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Real estate appraiser as a side job or not worth it?

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Terrel L. Shields said:
OK. With the PAREA program, one may be able to qualify quicker than traditional means. Secondly, classes, especially on line, are pretty cheap. So you can get the preliminaries fairly low cost. The software? for you own benefit, Homputer is the cheapest and not bad. I drove for many miles to get my initial classes, had to pay motel bills, etc, but now you go online and take courses. And, you don't need to take the courses first, if you can find someone to let you tag along and get the experience. The rest is difficult. As for Arkansas, NW Arkansas is growing fast and would be above average in available opportunities to find a mentor and experience. I get folks calling me all the time.
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My man. Spreading hope and positivity. (y)
 
Agree with most of above comments. Will add that there are several major headwinds which most in the industry think will be lowering both demand and fees for RES appraisers moving forward. It really is not a part time business model. Lots of time and money invested just to consider part time at the end. It's a major commitment.
 
Overimprovement said:
Agree with most of above comments. Will add that there are several major headwinds which most in the industry think will be lowering both demand and fees for RES appraisers moving forward. It really is not a part time business model. Lots of time and money invested just to consider part time at the end. It's a major commitment.
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The sky has been falling and appraisers will soon be replaced was talked about 20 years ago when I started and still comes up today..
 
KYLECODY said:
The sky has been falling and appraisers will soon be replaced was talked about 20 years ago when I started and still comes up today..
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And no one can predict the future, all we can do is make educated guesses given the information at hand, which OP apparently is trying to do.

I think it is pretty accepted that the ONLY reason demand for full fee appraisals has not declined since March is because of COVID. How that continues to play out and how a completely new political/social agenda take form in the coming years add even more uncertainty to the future.

Would you recommend to a friend or family member to enter the profession (from scratch) tomorrow?
 
If you are electing the lowest license level because of the part-time ROI for going full CG...perhaps shift gears and consider part-time gig as an analyst or admin assistant to appraisal firm. IMO this will give you a glimpse of what really occurs on 'the other side' and more informed decisions about a future can be made.
Send me your email (typed out so bots don't read it) if you'd like to discuss how that works.
 
JJA, your situation sounds similar to mine in some respects. I farm with my brother, but only row crops on about 600 acres so that is not a full time job. For me it was easy to find a supervisory appraiser, as I was hired by his firm out of college to assist in appraisal work. He now has his own business and was looking for help again. He will be retiring in another year or two, and I hope to become a certified general and start my own appraisal business. Working from home seems the most logical to me. Whether I am successful or not remains to be seen. It doesn't sound like finding supervisors is very easy in most situations though.
 
Even in the old days, many appraisers got into appraising because of "connections".
Could be children of appraisers.
Could be children of people working in lending industry.
Could be people working in the bank and had a chance to work as an appraiser.

For me I was lucky. I was hired because the bank's CEO only hired people from his alma mater college.
 
Somewhere between difficult and impossible to get in unless you know someone who already is in the biz.
Brush up your sales skills.
 
Terrel L. Shields said:
OK. With the PAREA program, one may be able to qualify quicker than traditional means. Secondly, classes, especially on line, are pretty cheap. So you can get the preliminaries fairly low cost. The software? for you own benefit, Homputer is the cheapest and not bad. I drove for many miles to get my initial classes, had to pay motel bills, etc, but now you go online and take courses. And, you don't need to take the courses first, if you can find someone to let you tag along and get the experience. The rest is difficult. As for Arkansas, NW Arkansas is growing fast and would be above average in available opportunities to find a mentor and experience. I get folks calling me all the time.
Click to expand...
The classes cost thousands and are all online. I think that is how it has to be, but there is much to be said for the in person classes. Back when the Dead Sea was sick, I took my classes at the local community college. It was a deal.
 
i don't think you should give up on this. There will be a demand when all of us finally retire and there are very few left who don't need walkers to do the inspections. For a supervisory appraiser, it is expensive and time consuming to hire an assistant and it takes a while before there is even break even with an assistant. And you are letting someone into your business and confidential files who may or may not stay with you after they are licensed.
 
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