(**) Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning RealEstateCareerHQ.com will get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through the links, but at no additional cost to you.
There are over 3 million people living in Nevada. A significant of the population is concentrated in the largest metropolitan areas, such as Las Vegas, Henderson and North Las Vegas in Clark County and Reno in Washoe County.
As a real estate appraiser in Nevada, your job is to evaluate the properties’ market value for your clients. The demand of appraisal works could be due to home purchasing/selling, refinancing, investments, tax assessment, divorce settlement, etc.
Regardless of who is in needs of your appraisal services, your assessment must always remain objective and unbiased.
To become a real estate appraiser in Nevada, you would start off in working as a Registered Intern, then work your way up toward other credential such as the Licensed Residential Appraiser, Certified Residential Appraiser, and the Certified General Appraiser.
You must fulfill the qualifying appraisal education, work experience prerequisite and meet the college-level education requirement specific to the license you’re applying.
You also need to register with the Nevada Real Estate Appraisal Division. This is the division that handles the administrative works of licensing and regulate the appraisal industry according to the rules set out by the Appraisal Commission.
The first step to your appraisal career is to complete the pre-licensing courses from a trusted education provider. McKissock received an incredible rating from its students, and their online lessons are taught by instructors who have actual experience in the appraisal industry. You may click here to find out more about their courses. (**)
How to Become a Registered Intern in Nevada?
Becoming a Registered Intern is the first step in your appraisal career. At this stage, you will be trained and supervised by a certified appraiser. An experienced supervisor could guide you into the right direction in this career.
The supervisory appraiser should provide you with hands-on appraisal techniques, effective ways to research on a property, and how to analyze the data. Most importantly, how to determine an unbiased estimation of the property’s market value.
Your daily routine could include doing property research, working on appraisal reports, or inspecting real estate together with the supervisor.
To get out the most from this learn phase, you should walk through each and every step in the appraisal process, observe carefully on how your supervisor inspect and evaluate real estate, and always raise your questions.
4 Steps to Become a Registered Intern in Nevada
Step 1: Meet the Basic Requirement
- You must be at least 18 years old
- Have a valid Social Security Number
- No college-level education is required
- No prior related experience is needed
Step 2: Complete the Pre-License Education
You need to complete the 75 hours of qualifying appraisal-related education, Trainee/Supervisor course and the Nevada Appraisal Law class.
(Here’s a review of an appraisal courses provider that I like).
Step 3: Submit Application to the Nevada Real Estate Appraisal Division
Now you have taken the required qualifying course works, your next step is to get registered. You’ll find more details about the registration process later in this post.
Step 4: Find a Certified Appraiser to be Your Supervisor
So how do you find a supervisory appraiser? You could start networking with Certified Appraisers through industry associations in your city, forums or even on LinkedIn. The more appraisers you connect to, the bigger the chance you could find a supervisor. Here are the Top 10 Tips to Find a Supervisory Appraiser.
Once you start working alongside with a supervisor, you and your supervisor would need to inform the Real Estate Division about the mentoring relationship.
You also need to keep track of your working hours with the approved experience log. This document is important for the purpose of upgrading your appraiser license in the future.
Keep in mind that you and the supervising appraiser are required to sign on every page of the experience log.
How to Become a Licensed Residential Appraiser in Nevada?
As a Licensed Residential Appraiser, you can evaluate non-complex residential properties with 1-4 units, while the transaction value is cannot be more than $1,000,000. Although you can also evaluate complex properties, the maximum value is up to $250,000.
When working as a fee-based appraiser, you could be writing appraisal reports for clients such as individuals, lenders, banks, or appraisal management companies (AMC). Your job duties could include doing research online, going on the field to inspect properties, and writing the appraisal reports.
On the other hand, you could also be hired by an appraiser company or financial institution as their in-house appraiser, where you could enjoy the stable income and employee’s benefits.
Although you could assist in the communication and preparation of an appraisal that is outside the scope of this license, you’ll have do so under the direct supervision of a certified appraiser, where he/she must have the authority in assessing such properties.
This license could be worth considering for those who have not fulfilled the necessary work experience or college-level education to become a certified appraiser but wish to excel their career from the Trainee Appraiser.
5 Steps to Become a Licensed Residential Appraiser in Nevada
Step 1: Meet the Basic Requirement
- You must be at least 18 years old
- Have a valid Social Security Number
- Hold an Associate Degree or higher. Or complete 30 semester credit hours covering specific subject topics.
Step 2: Complete the Required Hours of Working Experience
You must have at least 2000 hours of acceptable appraisal experience, where they need to be acquired for over a 24 months period.
Step 3: Fulfill the Education Requirement
You’ll need to complete 150 hours of qualifying appraisal education from an approved course provider and the Nevada Appraisal Law class.
You should have taken some of the courses when becoming a Registered Intern, so that you are only required to fulfill the additional course works.
Step 4: Submit Application to the Nevada Real Estate Appraisal Division
Once you have fulfilled the education and working experience requirement, you should submit the application to the the Division along with other required documents.
Step 5: Pass the Licensed Residential Appraiser Exam
Writing the exam would be your next step.
How to Become a Certified Residential Appraiser in Nevada?
As a Certified Residential Appraiser, you can assess for:
- residential properties with 1 to 4 residential units regardless of the transaction value or complexity.
- non-residential 1-4 units property given that the transaction value is no more than $250,000
Just like a Licensed Residential Appraiser, you could a self-employed appraiser running your own practice, servicing clients such as individuals, lenders, banks, or appraisal management companies (AMC).
(If you are interested in running your own appraisal business, here’s an article that could be helpful to you.)
Alternatively, you could work for an appraiser firm or financial institution to become their in-house appraiser, where you could enjoy the stable income and company’s benefits.
However, there is no restriction on the transaction value of residential properties you could assess. The scope of your practice and business opportunity would be a lot wider than being a Licensed Residential Appraiser. In fact, many reputable lenders and financial institutions hold a high standard and only accept assessment work from Certified Appraisers.
That being said, let’s review the steps for you to become a Certified Residential Appraiser.
5 Steps to Become a Certified Residential Appraiser in Nevada
Step 1: Meet the Basic Requirement
- You must be at least 18 years old
- Have a valid Social Security Number
- Hold a Bachelor’s degree or higher
Step 2: Complete the Appraisal Work Experience
You need to complete a minimum of 2500 hours of acceptable appraisal experience in not less than a 24 months period.
Step 3: Fulfill the Education Requirement
You’ll need to complete 200 hours of qualifying appraisal education from an approved course provider and the Nevada Appraisal Law class.
Since you should have taken some of the courses when becoming an Intern or Licensed Residential Appraiser, you are only required to complete the extra classes.
Step 4: Submit Application to the Nevada Real Estate Appraisal Division
Once you have fulfilled the education and working experience prerequisite, it’s time to fill out the license application.
Step 5: Pass the Certified Residential Appraiser Exam
How to Become a Certified General Appraiser in Nevada?
So you want to explore appraising for commercial real estate? Then becoming a Certified General Appraiser would be the way to go!
This designation is the highest credential you could get in the appraisal industry. You could assess all types of real estate regardless of the transaction value or complexity. There is no limitation on the scope of your appraisal work.
Although you still could evaluate for residential properties, you could also be appraise a portfolio of commercial real estates for institutional investors.
Since your clients depend on your appraisal reports in making an informed investment decision, you must be extremely careful and responsible when handling your work. Extensive research and site inspections are often required. It is your responsibility to provide your clients with an objective appraised value as accurate as possible.
Due to the requirement of low margin of error in your work products, the amount of work experience and education required to become a Certified General Appraiser is the most challenging among all the levels of licensing.
But first you would need to become a Certified General Appraiser, so let’s go through the steps to get you this credential.
5 Steps to Become a Certified General Appraiser in Nevada
Step 1: Meet the Basic Requirement
- You must be at least 18 years old
- Have a valid Social Security Number
- Bachelor’s Degree in any field of study; or higher
Step 2: Complete the Required Hours of Working Experience
You must have at least 3600 hours of acceptable appraisal experience where they need to be obtained for over a 36 months period. At least 1,500 hours of the working experience needs to be from non-residential appraisal work.
This is actually one of the highest working experience requirement when comparing to other states.
Step 3: Fulfill the Education Requirement
You’ll need to take the 300 hours of qualifying appraisal education from an approved course provider and the Nevada Appraisal Law class.
You should have completed some of the courses when the previous license(s). Therefore, you are only required to complete the extra classes.
Step 4: Submit Application to the Nevada Real Estate Appraisal Division
Once you have completed all the education and working experience prerequisites, you should fill out the license application.
Step 5: Pass the Certified General Appraiser Exam
Now it’s the time to write the Certified General Appraiser Exam.
I included some details which could be helpful to your studying on our education resources page. Be sure to check it out.
Courses Requirement for Nevada Appraiser Licenses
| Registered Intern (Credit Hours) | Licensed Residential Appraiser (Credit Hours) | Certified Residential Appraiser (Credit Hours) | Certified General Appraiser (Credit Hours) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| National USPAP Course or Equivalent | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 |
| Basic Appraisal Principles | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 |
| Basic Appraisal Procedures | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 |
| Residential Market Analysis and Highest & Best Use | 15 | 15 | ||
| Residential Appraisal Site Valuation and Cost Approach | 15 | 15 | ||
| Residential Sales Comparison and Income Approaches | 30 | 30 | ||
| Residential Report Writing and Case Studies | 15 | 15 | ||
| Statistics, Modeling and Finance | 15 | 15 | ||
| Advanced Residential Applications and Case Studies | 15 | |||
| Appraisal Subject Matter Electives | 20 | 30 | ||
| General Appraiser Market Analysis and Highest & Best Use | 30 | |||
| General Appraiser Site Valuation and Cost Approach | 30 | |||
| General Appraiser Sales Comparison Approach | 30 | |||
| General Appraiser Report Writing and Case Studies | 30 | |||
| General Appraiser Income Approach | 60 | |||
| Total | 75 hours | 150 hours | 200 hours | 300 hours |
In addition to the above qualifying education, you’ll need to take a 3 hours course of Nevada Appraisal Law.
Study tip: Whenever possible, I prefer to take online courses. You can study at your own pace at the convenient of your home, library, or wherever there is internet access. Here’s an article review of an online school that I like.
Register at the Nevada Real Estate Division
Once you have fulfilled all the prerequisites, you could submit your application to the Real Estate Division. Here are the applications for:
In additional to the application, you must provide the following:
- Registration fee payable to Nevada Real Estate Division
- $290 for Registered Intern
- $420 for Licensed/Certified Residential Appraiser
- $520 for Certified General Appraiser
- Supporting legal documents
- Evidence which shows you have completed the required hours of Board-approved appraisal courses. (i.e., Official transcripts, course completion certificates).
- Proof that you have fulfilled the college-level education requirement for your specific license (i.e.: Diploma, official transcripts, certificates.)
- Stated Approved Appraiser Experience Log (Only if you are applying to become Licensed/Certified Appraiser)
If you have any questions, you could contact the Nevada Real Estate Appraisal Division at
- Phone: (702) 486-4033
- E-mail: realest@red.nv.gov
- 3300 W. Sahara Ave., Suite 350, Las Vegas, Nevada 89102
Write the Real Estate Appraiser Exam
Once the State Board accepts your application, they will send you a notice with instruction to schedule the exam. Pearson-Vue will administer the exam, where you can take it on a computer at their examination center.
- Licensed Residential Appraiser Exam is a 4 hours exam,
- Certified Residential Appraiser Exam is a 4 hours exam;
- Certified General Appraiser Exam is a 6 hours exam
The licensed and certified exams consist of 125 questions. Only 110 questions will be scored, the other 15 are pretest questions. The required passing score is 75. You will immediately know your score once you finish writing the test.
You could find out more details in the National Appraiser Examination Candidate Handbook.
To increase your chance in passing the exam on the first time, make sure to check out our exam hacks. In there, not only you will find the content of the exam, but also 10 effective tips on how to prepare for it.
FAQ on Nevada Real Estate Appraiser Career
How long does it take to become a real estate appraiser in Nevada?
It takes 24 to 36 months to become a real estate appraiser in Nevada. That is the minimum period to complete the work experience so the duration would hugely depend on which appraiser license you are pursuing, the time it takes you to complete the work experience, pre-licensing courses and pass the appraiser exam.
It takes 2,000 hours of work experience to become a Licensed Residential Appraiser in Nevada, 2,500 hours to become a Certified Residential Appraiser and 3,600 hours to become a Certified General Appraiser.
How to renew real estate appraiser license in Nevada? and CE requirement?
All real estate appraisers in Nevada are required to renew their license every two year. There is no grace period for renewal.
In addition to the application, below are the requirements to renew your appraiser license:
- Finish 30 hours continuing education every 24 months, of which must include 7 hours of National USPAP Update course in every 2 years.
- There’s no limitation to the number of courses you could take online.
- Pay the renewal fee ($190 for Intern, $320 for Licensed/Certified Residential, $420 for Certified General)
To prevent interruption to your appraisal practice and avoid paying the late fee, you should renew it and complete all continuing education requirement before the license expiry date.
How much do a real estate appraisers make in Nevada?
Your earning potential in the appraisal industry depends on many factors such as your experience, licensing level, the type of properties you specialize in appraising, the company size, its location, and most importantly, the amount of effort you are willing to put into this career.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, real estate appraisers in Nevada make an average annual income of $63,840. The yearly income range typically ranges between $48,390 and $79,600. Top earning property appraisers earn more than $102,600 per year.
Here’s a complete income guide on real estate appraisers in Nevada. In there, I will uncover the income updates, the percentage of appraisers that are making a good living, and whether being a commercial or residential appraisers has any effect on the income. So be sure to check it out!
Career Tips for Aspiring Appraisers in Nevada
Tip#1: Start taking the appraiser courses asap
You could read as much about the appraisal career as you want, but your journey would not begin unless you start taking action.
Taking the real estate appraiser classes would be your first step. Not only you could gain valuable knowledge and practical skills, but you will also have a better understanding about what is like to be an appraiser.
Besides, most states would require you to complete all the trainee education before your working experience could count toward the licensing requirement.
To assist in the selection process, here’s a review of the appraisal courses provider that I like.
Tip#2: Build your network with other real estate professionals in Nevada
Connecting with other appraisers in Nevada is a good way to gain a better understanding about the appraisal industry. You could do so by joining industry affiliations, online forums or even LinkedIn groups. For instance,
- The Coalition of Appraisers in Nevada (CAN )
- AppraisersForum.com – Nevada Forum
- The Nevada Chapter of the Appraisal Institute
Begin with a friendly conversation. Let them know that you are starting your career as an appraiser, ask them if they have any tips or advice for newbies to the industry.
In addition, you should network with other professionals in the real estate field. Mortgage agents, lenders, and realtors can all provide you with valuable insight, which could be very helpful to your career building in the long haul.
Here’s a list of real estate professional groups on our resource page. Remember to check it out!
Tips#3: Consider the commercial real estate career Path
Just like many other states, the business to appraise for residential properties could be quite competitive. Well, as you could imagine, there is a considerable overlap of targeted customers for the first three levels of licensing.
To differentiate your skills and broaden your scope of practice, you could consider pursuing the Commercial General Appraiser designation as your long-term goal.
Here’s an article you might be interested: “Is Commercial Real Estate Appraisal a Good Career?” In there, a CRE appraiser shared his view on what he thinks about this profession.
Tip#4: Read the Nevada Customary and Reasonable Appraisal Fee Study
We found an interesting study conducted at the Nevada Real Estate Division website. It was prepared by the Center for Business and Economic Research and was published on 2016.
It discussed the typical appraisal fees charged according to different scenarios. For example, whether the client was AMC or not, the property was located in an urban or rural area, is it a full appraisal for FHA or an exterior-inspection.
It also illustrated some important figures such as whether the appraiser’s experience and designation would have an impact on the appraisal fees.
Since this study has 63 pages, so I won’t go over all the details here. But here’s the link for your reference.
If you are reading up to this point, I bet you must be interested in the real estate appraiser profession. Your first step is to complete the pre-licensing courses. You should select one that has an excellent reputation and long-term track record of satisfying students. McKissock is exactly that! You may click here to check it out yourself. (**)
(**) Affiliate Disclosure: Please note that some of the links above are affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you. Our company, JCHQ Publishing will earn a commission if you decide to make a purchase after clicking on the link. Please understand that we include them based on our experience or the research on these companies or products, and we recommend them because they are helpful and useful, not because of the small commissions we make if you decide to buy something through the links. Please do not spend any money on these products unless you feel you need them or that they will help you achieve your goals.
Disclaimer: The information in this post is for general information only, and not intend to provide any advice. They are subjected to change any notice, and not guaranteed to be error-free. For full and exact details, please contact the Nevada Real Estate Appraisal Division.
Reference:
- The Appraisal Foundation- National Uniform Licensing and Certification Examinations: http://www.appraisalfoundation.org/imis/TAF/Standards/Qualification_Criteria
- sokanu – How much does a Real Estate Appraiser make in Nevada https://www.sokanu.com/careers/real-estate-appraiser/salary/Nevada
- salary.com- Salary for Appraiser (Commercial Real Estate) in Nevada: https://www1.salary.com/NV/Appraiser-Commercial-Real-Estate-Salary.html
- salary.com- Salary for Appraiser (Residential Real Estate) in Nevada: https://www1.salary.com/NV/Appraiser-Residential-Real-Estate-Salary.html
- Nevada Real Estate Appraisal Division – http://red.nv.gov/Content/Appraisal/Main/
