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Advice for Appraiser Trainees 

AMCs took over residential appraisals in 2008.  Many lenders will now not allow residential trainees to sign on their own so few fee appraisers hire trainees. Most require that you have a residential certification and 5 years of experience. However, the Advice for appraiser trainees below is useful. 

Getting your first appraisal job has always been difficult. You had to know someone or be in the right place at the right time (the luck factor).

Now, getting started in residential appraising is even more difficult as few lenders hire trainees (where most appraisers got trained until about 10 years ago). Few fee appraisal companies hire trainees.

A good way to start is doing clerical support work in an appraisal office. Commercial appraising low demand means low fees. When demand is strong, fees go up.

If you have a Bachelor’s degree in English, Economics, or Business, or an MBA, consider commercial appraising, where there is more opportunity. If you can offer something besides a “warm body” and a few classes, such as experience running a computer network, you will have a better chance.

To keep up on what’s happening in appraising, sign up for my free emails at www.appraisaltoday.com