[Otternonsenz]

If you have a college degree and are willing to go through what essentially is an apprenticeship for 2 years, Residential Real Estate appraisal is not a bad gig. I’m just now getting my license after apprenticing since 2019, and there is a lot of work to be had in large metro areas (I’m in the Phoenix area). Having a degree gets you the highest level of licensure, but even with just specific appraisal classes alone and no degree you can still make a mint.

It’s pretty much data analysis and comparing apples to apples as close as you can get, adjusting for differences between homes; And while the forms you fill are repetitive, the homes you see are usually anything but. You can run your own shop and make a comfortable 300k+ a year, and if you really want, you can expand your services outside of working for appraisal management companies and mortgage companies.

There is a deficit of new blood entering the profession, and certainly not as many technically skilled people getting into it. This does mean that a lot of processes are a bit archaic (like submitting files in XML, or counties having aged FTP sites for their parcel maps), but the tide on a technical front is changing, ever so slowly (no one does their reports on index cards or uses microfilm readers like my grandfather used to).

One thing that might be tough if you look into this route is finding someone to train you. Most of these old guys (and truly I mean old guys) are happy with their little kingdoms of the area they cover, and their reluctance to train the new appraisers wanting to enter the field has created the lack of qualified workforce that has had people like me working overtime during the pandemic.

Great job, and has been the best choice of my life, and would not go back to front end dev or call centers; Cause nothing has given me the freedom of working for myself and running a business with my father, with the ability to start my own business when he retires.

[cwitty88]

That sounds incredible, honestly I am quite jealous as it sounds like a grind to get to where you are. I will have to look into this more. I have always enjoyed real estate related stuff so maybe this could be a good calling.

[Otternonsenz]

Appreciate the sentiment, and I’m glad to have been afforded the opportunity to have a faster track into this than most. Another reason why there is such a lack of working appraisers now is the same reason why it was easier for me to find a supervisor to train me: You either have family in the industry, or a close friend that gets you a foot in the door.

I will be a 3rd generation appraiser, following in the footsteps of my father (who has been in the industry at different levels for 30+ years), and his father (who got into the profession my answering a newspaper ad for FHA appraisers). For the longest time I balked at going into “the family business”, and it took me beating my head against a wall at places that didn’t give a shit about me or my skills to find the one place both of those things were taken seriously.

A side note for those reading this that have ADHD, I cannot stress how much of an overlap there is with appraisers and having some sort of attention disorder. This is not a bad thing, but a pattern I’ve noticed in talking to appraisers from around the US, but many of us seem to have self selected into a profession that works really well with the way that some forms of ADHD work. The specific report forms we fill provide structure and readability of the written reports we prepare, but the randomness and dopamine hit of a new subject and comparable sales to analyze every report keep it fresh.

Any questions anyone has, more than happy to answer!