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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 75 Hours of initial appraisal education. The 75 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 75 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 90 Hour requirement and the 75 Hour requirement?
A
The state of Nevada
requires 75 Hours of Appraisal education before a student can
start the internship. The state of Nevada requires 90 Hours of
Appraisal education before a student can become licensed. The
difference in education is 15 hours, meaning that a student must
take the balance of the 15 hours (in any approved appraisal
education) before the registered intern can activate an
appraisers license. Key Realty School recommends that the
balance of education (15 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
At the present time it is not
necessary to have a college degree in order to become an appraiser.
However, effective January 1, 2008, applicants for the state
certified residential and state certified general classifications
must possess a college degree or complete specific college-courses.
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
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
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