Looking To Become Appraiser Trainee In Austin, Tx

[Dram]

Greetings all,

This is my first post to the group and have a few questions, I hope some members here might be able to help answer. I currently reside in Illinois and am looking to move to Austin, Texas in August. I have been interested in becoming an appraiser trainee and eventually an appraiser for some time and am now doing research into the field.

I was wondering if Austin was an area where I could find a reasonable amount of work to complete my trainee hours and if so, can anyone recommend firms I should apply to (as a complete newbie with no previous experience) in the Austin area? I appreciate any insight.

Kind regards,

Joel

 

[SpartanAG]

Welcome to the forum! From what I've heard from several of my peers in Texas, the market is hot in many areas and many of those areas need appraisers. I'm sure some of the Texas appraisers will be along to give you more specific information. There are certainly a number of firms in Texas that take on trainee's; it just depends on the type of work you want to do.

Do you have a 4-year college degree or are you working to obtain one? Currently a 4-year degree is one of the requirements to obtain certification.

Are you more interested in residential or commercial work?

 

[Dram]

Welcome to the forum! From what I've heard from several of my peers in Texas, the market is hot in many areas and many of those areas need appraisers. I'm sure some of the Texas appraisers will be along to give you more specific information. There are certainly a number of firms in Texas that take on trainee's; it just depends on the type of work you want to do.

Do you have a 4-year college degree or are you working to obtain one? Currently a 4-year degree is one of the requirements to obtain certification.

Are you more interested in residential or commercial work?

Hello, and thank you for your reply. Yes, I do hold a bachelor's degree. I would probably be interested in residential work more than commercial but am not set on residential at this stage.

 

[erockinaz]

Welcome Dram, if you can, aim for a commercial appraisal license. Even if you primarily do residential because of preference, the commercial license will "future proof" your career. If the residential side withers on the vine, as many veteran appraisers fear that it will, you can turn to commercial work to lengthen your career. Opportunities are out there, you just need to find them. Good luck!

 

[miktay]

Welcome Dram, if you can, aim for a commercial appraisal license. Even if you primarily do residential because of preference, the commercial license will "future proof" your career. If the residential side withers on the vine, as many veteran appraisers fear that it will, you can turn to commercial work to lengthen your career. Opportunities are out there, you just need to find them. Good luck!

"wither on the vine". That sounds pretty accurate!

 

[Dram]

Welcome Dram, if you can, aim for a commercial appraisal license. Even if you primarily do residential because of preference, the commercial license will "future proof" your career. If the residential side withers on the vine, as many veteran appraisers fear that it will, you can turn to commercial work to lengthen your career. Opportunities are out there, you just need to find them. Good luck!

Thank you very much for your advice. Is real-estate appraising in your opinion still a viable career, particularly in the state of Texas?

 

[Dram]

"wither on the vine". That sounds pretty accurate!

Sounds ominous...

 

[erockinaz]

Thank you very much for your advice. Is real-estate appraising in your opinion still a viable career, particularly in the state of Texas?

Yes, for all the nay-saying and complaining about fees and income, most good appraisers pull down a decent income. I've been in the business for 18 years, and most of those years have been good. I do think that 20 or early 30 somethings that are just entering the field would be better off doing a mix of commercial and residential. There is a push to replace a sizable chunk or residential appraisals with computers, AVMs, reducing the residential appraiser role. It has already started, but on a small scale. Most residential appraisers also have to work with a middle man, an appraisal management company (AMC) that tends to take the fun and art out of the job. The route to becoming an appraiser is daunting, but if you use due diligence and find a quality mentor that pays you fair and teaches you well, appraising can be a viable career option.

 

[Deleted member 128537]

The biggest issue you will face is finding someone that will/willing to supervise you. Also what kind of degree do you have? I would recommend having lots of economics, statistics, math etc for a commercial license. Also you need to have excellent writing ability since those assignments are typically narrative reports. But if you are young definitely try to get commercial license. In a large city you will have more opportunities. But most commercial appraisers tend to specialize a bit because of the variety of commercial properties. But even on residential side you will find that with the new requirements the number of appraisers entering the field is diminishing, and lots of us are in our late 50's and early 60's and want to slow down or quit altogether in 5 to 10 years. My guess is that in about 10 years even residential appraisers will be doing just fine; especially if you are in a market that has a variety of properties. If you want to do well on the residential side find an area that is largely rural and with little conformity and existing appraisers are few. No way AVM's can be used in those kinds of areas. Also many rural appraisers (like myself) do not train people. So if you want to move to a rural area and set up shop there could be some great opportunities out there.

 

[Michigan CG]

If one of my kids was looking into getting into the business I would make them get a commercial license.