(**) 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.
To become a real estate appraiser in Delaware, an applicant must complete creditable hours of qualifying education as specified in the Required Core Curriculum. Obtain appraisal work hours, pass the real estate appraiser license examination, and register with the Delaware Council on Real Estate Appraisers.
This regulatory body issues licenses to appraisers and protects the public interest in ensuring the individual appraisal practice is up to the industry standard.
As a real estate appraiser, your key objective is to provide an objective opinion of the properties’ market value for your clients. Your appraisal report could be used for home purchasing/selling, refinancing, mortgage lending, tax assessment, divorce settlement, estate sales, investments analysis, etc.
But no matter who is in needs of your appraisal services, your work products must remain objective, unbiased and professional.
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.
Table of Contents
- How to Become an Appraiser Trainee in Delaware?
- How to Become a Licensed Residential Appraiser in Delaware?
- How to Become a Certified Residential Appraiser in Delaware?
- How to Become a Certified General Appraiser in Delaware?
- Here are the required education for level of appraiser license in Delaware
- Registration with the Delaware Council on Real Estate Appraisers
- More info on the Delaware Real Estate Appraiser Exam
- FAQ on Delaware Real Estate Appraiser Career
- Career Tips for Aspiring Appraisers in Delaware
- Here are more incredible resources to learn about the Delaware real estate appraisal career!
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 an Appraiser Trainee in Delaware?
To become a Appraiser Trainee in Delaware, 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 experience hours under the supervision of a Certified Appraiser, and register with the Delaware Council on Real Estate Appraiser.
Your first goal in the real estate appraisal career is to become an Appraiser Trainee. This is where you will be mentored and work under the supervision of a certified appraiser.
The supervisory appraiser should educate you practical ways to conduct research on properties, its proximity, zoning, and how to analyze the data. Most importantly, the industry accepted approaches in determining an unbiased estimation of the property’s market value.
Your tasks could involve doing research, working on appraisal reports, and inspecting real estate together with the supervisor.
An experienced supervisor could assist you into the right direction in this career. To learn as much as possible from your mentor, you should walk through each and every step in the appraisal process, and review carefully on how your trainer inspect and assess real estate.
Step 1: Fulfill the eligibility requirement
- At least 18 years old
- Have a valid Social Security Number
- No prior related experience is needed
Step 2: Complete the qualifying appraisal education
You must complete the 75 hours of appraisal courses and the AQB Supervisor/Trainee course.
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.
Step 3: Work under the supervision of a Certified Appraiser
Your next step is to find a supervising appraiser. 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.
When you submit your Trainee application, you and your trainer need to let the Council know about the mentoring relationship with a verification form.
You must also document your working hours with an approved experience log. These logs are necessary when you upgrade your appraiser license in the future. In order for them to be valid, make sure you and the supervising appraiser sign on every page of them.
In addition, you and your supervisor have to complete a checklist whenever you participate in working on an appraisal assignment. It outlines what is your involvement in the project.
Step 4: Register with the Council on Real Estate Appraiser
Now you have completed the education prerequisites, your next step is to register with the Delaware Council. To do so, you need to submit an application to them.
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.
I’ll go over more details about the registration process later in this post.
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 Licensed Residential Appraiser in Delaware?
To become a Licensed Residential Appraiser in Delaware, an applicant must complete the 150-hour appraisal education, obtain a minimum of 2000 work hours, pass the Licensed Residential Appraiser license examination, and register with the Delaware Council on Real Estate Appraiser. Candidate must also hold an Associate Degree or completed 30 hours of semester courses covering specific topics.
As a Licensed Residential Appraiser, you can assess
- non-complex residential properties with 1-4 units, while the transaction value cannot be greater than $1,000,000.
- complex properties but the maximum value is up to $250,000.
You could be employed by an appraisal firm, financial institution or government assessor’s office as their in-house appraiser, where you could enjoy the stable income and employee’s benefits.
Or you could also become a self-employed appraiser, having the flexibility to run your own business.
There are only 28 Licensed Residential Appraisers in Delaware versus 493 Certified Appraisers. I believe many appraisers would upgrade to become Certified once they have fulfilled the specific license requirement.
Nevertheless, Licensed Residential Appraiser is still a good transitional position to expand your scope of practice beyond the Trainee title, while you are working toward the Certified credential.
Step 1: Meet the eligibility requirement
- You must be at least 18 years old
- Have a valid Social Security Number
- Hold an Associate Degree or higher. Alternatively, you could complete 30 hours of semester courses which cover specific topics.
Step 2: Obtain appraisal work 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: Complete the appraisal education
You’ll need to complete 150 hours of qualifying appraisal education from an approved courses provider.
You should have taken some of the courses before you became an Trainee. Therefore, you just need to make up for the additional course works.
Step 4: Register with the Delaware Council on Real Estate Appraiser
The next step is to submit an appraiser license application to the Delaware Council. Note that they no longer accept paper applications, so you’ll need to submit the application through their online portal. There is an application fee of $318.
Step 5: Pass the Licensed Residential Appraiser Exam
The LR Appraiser Exam is a 4 hours exam with 110 questions. The required passing score is 75. 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 Residential Appraiser in Delaware?
Just like a Licensed Residential Appraiser, having a Certified Residential Appraiser license allows you to work for a company or government agency as their salaried employee or become a self-employed business owner.
To become a Certified Residential Appraiser in Delaware, 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 Delaware Council on Real Estate Appraiser. Candidate must also hold a Bachelor’s Degree.
With the Certified Residential Appraiser license, you can evaluate:
- residential properties with 1 to 4 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
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. Many large lenders and financial institutions only accept assessment work from Certified Appraiser.
Due to added recognition and broader work opportunity, there are a lot more Certified Residential Appraisers (253) than Licensed Residential Appraisers (23) in Delaware.
So let’s review the steps to get you Certified Residential Appraiser license.
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 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 appraisal education requirement
You’ll need to complete 200 hours of qualifying appraisal courses from an approved provider.
Step 4: Register with the Delaware Council on Real Estate Appraisers
By submitting the appraiser license application, the Delaware Council will determine whether you are eligible to get the license- for example, they will confirm your age, college education, and completion of the appraisal courses and have more understanding about you.
There is an application fee of $318.
Step 5: Pass the Certified Residential Appraiser Exam
The CR Appraiser Exam is a 6-hour exam with 110 questions. The required passing score is 75. Be sure to bring along the necessary ID(s) to the testing center. Else, they won’t allow you to write the exam.
Here’s a Snippet of What Jamie Owen Thinks About Being a Real Estate Appraiser!
“The more you learn, the more you will enjoy being an appraiser.”
“I think that humility and honesty are the most important attributes. Humility is important because if we think we know it all, we are going to be in trouble. Being appraiser requires not being thin-skinned and defensive. Others have their opinions and we have ours. Both may be supportable in one way or another.
Being humble helps us to respect the views of others and not be offended if others have a different view. Humility also helps with business relationships, as well as accepting guidance and reminders when we need them, from peers and others.”
– Jamie Owen, Certified Residential Real Estate Appraiser at Aspen Appraisal Services
Here’s an exclusive interview with Jamie. He shared with us his journey and valuable experience in the appraisal industry. You’ll also learn what it is like to be a real estate appraiser nowadays.
How to Become a Certified General Appraiser in Delaware?
If you want to expand your appraisal work to more complex type of real estates, then becoming a Certified General Appraiser would be the option! In fact, out of the 521 appraisers in Delaware, almost half of them are holding Certified General Appraiser license.
To become a Certified General Appraiser in Delaware, an applicant must complete the 300-hour appraisal education, obtain a minimum of 2500 work hours, pass the Certified General Appraiser license examination, and register with the Delaware Council on Real Estate Appraiser. Candidate must also hold a Bachelor’s Degree.
This is the most sophisticated license type you could obtain in the appraisal industry. You could provide assessment to all types of real estate regardless of the transaction value or complexity. (i.e.: commercial properties, golf courses, hotels, wind generating plants, marina, oil refiners, federal or land acquisition.)
Since the transaction values involve could be significant, 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 expectation of low margin of error in assessment, the amount of work experience and studying required to become a Certified General Appraiser is the most challenging among all the levels of licensing.
So let’s go over 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 or higher
Step 2: Obtain appraisal work 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 1500 hours of the working experience needs to be from non-residential appraisal work.
Step 3: Fulfill the appraisal education requirement
You’ll need to finish 300 hours of qualifying appraisal education from an approved course provider.
Step 4: Register with the Delaware Council Real Estate Appraisers
In addition to submitting the appraiser license application, you may need to provide proof of appraisal courses completion, registration fee, and other supporting documents.
Also, the Delaware Council needs to protect the public interest by ensuring that an applicant is a trustworthy person. During the application process, you will go through a criminal background check.
Step 5: Pass the Certified General Appraiser Exam
The CG Appraiser Exam is a 6 hours exam with 110 questions. The required passing score is 75. Although, it would be nice if you could excel in EVERY topic in the course materials. But in reality, I haven’t come across any appraisers who can do that.
I believe working on exam prep questions is one of the most important preparation in passing the exam
Here are the required education for level of appraiser license in Delaware
| Appraiser Trainee (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 |
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.
Registration with the Delaware Council on Real Estate Appraisers
Once you have fulfilled all the prerequisites, you could submit your application to the Delaware Council of Real Estate Appraisers. Here are the applications for:
In additional to the application, you must provide the following:
- Registration fee
- 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 Licensed/Certified Appraiser)
- Supporting legal documents (i.e.: Criminal history record check authorization form)
Note that the Delaware Council no longer accept paper applications. So you need to create a DELPOS user account and submit the application there.
Also, after you pass the exam, the Council will send you a request to submit some sample appraisal reports for them to review. So you better be prepared.
If you have any questions, you could contact the Delaware office at:
- Phone: (302) 744-4500
- Fax: (302) 739-2711
- Email: customerservice.dpr@state.de.us
- Mailing address: Cannon Building, Suite 203, 861 Silver Lake Blvd. Dover, DE 19904
More info on the Delaware Real Estate Appraiser Exam
Typically speaking, you would write the exam on a computer at a testing 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.
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 Delaware Real Estate Appraiser Career
How much do real estate appraisers make in Delaware?
Your earning ability as a real estate appraiser depends on many things. For instance, your experience, licensing level, the type of properties you specialize in appraising, the company size, its location.
According to ZipRecruiter, real estate appraisers in Delaware make an average yearly income of $71,918. The income range typically ranges between $48,528 and $80,880. Top earning Delaware appraisers make over $98,959.
The average cost of a home appraisal is $320 – $385 in Delaware. 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 Delaware. 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 much does it cost to become a real estate appraiser in Delaware?
It costs between $1,158 to $1,718 to become a real estate appraiser in Delaware, Here’s the breakdown:
- Pre-licensing education: $840 to $1,400
- Application fee: Licensed/Certified Appraiser $318, Trainee $267
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 Delaware?
It takes 24 to 30 months to become a real estate appraiser in Delaware. 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 Delaware, 2,500 hours to become a Certified Residential Appraiser and 3,000 hours to become a Certified General Appraiser.
Is there a demand for real estate appraisers in Delaware?
According to the figures (as of June 2022) displayed on the Appraisal Subcommittee website, there are a total of 521 appraisers in Delaware. The breakdown is as follow:
- # of Certified General Appraisers 247
- # of Certified Residential Appraisers 246
- # of Licensed Residential Appraisers 28
There are approximately 970,000 people residing in Delaware. Although it is a tiny state in terms of surface area, Delaware has a satisfying population growth rate. Wilmington is the most populous city, followed by Dover, Newark and Middletown.
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 Delaware.
How to renew a real estate appraiser license in Delaware?
All real estate appraisers in Delaware need to renew their license every two years. You could do so online.
In addition to the renewal application, you also need to:
- Complete 28 hours continuing education every 24 months which include
- 7 hours of USPAP Update course
- 3 hours of Law course
- No CE is needed for license that was issued for less than 6 months
- 14 hours of CE is needed after 6 months but less than 12 months
- You must complete at least 50% of the required hours in a traditional classroom setting.
- Pay the renewal fee
You should always renew the license and complete all continuing education requirement before the expiry date, else there could be late fee and unnecessary interruption to your appraisal practice.
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.
Career Tips for Aspiring Appraisers in Delaware
Tip#1: Complete the appraisal courses ASAP
You could read as much as you want, but your career 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.
I included some details which could be helpful to your studying on our education resources page. Be sure to check it out.
Tip#2: Network with other Delaware Real Estate Professionals
Connecting with other appraisers in Delaware is a good way to gain a better understanding about the appraisal industry. You could do so by joining appraiser coalitions, online forums or even LinkedIn groups. For instance,
- Delaware Association of Appraisers Inc.
- The Delaware Chapter of the Appraisal Institute
Start with a casual conversation by letting them know that you are starting a career as an appraiser. Ask them if they have any tips or advice for newbies to the industry. You’ll be surprised by the number of people who are willing to share their insights with you.
In addition, you should network with other professionals in the real estate field. Mortgage agents, lenders, and realtors can all provide you with valuable feedback, which could be very helpful to your career building in the long haul.
Here are more incredible resources to learn about the Delaware real estate appraisal career!
This article is part of the “Delaware Real Estate Appraiser Career Series.” If you want to know more about being a real estate appraiser in Delaware, the following articles would be helpful to you:
- How Much do Real Estate Appraisers Make in Delaware? (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. (**)
(**) 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 without any notice, and not guaranteed to be error-free. For full and exact details, please contact The Delaware Council of Real Estate Appraisers.
Reference:
- Delaware Council on Real Estate Appraisers (source)
- Pearsonvue – Delaware Appraisers (source)
- HomeAdvisor – How Much Does A Home Appraisal Cost? (source)
- The Appraisal Foundation- National Uniform Licensing and Certification Examinations (source)
- Appraisal Subcommittee- Active Appraiser Credentials Summary Report (source)
- sokanu – How much does a Real Estate Appraiser make in Delaware? https://www.sokanu.com/careers/real-estate-appraiser/salary/
Delaware - salary.com- Salary for Appraiser (Commercial Real Estate) in
Delaware: https://www1.salary.com/DE/Appraiser-Commercial-Real-Estate-Salary.html - salary.com- Salary for Appraiser (Residential Real Estate) in
Delaware: https://www1.salary.com/DE/Appraiser-Residential-Real-Estate-Salary.html
