q
Is the internship
paid?
A The
pay scale is determined by negotiation between
the licensed appraiser and the intern. Example:
Appraiser "Smith" agrees to pay intern
"Jones" $150 per appraisal completed.
Appraiser "Smith" will sign off on the
"Jones" appraisal to make it valid.
Though "Jones" performed the majority
of the work "Smith" will also retain
$150 for signing off using his expertise.
Q
What
is the demand for qualified real property appraisers?
A
There is a wide
array of clients who use real estate appraisals.
For instance, lenders use them for loan collateral
purposes; lawyers use them in property disputes,
such as divorces; insurance companies use them
to assist in determining the value of the property
to be insured; and property owners may use them
when appealing tax assessments, for estate purposes
and estimating a property’s value when buying
or selling real estate.
Q
Do I need to obtain
a credential or license in order to appraise real
property?
A
Federal
law requires all individuals appraising properties
in a federally related transaction (e.g. a federally
insured lender is involved in the transaction)
to be either state licensed or certified.
In addition, many states have enacted laws that
require any real property appraisals to be performed
by an individual who is state licensed or certified.
Professional appraisal organizations also offer
designations that often exceed the minimum requirements
of state licensure. Since licensing/certification
is required to show minimum competency, designations
offer appraisers a way to further demonstrate
their knowledge and professionalism.
Q
Who regulates real
property appraisers?
A
Each state and
territory has a real property appraiser regulatory
program. In the vast majority of instances,
a board composed of between five and nine individuals
governs the program. In addition to issuing
licenses and certificates, the board is also responsible
for disciplining appraisers.
Q
Do I
need a college degree to become an appraiser?
A
It is not necessary to have a college degree
in order to become a licensed appraiser. Effective January 1, 2008, applicants for the
state certified residential and state certified
general classifications (statuses higher than
licensed) must possess a college
degree or complete specific college-courses.
(Most applicants who do not possess the college
degree can complete 21 college units in specific
topics to meet the requirement)
Q
How can I gain
the necessary experience?
A
One of the best
ways to gain experience is to serve as an apprentice
or trainee with a state licensed or certified
appraiser. Many states offer a trainee classification
that formalizes the relationship between the state
licensed or certified appraiser and someone who
is wishing to become one. (Note: Effective
January 1, 2008, state certified appraisers or
general appraisers can
supervise trainees.) Professional appraisal
organizations may also be helpful in assisting
with mentor programs.
Q
What
do I have to do to qualify to sit for the examination?
A
In order
to qualify to take the state examination, you
must have completed your qualifying education
classroom hour requirement.
Q
How long
is the examination?
A
Depending on the
classification you are seeking to obtain, the
examination is between 100 and 125 questions and
takes approximately one to three hours.
Q
Do appraisers have
to follow any set of performance standards or
guidelines?
A
The Uniform Standards
of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP), which
are promulgated by the Appraisal Standards Board
of the Appraisal Foundation, are the generally
recognized performance standards for the appraisal
profession. Violation of these standards
can lead to disciplinary action by government
regulators and appraisal organizations.
A copy of USPAP can be obtained from The Appraisal
Foundation.
Q
May I
appraise any type of real property once I become
state licensed?
A
Generally,
real property appraisers can obtain one of three
types of credentials issued by a state.
Each credential allows an appraiser to perform
assignments within the following parameters:
State
Licensed Appraiser: may appraise non-complex
1-4 family residential units with a value less
than $1,000,000 and complex 1-4 family residential
units with a transaction value less than $250,000.
State
Certified Residential: may appraise 1-4
family residential units without regard to transaction
value or complexity.
State
Certified General: may appraise all types
of real property.
Although a license/certification
might be obtained, competency in a specific field
of expertise is needed. Certain states may
have laws that differ from these (AQB) qualification
criteria. All appraisers should consult
their state laws prior to accepting certain appraisal
assignments.
Q
Why should I consider
belonging to one of the professional appraisal
organizations?
A
Professional
appraisal organizations offer quality educational
offerings and can keep you abreast of technological
changes impacting the profession. Many offer
“designations” that are awarded when you have
completed a certain level of education and experience.
These designations allow appraisers to demonstrate
a higher level of expertise and specialization.
In addition, they can serve as your voice on state
and federal government issues. Many appraisal
organizations are structured on a “chapter” basis,
which allows members to network with their colleagues
in a local area.
Q
How do I become
a designated appraiser?
A
You will
need to contact one of the many professional organizations
representing appraisers directly regarding membership
and the course of action for designation.
The following national appraisal organizations
are Appraisal Sponsors of the Foundation:
American
Society of Appraisers
American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers
Appraisal Institute
International Association of Assessing Officers
International Right of Way Association
Massachusetts Board of Real Estate Appraisers
National Association of Independent Fee Appraisers
National Association of Master Appraisers
Q
What
does the future hold for the appraisal profession?
A
Of course,
predicting the future is risky business, but the
outlook for the appraisal profession is generally
positive. Like most professions, the appraisal
business is rapidly changing due to technology
and globalization of the American economy.
It is clear that these changes will open many
doors to valuation experts, particularly those
with a computer or statistical background.
Appraisers are important when the economy is growing
and also when it is in recession. Overall
there may be fewer appraisers in the future but
those who find their niche should be prosperous.
Q
Does the government
regulate appraisers?
A
Currently, the
government regulates only real property appraisers.
The power of regulation currently rests with the
individual states and territories that issue licenses
and certificates to real property appraisers.
In addition, each individual State Real Property
Appraisal Board is responsible for disciplining
appraisers.
At this time, there
are no immediate plans for the regulation of appraisers
who specialize in other types of property.
Q
How do I become
an appraiser?
A
The process of
becoming an appraiser differs according to the
various appraisal disciplines. Most appraisers
are required to have a certain number of hours
of education and experience. In addition,
if an appraiser wishes to become state licensed
or certified in real property or if an appraiser
wishes to become “designated” by an appraisal
organization, they must also pass a comprehensive
examination.
The Appraiser Qualifications
Board (AQB) of The Appraisal Foundation recommends
the following minimum criteria for state licensed/certified
real property appraisers:
***These are the
minimum national requirements, some states may
require more education or experience.
Experience
Education
Exam
Required
Required
Required
Licensed Residential
2,000 hrs 90
hours
Yes
Certified Residential
2,500 hrs
120 hours
Yes
Certified General
3,000 hrs
180 hours
Yes
Please note that
the criteria above is a recommended minimum and
that the states may decide to increase this criteria
as they see fit.
The AQB has also
established voluntary minimum criteria for personal
property appraisers, as follows:
Experience
Education
Exam
Required
Required
Required
Personal Property
Appraiser Minimum
*1800-4500 hrs 120 hrs
Yes
Qualification Criteria
*Experience hours
range from 1,800 of personal property appraisal
experience, of which 900 hours must be specialized,
to 4,500 hours of market related personal property
non-appraisal experience in areas of specialization.
Q
Do you need a college
degree to become an appraiser?
A
Appraisal education
in the United States has typically been provided
by professional appraisal organizations.
Accordingly, at the present time it is not necessary
to have a college degree in order to become an
appraiser. Many appraisers choose to receive
training through traditional methods, such as
through professional appraisal organizations.
It should be noted that some of these associations
require a college degree for their advanced designations.
On an increasing basis, appraisers are supplementing
their education through courses at the community
college or university level.
Q
What is an appraisal
“designation”?
A
An appraisal designation
is awarded by one of many professional trade organizations
that represent appraisers (see listing of Appraisal
Sponsors on the back panel). Designations
are awarded after an individual has completed
a specific course of appraiser training through
an organization. Each organization offers
multiple designations in differing fields or specialties.
Q
How do I become
a designated appraiser?
A
You will need to
contact one of the many professional organizations
representing appraisers regarding membership and
the course of action for designation.
Q
Why should I join
a professional appraisal organization?
A
A professional
appraisal organization provides appraisers with
the opportunity to network with other professionals,
to keep abreast of pertinent issues such as regulatory
changes and to receive continuing education.
Q
How do I obtain
trainee experience?
A
Trainee experience
can be gained by aligning yourself with a professional,
established appraiser as an apprentice or a trainee.
Many appraisers work as an apprentice while completing
the required education. For real property
appraisers, many states have formal trainee programs.
Q
What is the demand
for qualified appraisers?
A
There is a wide
array of clients that use appraisals such as lenders,
insurance companies, attorneys, governments, museums
and tax assessors.
Q
What is The Appraisal
Foundation?
A
The Appraisal Foundation
is a non-profit educational organization dedicated
to the promulgation of professional appraisal
standards and appraiser qualifications for all
appraisal disciplines. The Foundation accomplishes
this mission through the work of two independent
Boards, the Appraiser Qualifications Board (AQB)
and the Appraisal Standards Board (ASB).
Q
Why should I be
interested in the work of the Foundation?
A
The Foundation,
through its Appraisal Standards Board, publishes
the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal
Practice (USPAP), which is the generally accepted
set of performance standards for appraisers.
It is these standards that are enforced by state
governments and various professional appraisal
organizations. In addition, the minimum
qualifications for certain appraisal disciplines
are established by the Appraiser Qualifications
Board of the Foundation.
Key Realty School (702) 313-7000 |
