Appraising can be a good way to have supplemental income and to set your own pace. It does, however, take a fairly long time (3 to 5 years) to get to the point where that is the case. A typical trainee may make 35% of the full appraisal fee on an assignment, but splits can vary considerably depending on the other benefits and work conditions you negotiate. Typical appraisal fees can vary from $225 to $450 per appraisal.

A la mode recently published the Appraisal Fee Reference, which makes for interesting reading (for an appraiser!).

One thing you need to know is that a lot of appraisers, and appraisal companies are really hurting right now – something called the HVCC was implemented last Spring. It essentially inserted a middleman between the lender-appraiser relationship. These middlemen are called Appraisal Management Companies (AMCs). The AMCs route appraisals from the lenders to appraisers and take a “haircut” of the standard fee. This haircut can run as much as 50%. So, if we take a $450 fee, slice off $175 for the AMC, that leaves $275 for the appraisal company. A trainee may receive 35%, or $96.25. It may take a trainee 6 to 8+ hours to do a single appraisal, depending on the background of the trainee and how quickly he or she learns the complexities of the systems accessed for reference information and data.

Appraisers in Texas are licensed by TALCB. Here is the list of educational requirements for the different appraiser licensing levels. It can take 3 to 5+ years to move from trainee to licensed status, depending on the license level you want to obtain. You can be “licensed” in less than 2 years, but “Certified Residential Licensed” will give you much more flexibility and control of your schedule, your fees, your assignments, etc.

This chart shows Texas Appraiser licensing requirements as of the date of this reply – this one is harder to find on the TALCB website which I why I’m linking for you, here. It may help you plan or make your decision about whether or not to join this profession.

We do plan to take on one or more trainees, but probably not until next Spring (2011) or possibly later next year. It depends largely on what happens with the HVCC (whether or not it gets overturned or modified).

If you decide to do this, keep us in mind. Let me know if you have any more questions.

You can give me a call on my cell phone (512) 585-4758 to talk about Austin and some things to think about when moving here!

Alison

Thanks, JIm