thinking about appraisal career

[bball boy]

I am a year out of college and thinking about getting into real estate appraisal. I have had a hard time finding jobs in my field and thought that this might be a good career to get into. I live in NC and am getting ready to take my first appraisal principles class at a community college. A few questions on getting started:

1. Is real estate appraisal a good field to get into as a young, just out of college person?
2. Is this a field that is growing and has good potential in the future?
3. What is a range of money that I would make as a trainee?
4. About how long do you stay a trainee?
5. Can you get started in commercial property or do you have to start in residential first?

Any advice would be helpful, as I am deciding if this is a field that I want to get into. The things that are drawing me to this field are: being able to get out of the office and looking at different properties often, working with and meeting new people, potential to own my own business, having some control and working a flexible schedule. Are these good assumptions?

 

[Michigan CG]

http://appraisersforum.com/showthread.php?t=137199

 

[Thern Newbell]

What field did you study in college, and how do you think it could apply to the appraisal profession? The previous post is a link to another discussion on a similar matter so I think that you could find it helpful.

To answer one of your questions, you don't have to start in residential first, in fact I would steer you away from the residential side as it is in major transition right now. Due to the refi boom a few years ago with lowering interest rates and easy credit, many residential appraisers had an influx of new business. In order to service the increasing volume of business, there were more opportunities for new people to enter the profession as trainees, which has resulted in a current oversupply of licensed appraisers on the residential side as the volume of business has tightened. Additionally there are some regulatory issues in play right that the affect on current residential appraiser licensees is unknown.

 

[EquianAvante]

I am getting my trainee license, but as for you, I would run for the hills.

 

[MAIorBust]

Don't waste your time on Residential...Go Gen.
You will make good money
The future for the Gen. side is fantastic for a young person

 

[bball boy]

Why are you getting your license if your advice for me is to run for the hills?

 

[Doug Wegener]

Apprasing

I am a year out of college and thinking about getting into real estate appraisal. I have had a hard time finding jobs in my field and thought that this might be a good career to get into. I live in NC and am getting ready to take my first appraisal principles class at a community college. A few questions on getting started:

1. Is real estate appraisal a good field to get into as a young, just out of college person?
2. Is this a field that is growing and has good potential in the future?
3. What is a range of money that I would make as a trainee?
4. About how long do you stay a trainee?
5. Can you get started in commercial property or do you have to start in residential first?

Any advice would be helpful, as I am deciding if this is a field that I want to get into. The things that are drawing me to this field are: being able to get out of the office and looking at different properties often, working with and meeting new people, potential to own my own business, having some control and working a flexible schedule. Are these good assumptions?

Stay away from residential appraisal. It does not have good potential.

Bare subsisttence is the wage of a trainee. You are going to be a trainee for at least 2 years.

Commercial appraising might be a possibility.

However, if it was me, I would find a better profession than appraising.

Invest the same amount of time becoming a dentist or something and you will have a much better life. .

 

[Mountain Man]

If you are going to do it, go all the way to the top... Certified General commercial appraiser with MAI designation. Once you get your MAI, the head hunters will be calling YOU to offer jobs. A good MAI should be able to make 80-120k per year.

 

[Mike Phillips]

Knowing how to determine the market value of real estate is an excellent skill set for a young person to acquire. The big money is in developing, managing and buying and selling real estate, not in appraising it.

Go commercial - residential is dead and all but buried. Some states, like NC and FL who no longer issue the Licensed level category will eventually have a shortgage of Certified Residential Appraisers sufficient for those CR appraisers to make a decent living, but nothing will stop trainees from entering the field in any state. Therefore, when the boom times come again, it will just be a matter of the CRAs hiring the hoards of trainees who will emerge from the shadows. This will be true as long as the traditional independent contractor relationship between trainees and supervisors exists. Moreover, there is simply no payoff from entring the field on the residential side and hoping to obtain non-mortgage work - you'll be competing with way too many appraisers who have decades of experience.

You've made your investment in your college education. Don't waste time competing with people who don't have your credentials. In any field that requires a license to practice the name of the game is barriers to entry - who can get in - who can't? Are the barriers to entry sufficient to keep the less than career-minded individuals out or not? Can the required credentials be obtained in the short-run with a minimum investment or not?

Good luck
MP