How to Become a Real Estate Appraiser in Connecticut? (+income updates)

(**) 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.

Are you thinking to become a real estate appraiser in Connecticut? If so, you’ve come to the right place. This is the perfect career guide for you!

To become a real estate appraiser in Connecticut, an applicant must complete creditable hours of qualifying education as specified in the Required Core Curriculum. Accumulate appraisal work hours, pass the real estate appraiser license examination, and register with the Connecticut Real Estate Appraisal Commission.

This is the regulatory body which handles the licensing, and regulates the appraisal industry.

As a real estate appraiser in Connecticut, your job is to provide an assessment of the properties’ market value for your clients. Your appraisal report could be used by a home buyer or seller, a mortgage lender who wants to understand the value of the collateralize assets, an individual who needs it for tax assessment or even lease negotiation.

Regardless of who is in needs of your appraisal services, it is your responsibility to make sure your assessment is unbiased, objective, and professional.

There are 3 license levels in Connecticut:

• Provisional Appraiser
• Certified Residential Appraiser
• Certified General Appraiser

If you’re wondering what a real estate appraiser does and if it might be a good career for you, keep reading. I’ll explain all the steps to obtain a real estate appraiser license. Plus everything you need to know about this profession (i.e. pre-licensing course, exam format, income updates). So whether you’re just starting out in your career or you’re looking for a new challenge, read on!

But before we start, I want to give a brief disclaimer. This post is not intended as legal advice or state/federal real estate appraisal training. It is for general information only. Always follow your State Laws and best practices.

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 Provisional Appraiser in Connecticut?

To become a Provisional Appraiser in Connecticut, an applicant must complete the 75-hour appraisal education, including the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP), and an AQB approved Supervisory/Trainee course. Accumulate work hours under the supervision of a Certified Appraiser, and register with the Connecticut Real Estate Appraisal Commission.

This will be the first step of your real estate appraiser career. At the trainee stage, you will be working under the supervision of a Certified Appraiser. An experienced supervisor could guide you into the right direction in this career.

Your mentor should educate 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 benefit the most from this trainee stage,  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.

Step 1: Meet the eligibility requirement

• You must be at least 18 years old
• Have a valid Social Security Number
• No prior related experience is needed
• No college-level education requirement.

Step 2: Complete the appraisal education

You need to complete the 75 hours of qualifying appraisal-related education. Also, you’ll need to take the Trainee/Supervisor course and Connecticut Appraisal Law with Supervisor / Provisional Education.

The 75-hour appraisal education curriculum will include the following:

• National USPAP Course -15 hours
• Basic Appraisal Principles- 30 hours
• Basic Appraisal Principles- 30 hours

Step 3: Register with the Connecticut Real Estate Appraisal Commission

Now you have completed the education prerequisites, your next step is to register with the Appraisal Commission. To do so, you need to submit an application to the Commission.

Step 4: Work under the supervision of a Certified Appraiser

You might wonder how to find a supervisory appraiser. You could start connecting with Certified Appraisers through different industry associations, forums or even on LinkedIn. The more appraisers you connect to, the bigger the chance you could find a supervisor.

Before you and your mentor start working together, you must inform the Real Estate Appraisal Commission about the mentoring relationship.

You also need to keep track of your working hours with the board-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.

Here’s what I asked a Real Estate Appraiser Trainee about working with a supervisor

Jacob: “Is there anything you have learned in the field or from your supervisor that was not covered in the class?” 

Katie: “Yes, I have learned so much through both my supervisor and working in the field. Through this, it has taught me how to properly measure a home, how to notice differences in materials used throughout the home, how to properly deal with clients (answering such questions that may come about or just overall explaining the process of how the appraisal works.)”

I conducted a full interview with Katie Holland, where she shared her journey and thought about the real estate appraisal industry. Be sure to check it out!

How to Become a Certified Residential Appraiser in Connecticut?

To become a Certified Residential Appraiser in Connecticut, an applicant must complete the 200-hour appraisal education, obtain a minimum of 2500 work hours, pass the Certified Residential Appraiser license examination, and register with the Connecticut Real Estate Appraisal Commission. Candidate must also hold a Bachelor’s Degree.

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 want to know how to set up your appraisal business, you might also want to check out this post.

Alternatively, you could work for an appraiser firm, financial institution, or assessor’s office 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 in Connecticut only accept assessment work from Certified Appraiser.

That being said, let’s review the steps for you to become a Certified Residential Appraiser.

Step 1: Meet the eligibility requirement

• You must be at least 18 years old
• Have a valid Social Security Number
• Hold a Bachelor’s degree or higher

Step 2: Obtain the appraisal work hours

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 appraisal education requirement

You’ll need to complete 200 hours of qualifying appraisal education from an approved course provider.

Since you should have taken some of the courses when becoming a Provisional Appraiser, you are only required to complete the extra classes.  Here are some of the courses you may need to take:

The 200-hour CR appraisal education curriculum may include (but not limited to) some of the following topics:

• Residential Market Analysis & Highest and Best Use – 15 hours
• Residential Appraiser Site Valuation and Cost Approach – 15 hours
• Residential Sales Comparison and Income Approaches – 30 hours
• Residential Report Writing & Case Studies – 15 hours
• Statistics, Modeling and Finance – 15 hours
• Advanced Residential Applications and Case Studies – 15 hours
• Appraisal Subject Matter Electives – 20 hours

I will also include a chart with the required courses later in this post.

Step 4: Submit an application to the Connecticut Real Estate Appraisal Commission

Once you have fulfilled the education and working experience requirement, it’s time to submit the license application.

Whenever possible, I strongly encourage you to make the submission electronically online. Not only this is the quickest and most convenient way, but less paper mailing is also good for the environment.

Step 5: Pass the Certified Residential Appraiser Exam

Doing multiple sets of practice questions is an excellent way to prepare for the exam and also boost your confidence.

Is real estate appraiser a good career? This is one of the common questions I hear a lot. Therefore, I spent months and months in connecting with different real estate appraisers. Here are their valuable insights about this profession. Make sure to check it out!

How to Become a Certified General Appraiser in Connecticut?

So you want to explore appraising for commercial real estate? Then getting the Certified General Appraiser license is the way to go!

To become a Certified General Appraiser in Connecticut, an applicant must complete the 300-hour appraisal education, obtain a minimum of 3,000 work experience hours, pass the Certified Residential Appraiser license examination, and register with the Connecticut Real Estate Appraisal Commission. Candidate must also holds a Bachelor’s Degree.

This level of license is the highest one you could get in the appraisal industry. You could assess all types of real estate regardless of the transaction value or complexity. So there’s no limitation on the scope of your appraisal work!

[Read: Is Commercial Real Estate Appraisal a Good Career?]

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.

Step 1: Meet the eligibility 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: Obtain the work experience hours

You must have at least 3000 hours of acceptable appraisal experience where they need to be obtained for over a 30 months period. At least half of the working experience needs to be from non-residential appraisal work.

Step 3: Complete the appraisal education

You’ll need to complete 300 hours of qualifying appraisal education from an approved course provider.

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: Register with the Connecticut Real Estate Appraisal Commission

Once you have completed all the education and working experience prerequisites, you should fill out the license application. Later in this post, I’ll go over the documents and fees needed for the registration process.

Step 5: Pass the Certified General Appraiser Exam

The final step is to pass the Certified General Appraiser Exam. Most test centers would require you to bring at least two valid IDs to verify your identity. Don’t forget to bring them along. Else you won’t be able to write the exam.

Is being a real estate appraiser a good career? – Let’s hear from an industry professional

“Currently, I am a Principal Commercial Appraiser with the Hennepin County Assessor’s office. My primary responsibilities are to value real property for tax petition purposes and provide expert witness testimony. 

Prior to joining the public service sector, I was an independent fee appraiser who owned a residential appraisal firm and was a partner in a commercial appraisal firm. I have been a real estate appraiser for 26 years.

The appraisal industry has amazing opportunities in both the public and private sectors.  The appraisal industry is especially well suited for entrepreneurs who wish to operate their own businesses. 

Brett Hall, MAI, SRA, Principal Commercial Appraiser at Hennepin County

Is real estate appraiser a good career? This is one of the common questions I hear a lot. Therefore, I spent months and months in connecting with different real estate appraisers. Here are their valuable insights about this profession. Make sure to check it out!

Here are the required courses for each real estate appraiser license in Connecticut

	Provisional Appraiser (Credit Hours)	Certified Residential Appraiser (Credit Hours)	Certified General Appraiser (Credit Hours)
National USPAP Course or Equivalent	15	15	15
Basic Appraisal Principles	30	30	30
Basic Appraisal Procedures	30	30	30
Residential Market Analysis and Highest & Best Use		15
Residential Appraisal Site Valuation and Cost Approach		15
Residential Sales Comparison and Income Approaches		30
Residential Report Writing and Case Studies		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	200 hours	300 hours

Register at the Connecticut Real Estate Appraisal Commission

Once you have fulfilled all the prerequisites, you could submit your application to the Connecticut Commission. In additional to the application, you must provide the following:

• Registration fee
• 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 specific requirement of post-secondary education for your license (i.e.: Diploma, official transcripts, certificates.)
• Stated Approved Appraiser Experience Log  (Only if you are applying to become Certified Appraiser)

If you have any questions, you could contact the Connecticut Commission of Real Estate Appraiser at dcp.realestate@ct.gov.

What is the Format of the CT Real Estate Appraiser Exam?

Once the State Board accepts your application, they will send you a notice with instruction to schedule the exam. PSI will administer the exam, where you can take it on a computer at their examination center.

• 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.

The exam fee is $125. 

[Read: 10 practical tips to pass the real estate appraiser exam]

FAQ on the Connecticut Real Estate Appraisal Career

How much does it cost to become a real estate appraiser in Connecticut?

It costs between $1,120 to $1,570 to become a real estate appraiser in Connecticut, Here’s the breakdown:

• Pre-licensing education: $950 to $1,400
• Application fee: $45
• Exam fee: $125

In addition to the above, there will be other expenses such as continuing education courses, E&O insurance, and business supplies such as a laptop, cell phone, and measuring device.

Some companies may pay or reimburse you if you work as their employee. But if you are running your own practice, these are the cost you need to account for yourself.

How long does it take to become a real estate appraiser in Connecticut?

It takes 24 to 30 months to become a real estate appraiser in Connecticut. 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 2,500 hours of work experience to become a Certified Residential Appraiser in Connecticut, and 3,000 hours to become a Certified General Appraiser.

Do you need a degree to be an appraiser in Connecticut?

You need a Bachelor’s Degree to be a Certified Residential Appraiser or Certified General Appraiser in Connecticut. As for becoming a Provisional Appraiser, there is no college-level education requirement.

How much do real estate appraisers make in Connecticut?

Your income as a real estate appraiser 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.  Therefore, the earning difference between real estate appraisers in Connecticut could be large.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (May 2021), property appraisers and assessor in Connecticut make an average yearly income of $79,830. The income range typically ranges between $62,710 and $101,850. Top earning Connecticut appraisers make over $129,580

The average cost of a home appraisal is $300 – $375 in Connecticut. However, the cost may vary depending on the complexity of the property, the time and skills it takes to complete the assignment. Commercial property appraisals could cost between $2,000 to $10,000.

Here’s a complete income guide on real estate appraisers in Connecticut. 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!

How to renew an appraiser license in Connecticut?

All real estate appraisers in Connecticut are required to renew their license every year by April 30th.  A notice will be either posted/emailed to you 30 to 45 days before the license expires.

In addition to the online renewal application, you’ll need to:

• Finish 28 hours continuing education every 2 years months, of which must include
  • 7 hours of National USPAP Update course 
  • 3 hours of Connecticut Real Estate Appraisal Law Update
  • There’s no limitation of taking online courses 
• Pay the renewal fee

To prevent interruption to your appraisal practice, you should renew it and complete all continuing education requirement before the license expiry date. 

Career tip: Since you’ll need to take the CE courses, don’t waste your money by taking random classes. Choose the one that could really sharpen your appraisal skills, where you could apply what you learn into the field. Here is an article review of the 10 CE courses that I like.

Is there a demand for real estate appraisers are in Connecticut?

According to the Appraisal Subcommittee website (June 2022), there is a total of 1,127 appraisers in Connecticut.

• # of Certified General Appraisers – 515
• # of Certified Residential Appraisers – 612

There are over 3.5 million people residing in Connecticut. Of which Bridgeport has the most population, followed by New Haven, Hartford, Stamford.

With such a population, you could imagine there would be activities related to buying and selling of real estate property, foreclosures, divorce, and settling estate. All these transactions could involve the demand of real estate appraisers in Connecticut.

Career Tips for Aspiring Appraisers in Connecticut

Tip#1: Take the required appraisal 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. (Click here to find out why I like this online appraisal school)

Tip#2: Build your network with other real estate professionals in Connecticut

Connecting with other appraisers in Connecticut 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 Connecticut Chapter of the Appraisal Institute.

Start 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.

Tip#3: Specialize in a specific appraisal niche

Just like many other states, the business to appraise residential properties could be quite competitive. As you could imagine, there is a considerable overlap of targeted customers for the first three levels of licensing.

If you are known as “Just another appraiser”, you would inevitably end up in a price wars with your competitors. To make your practice more profitable, you should upgrade your knowledge and focus on one or two specific appraisal niche. (i.e. expert witness, farm appraisals, VA appraisals)

Here are more incredible resources to learn about the Connecticut real estate appraisal career!

This article is part of the “Connecticut Real Estate Appraiser Career Series.” If you want to know more about being a real estate appraiser in Connecticut, the following articles would be helpful to you: 

• How Much do Real Estate Appraisers Make in Connecticut? (trainee| residential| commercial)
• Is Being a Real Estate Appraiser a Good Career? (Feedback from Industry Professionals)
• A Complete Review of a Real Estate Appraisal School that Over 400,000 Students Love 

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. (**)

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 Connecticut Real Estate Appraisal Commission.

Reference:

• Appraisal Subcommittee- Active Appraiser Credentials Summary Report (source)
• The Appraisal Foundation- National Uniform Licensing and Certification Examinations
• Connecticut Real Estate Appraisal Commission (source) 
• sokanu.com – How much does a Real Estate Appraiser make in  Connecticut? 
• salary.com- Salary for Appraiser (Commercial Real Estate) in Connecticut
• salary.com- Salary for Appraiser (Residential Real Estate) in Connecticut  
• Connecticut Real Estate Appraiser Licensing Candidate Information Bulletin (source)
• HomeAdvisor – How Much Does A Home Appraisal Cost? (source)