How do I become a real estate appraiser? With the current educational and practical experience requirements, it is challenging today to become a real estate appraiser. It is challenging to an employer to take you on as a trainee. The main problem is that there is a major commitment of time and money on the part of the mentor-appraiser. This commitment is to get that trainee to the point s/he has enough practical experience, training, education, and desire to be a profit-center for the supervisor. Supervising appraisers are in the biz to make money, not provide charity.
It can take months to train an appraiser how to inspect a property properly. It can take years to train an appraiser to analyze data, make adjustments based on those data, and then interpret the market from those analyses. Lender clients make it even harder. So, unless your supervisor's practice has its foundation primarily in non-lender work, there can be little incentive to hire you (unless you bring an amazing skill-set to the table).
However, there is hope! If you want to find a great mentor to work with, try looking at this business thru your employer's eyes. In other words, what financial incentive(s) do you bring to your potential employer? Ask yourself: For example, in the beginning of the trainee/mentor relationship, are you willing to work free? If not, at least in the beginning, there is no financial incentive to hire you. (Remember: you pay to go to college; are you willing to pay for your real estate appraisal education, too?). This is not a popular idea, to be sure. However, are you willing to earn your experience and truly show your mentor you are in this for the long haul?
What can you do to lessen the potential liability your employer takes on in hiring you? What are you willing to do to show your potential employer you will not become his/her competition just as soon as s/he trains you to the point you are state certified? Are you willing to sign, and then abide by, a non-compete agreement?
And, finally, be prepared to answer this question: What are the benefits of hiring you which, until you are trained, is a drain on the time and money-earning capacity of the mentor? What are the advantages to the mentor of hiring you? After all, you need the mentor - the mentor does not need you. Make him/her need you!
For more information on this subject, please listen to The Appraiser Coach Podcast Episode:
