Do You Know the Qualifications of an Appraiser? Have Confidence in the Professional, The Appraiser

If you are like me you want to know the qualifications of the person that is about to provide a service for you whether it is your electrician, doctor, dentist, etc.  It is my intent to provide you with some information in regards to the qualifications of a real estate appraiser.  It seems that  some might not be aware all of the training and education that goes into becoming a Real Estate Appraiser. In light of a recent article from a real estate agent discussing value in Huffington Post, there is an inference that the appraiser is not a real estate professional and the author even states"Don't call an appraiser, as their approach to market value is different than that of a real estate professional".   Maybe this is a misstatement but please know that this is most certainly not true. The real estate appraising profession has changed throughout the years and the requirements to become an appraiser have become more rigorous and extensive.  You can have confidence that the appraiser that is appraising your property is certainly a professional and has the experience necessary to perform a valuation.    

It is not easy to become a real estate appraiser because of the time and experience involved in obtaining your license.  

Here are the requirements to become a licensed real estate appraiser  and real estate agent in Texas: 

Type of License	Hours of Appraisal/Real Estate Classes	Degree	Time/Experience	Pass Exam
Appraiser Trainee	79 Hours	None	Need a Sponsor	No
Licensed Appraiser	150 Hours	None	1,000 Hours (minimum 6 months)	Yes
Certified Residential Appraiser	200 Hours	Bachelor’s Degree  (or equivalent options)	1,500 Hours (minimum 12 months)	Yes
Certified General Appraiser	300 Hours	Bachelor’s Degree	3,000 Hours (minimum 18 months)	Yes
Real Estate Agent	60 Hours	None	Need a Broker Sponsor	Yes
Real Estate Broker	270 Hours	Addl 630 Hrs or Bachelor’s Degree	60 months	Yes

So as you can see, it takes both time, experience and education to obtain your real estate appraisal license.  This is not a profession that you can get into quickly and a license is not achieved without great effort.  If you have an appraisal performed by a licensed real estate appraiser you can trust that the appraiser has had substantial education and experience in order to perform the appraisal. 

Additional Thoughts: 

This is not to say that all appraisers are the same and will give the same value opinion.  Just as there are other professions, such as doctors or attorneys, with different levels of experience and expertise, the same goes for appraisers. 
Additional Resources: 
Ryan Lundquist - How can 3 appraisers give 3 different values for the same property?   
Tom Horn- 3 Differences Between an Agent and an Appraiser When Valuing your House for Sale
Jonathan Miller - Multi-millionaire Motivational Speaker Dean Graziosi Shares His Appraisal Wisdom

This is also not to say that real estate agents are not professionals, as they certainly are however, just as appraisers, some are more experienced with different levels of expertise. The real estate agent assists in the buying/selling of homes.  Both professions have different roles in the process and both are very important.   
Also refer to: 
This Blog:  How the Appraisal Works in the Home Buying/Selling Process
Ed Silva- What is the Difference Between an Appraisal and a Comparative Market Analysis
Tom Horn- Appraisal vs CMA vs BPO- What's the Difference?


I recently upgraded my appraisal license to that of Certified Residential Appraiser.  I must say that it took me a little longer than anticipated as the additional time required for the classes was done in addition to our regular workload and since we have a family of seven kids (yes, seven) my free time was very limited.  I am proud to have accomplished this and because of the additional time and training required to upgrade my license, anything alluding to the fact that a real estate appraiser is not a real estate professional might have fueled this post. 

The purpose of this post is to provide you with information about what is involved in becoming a real estate appraiser and how you can have confidence that the appraiser is a real estate professional. Do you have additional thoughts or comments?  Let us know at www.dwslaterco.com.

Note:  This post has been updated on 11/18/2018 with the new requirements from the TALCB for licensing requirements. 


Disclaimer: All information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. The information is meant entirely for educational purposes and casual reading only and is NOT intended for any other use.  This information is NOT intended to support an opinion of value for your appraisal needs or any sort of value conclusion for a loan, litigation, tax appeal or other potential real estate or non real estate purpose.  If you’d like to obtain additional information or order an appraisal for your specific needs, please contact us at www.dwslaterco.com.