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

What is a staff appraiser and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Jefferson Sherman

Providing accurate appraisals of home values is critical for ensuring fair and honest real estate sales. Staff appraisers assess a property or home for real estate agents or banks to determine its value. Staff appraisers do not work as independent contractors but instead work for an organization that assigns clients based on the company's deadlines.

Duties that appraisers often perform on the job include conducting formal appraisals of real property or land, making on-site visits, inspecting a property, interviewing clients, as well as collecting, verifying, and accurately reporting market data. To become a staff appraiser, you'll need to have strong analytical and decision-making skills along with the ability to work independently and meet established production standards.

Critical thinking, mathematical ability, and sound judgment are also key skills needed for this job. You'll also typically need to have a Bachelor's degree as well as strong experience in the real estate or financial industry. Depending on your state's requirements, you'll also need to pass any tests required for becoming a residential appraiser.

What general advice would you give to a staff appraiser?

Jefferson Sherman

Appraisal Institute President, Appraisal Institute

Clients and users of appraisal services will continue to need appraisers after the current generation retires, creating opportunities for a new generation of valuation professionals that reflects the overall demographics of a rapidly changing U.S. population. Appraisals may be required for any type of property, including single-family homes, apartment buildings and condominiums, office buildings, shopping centers, industrial sites and farms.

ScoreStaff AppraiserUS Average

Salary

3.4

Avg. Salary $43,583

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 81.18%

Gender

female 24.11%

male 75.89%

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 staff appraiser

Explore staff appraiser education requirements

Most common staff appraiser degrees

Bachelor's

69.9 %

Associate

15.3 %

Master's

5.7 %

Start to develop specific staff appraiser skills

Skills	Percentages
Customer Service	25.58%
USPAP	11.29%
Residential Real Estate	8.73%
FHA	8.28%
Appraisal Software	6.45%

Complete relevant staff appraiser training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 2-4 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New staff 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 staff appraiser based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real staff appraiser resumes.

Obtain the necessary licensing

Becoming a licensed staff appraiser usually doesn't require a college degree. However, you need to pass an exam to become a licensed staff appraiser in most of states. 43 states require staff 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 staff appraiser duties and responsibilities

Achieve specialization in servicing REO clients and knowledge of REO market and asset liquidation procedures as they relate to valuation.
Develop single family residential, small commercial, large commercial, FHA, REO and bankruptcy appraisals.
Interpret mortgages and MLS data, land descriptions and property sales contracts.
Ensure that all reports are in compliance with all applicable federal and state laws, USPAP, FIRREA and client requirements.

Prepare your staff appraiser resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your staff 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 staff 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 staff appraiser resume templates

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