Welcome Shawn,
I wanted to add a bit to what Mike said.
The income level of a new appraiser can vary widely, often below the figures that Mike said. If your mentor doesn't have much work, then you'll probably not get much either, if any. I couldn't find a mentor in my immediate area, so I spent at one hour commuting each way, six or seven days a week to get to the main office. In my two years of training I put 80,000 miles on my truck. After figuring out the amount of depreciation in value that much mileage put on my vehicle, plus gas and maintenance, that took one heck of a whack out of what I was making. In the first year there was also the cost of a reliable laptop and digital camera. All said and done I probably cleared about $10,000 my first year
, and that meant leaving my house at 6:00am, getting home around 4:00pm, then typing at least a few more hours in the evening, usually 6 days a week. My situation was not unusual for a newbie.
My point is that where your mentor is located, how much work he/she can provide, and how big your territory is will ALL factor into how much your income might be.
Definately find a compatible mentor before signing up and paying for classes, and make sure you've got a good savings account set aside because there's no way of knowing if you'll have work from one week to the next.
Be sure to read up in the newbie/wannabes section of this forum...it's full of information that might help you decide if you should proceed or not.
Best of luck,
Dee Dee
