How much an average residential appraiser makes per year

[MBuehler]

If it's just about the money, I would suggest politics.

The hours are better, and you get lots of free meals.

But seriously, if its only the money your thinking about, then this is not the career for you, IMHO.

 

[Colleague]

Here's an example:

Let's say you would like to make $60,000 starting out as a residential trainee.

If you are given the discount work to do, you could be looking at $250 for an appraisal. Now lets say your company gives you a 50% spilt, you make $125 for an appraisal.

You could be looking at trying to do 480 residential appraisal to make the same amount of money. Sounds lucrative right?

 

[MARK JOLLIFF]

Made 40k (gross) appraising and 68k as garbageman with great bennies! This year so far I've done maybe 10 appraisals and back to working 60-70 hrs a week at the transfer station. I worked last Saturday for 10 hrs at 37.50 per hr and Sunday for double time (50 per hour) for 8 hours but would have loved 2 appraisals @$375 each much more. Am greatful to be able to work at my stinky garbage job though!!

 

[Jessica Neff]

I went part time at my $60K+ market research job to start doing commercial appraising. While I'm working 50 - 60 hour weeks right now between both, it's giving me a good look into the appraisal field without sacrificing too much pay. Appraisal is challenging and interesting, but there is no way I could maintain an acceptable quality of life level doing just that. While jumping in headfirst is a great way to learn, in the few months I've been doing this I have only found one commercial appraiser (in southern AZ) who has been working for 5+ years, other than my mentor, that makes above $40K a year. I'm sure they're out there, but it appears to take many many years to establish yourself, learn the industry, and have a sufficient amount of revenue coming in.

Keeping your current job while testing out appraisal part time sounds like a good choice!

-Jess

 

[lizhorvath]

Let's see - 2005 I made about $30K, 2006 I made 12K, but subtract the 8K in deductions (supplies, dues, fees, mileage) I really netted about $4K. Halfway thru 2006 I realized I might not make it to my first wedding anniversary, so it was time to find a reliable income.
That may explain why I'm an assessor now. And it took forever to find this job! Retirement, benefits, taxes deducted from my reliable, bi-weekly paychecks, no LO's to **** me off... I wouldn't give it back for anything...

 

[Ken B]

When I was doing RE sales part time (hell on earth and my hat is off to truly successful sales people), the saying was 90% of the sales people make $10 and hour and the rest make $100 an hour. The same is probably very much true for appraisers. The obvious difference between the two is the $10 an hour appraiser is sitting around waiting for the phone to ring and the $100 an hour appraiser is out finding business.

 

[Artemis Fowl]

That may explain why I'm an assessor now. And it took forever to find this job! Retirement, benefits, taxes deducted from my reliable, bi-weekly paychecks, no LO's to **** me off... I wouldn't give it back for anything...

Good for you Liz! Probly beat me out of that job...:glare:

Not even gonna say how I did in '06 but your #'s look disturbingly familiar. Making only 2 qtrly payments, I'm actually getting a refund I did so bad vs. '05.

 

[lizhorvath]

Well, I'm glad I'm not the only one... I'm not kidding - get on the website of every municipality in your area and see who's hiring appraisers for the assessing department. Such a relief!
Last year my husband's refund covered what I owed the IRS, so therefore, no refund. This year - whammo! Finally - relief.

 

[ccooper]

I have several appraisers in my shop. They make anywhere from $30-$100k per year depending upon their own capabilities. Some people are very adept and can quickly move thru a commercial/residential assignment while others might take twice as long. The experience level makes a difference but I can also see a difference in education level. My appraisers with college degrees generally are more organized and efficient than those without any post high school education. They are not "smarter", they just are more practiced in getting tasks done and answering (stupid) questions.

I also firmly believe that an appraiser's "income" is not necessarily what is reported on his tax return (stop...don't go there!) I really believe that one of the best benefits to appraising is giving you an expert knowledge level of the real estate market...which can be very valuable. I really believe that my experienced appraisers know more than 95% of the local sales agents about the entire market. Most agents specialize and really don't know what's going on on the other side of town or down "south of the bridge". I have seen my appraisers make very good RE investment decisions over the years.

I like to think that I have learned many very valuable lessons by watching others "screw the pooch". Appraising gives you a front row seat to all the action (and you actually get paid to watch).

Truth be known, 1/3 of our tax return is appraising, 1/3 of our tax return is my wife's RE sales agent income, and the other 1/3 is rental property income. Some of my appraisers make more $$ than I do from appraisal since they can be very focused and don't have other duties. I find myself often bogged down in review or management duties.

I recently appraised my Veterinarian's home and noticed he didn't have a pet. Would you trust a stock broker that didn't own any stocks? A marriage counselor who's not married? I don't understand why more appraisers don't use their knowledge more by investing.

 

[Artemis Fowl]

Liz, are you related to the Lisa Horvath who works in Monroe? Just curious.

CCooper: I became an appraiser in order to become a smart investor. After 5 years, I still love appraising but this market took a dump. I was finally ready to make some investments and everything changed. Gonna sit tight for another season and see how it pans out. Been looking out-state for opportunities in the meantime (hint-hint, wink-wink need another body?):new_smile-l: