<span style='color:brown'>Job prospects: The appraisal profession is changing rapidly. The kinds of appraisals done in years past where you could put the information on a postcard and give it (sometimes just call it in) to the brother-in-law banker is long past. But as long as two people disagree on what a property is really worth there will be a need for an unbiased opinion backed by verifiable data.
Liability will continue to be an issue. When a party offers expert opinions and those opinions are substantially wrong, the person hiring that party is going to want someone to blame......and sue.
Cookie cuttter homes will soon be relegated to "bluebook" type valuations..........just like cars..........but unique properties, complex properties, commercial properties, single purpose buildings, litigation, condemnation, estate, tax, all will require valuations performed by reputable professional people. I also see a future in pre-sale or buyers/sellers appraisals for those who wisely seek a realistic value prior to putting a house on the market or prior to making an offer on a property.
Education: Academically, real property appraisers need the broadest possible education. Among the essentials is a knowledge of real estate, financing, credit, cost analysis, construction materials, methods, & techniques (both historical and contemporary), architectural styles and trends (the list is inclusive, not exclusive). Additionally the future appraiser will need the experience and knowledge to accurately forcast future growth of communities, the impact of such growth on existing development, and the ability to accurately and clearly communicate the results of research and the development of conclusions.
This is in addition to specialites that you might want to explore. Farm appraising requires a knowledge of animal husbandry, farming economics, land use, soil analysis, current trends in crop and animal production...again the list is almost endless. Condemnation requires knowledge of state and federal condemnation laws as well as almost everything a farm, commmercial, industrial, and residential appraiser has to know.
Experience: Working in construction a couple of summers, selling real estate, working for a closing company, working as a loan officer, working for a title company, anything to do with land........any or all of the above.
Is appraising a dying career? Only if doing homes for loan officers in subdivisions of identical houses is your idea of a career. Otherwise the diversity of work, the combination of office and field work, remaining on the cutting edge of technology, staying current with trends as diverse as plant openings/closings to Austrailian droughs to weather cycles will keep the most ADD ridden happily and profitably engaged. One other side benefit........only you can determine how much money you will make and how much time you take off.......as an appraiser you will never have to miss a childs soccer match, a Boy Scout campout or meeting, or miss your daughters dance recital (unless you want to).......it is your call, and it is your life to control and your future to determine.
Appraising in the next century will be an awesome challenge, an excellent adventure, and the last repository of stubbornly independent people.</span>
