Looking To Become Appraiser Trainee In Austin, Tx

[gregb]

If the AQB has its way, the appraiser license may soon be available on the back of a wheaties box.

 

[Michael S]

My experience has been solely in commercial and I got into the appraisal field in early 2010 soon after graduating college. I would strongly recommend finding a commercial mentor to get started in the business. You can always switch to residential later but it’s very difficult to go the other way.

Your first three years or so as a trainee while you take classes and gather hours of experience is indentured servitude. You will not make very much money (probably 25-35k a year) and will almost certainly work more than 40 hours a week on average. However, once you’re a certified general you can easily make $50,000 your first year and $100,000 is definitely obtainable within a few more years if you’re willing to put in the time. You’re a lot more likely to find a larger appraiser firm (whether one of the national firms or a local/regional firm) that is willing to take on a trainee and train you from scratch than with an individual appraiser. A larger company will also be more likely to be doing a lot of different types of property which is good as you don’t want all of your experience to be in a single property type (apartments, shopping center, etc.). They may be willing to pay for some or all of your education as well which will run you from $5-10k depending on how much you need to travel. Try to take your classes through the Appraisal Institute as that will help if you decide to try and earn the MAI designation which will also increase your earning potential substantially.

A lot of residential appraisal work has been reduced to filling out forms with special codes and hoping that a computer or untrained idiot on the other end doesn’t kick it back because they can’t read. The average pace is several reports a week so you will spend a day or two on any property and then be off to the next. There are more inspections and less time (though still most of the time) in the office analyzing information and writing reports. Commercial work is mostly narrative reports from 40 to 200 pages and you will spend relatively little time on inspections and most of the time in the office writing. The average pace is closer to one report a week so it can be a grind when you’re 60 or 70 hours into a single report on a property that you’re just sick of at that point. Some people prefer being able to focus on just a single property for several days and others couldn’t stand that and need to be doing something new every day or two.

 

[bnmappraisal]

I agree that the BEST option for you would be to head toward the Cert Gen (Commercial) license as this will give you the best options for the future.

A lot of residential appraisal work has been reduced to filling out forms with special codes and hoping that a computer or untrained idiot on the other end doesn’t kick it back because they can’t read. The average pace is several reports a week so you will spend a day or two on any property and then be off to the next. There are more inspections and less time (though still most of the time) in the office analyzing information and writing reports. Commercial work is mostly narrative reports from 40 to 200 pages and you will spend relatively little time on inspections and most of the time in the office writing. The average pace is closer to one report a week so it can be a grind when you’re 60 or 70 hours into a single report on a property that you’re just sick off at that point. Some people prefer being able to focus on just a single property for several days and others couldn’t stand that and need to be doing something new every day or two.

Michael makes some great points in his entire post, I just wanted to add about his last paragraph. Although I am very confident I am intelligent enough to do Comm work (through training, etc) I personally just prefer RES work. As Michael points out, COMM reports (generally) are much more in depth and require a lot more time "in the office" to complete. I (again, just my personal feelings/opinion) prefer to see many properties; to me it keeps the job very interesting! Best of luck with your move and possible future in this industry

 

[Dram]

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.

Thank you. My degree is in psychology but am familiar with statistics and math (to the degree I could study up and regain the knowledge rather quickly).

 

[erockinaz]

Thank you. My degree is in psychology but am familiar with statistics and math (to the degree I could study up and regain the knowledge rather quickly).

I doesn't matter what your degree is in, as long as you have a logical/mathematically inclined mindset. This job isnt for everyone, its not easy being the punching bag for the rest of the industry. However, I do enjoy it (most of the time) and it works well with my skill set. If I could do it all over, I would have aimed for a Cert General license right away. GL

 

[normando]

I also worked in commercial appraisals for years but I liked residential better. Commercials are more in depth and analytical and pays better but I didn't like it. With commercial license, you have more options. I like to be independent and doing commercials require higher overhead with the high expenses for commercial data. I use both my real estate agent license and appraisal license but I do almost all residential appraisal work. I'm currently working on one home purchase and the money is good but I hate dealing with the hand holding of the client. Lots of phone calls and listening to the client. People have issues and have to listen to their complaints and whining. Drives me crazy sometimes. I find residential appraising more to my liking, less emotional, more objective. Go in and go out and the job is done quickly.