How To Become A Residential Appraiser: What It Is and Career Path

What is a residential appraiser and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Residential appraisers are responsible for assessing the value of real estate properties to set selling prices or mortgage values of buildings or land. They establish market values and rate real estate visiting and inspecting sites, and interviewing owners.

It will be your job to determine factors that might impact the value of the property in the future, such as developments in the area or previous sales records. You will have to document your findings and prepare reports explaining your methods and the results, keeping your procedures in alignment with industry regulations and standards.

A degree in a financial area might be useful when embarking on this career path. Experience in real estate is a must, people often rise to this position after extensive work as real estate agents. Getting certified will give you a good start to enter the field. You will have to be up-to-date about regulations related to real estate procedures, and strong analytical thinking will be essential. Salaries for this position average around $49,736 per year.

ScoreResidential AppraiserUS Average

Salary

3.3

Avg. Salary $42,503

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.0

Growth rate 7%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.43%

Asian 2.90%

Black or African American 4.70%

Hispanic or Latino 6.90%

Unknown 3.89%

White 81.17%

Gender

female 39.96%

male 60.04%

Age - 51

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 51

Stress level

5.0

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.5

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

2.1

Work life balance is very poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a residential appraiser

Explore residential appraiser education requirements

Most common residential appraiser degrees

Bachelor's

65.0 %

Associate

16.3 %

Master's

7.2 %

Start to develop specific residential appraiser skills

Skills	Percentages
Uniform Standards	11.62%
Residential Real Estate	7.54%
USPAP	6.78%
Data Entry	6.01%
Fair Market Value	5.51%

Complete relevant residential appraiser training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 2-4 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New residential appraisers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a residential appraiser based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real residential appraiser resumes.

Obtain the necessary licensing

Becoming a licensed residential appraiser usually doesn't require a college degree. However, you need to pass an exam to become a licensed residential appraiser in most of states. 43 states require residential appraisers to have license for their work. You can see the list of states below.

State	Education	Exam	License url
Alabama	Degree required	State exam required	Licensed Real Property Appraiser
Maryland	Degree required	State exam required	REAL ESTATE BROKER
Alaska	-	-	Real Estate Broker
California	Degree required	State exam required	Real Estate Broker License
Colorado	Specific course required	State exam required	Real Estate Broker License

Research residential appraiser duties and responsibilities

Manage valuation disputes of clients with in-house or fee appraisers, submit BPO's/Appraisal reports error and concerns.
Utilize ISC, MLS and state, county and city public records websites for data collection need for residential appraisals.
Review appraisal reports as per FNMA and FHLMC laws.
Contact to performing appraisals for HUD foreclosure properties, through Pemco.

Prepare your residential appraiser resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your residential appraiser resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a residential appraiser resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable residential appraiser resume templates

Build a professional residential appraiser resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your residential appraiser resume.