How to Become a Real Estate Appraiser in Idaho?

(**) 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 Idaho? If so, you have come to the right place. 

To become a real estate appraiser in Idaho, an applicant must:

1. Complete 75-hour pre-licensing appraisal courses (including 15 hours of USPAP) and an AQB approved Supervisory/Trainee course)
2. Apply for the Appraiser Trainee license
3. Work under the supervision of a certified appraiser
4. Complete the LR/CR/CG appraisal courses
5. Pass the state appraisal exam
6. Obtain work hours experience (1000 for LR, 1500 for CR, 3000 for CG)
7. Submit an application and fee to the Idaho Real Estate Appraiser Board
8. Upgrade to a Licensed Residential/ Certified Residential/ Certified General Appraiser license.

Idaho Real Estate Appraiser Board is the regulatory body which issues the appraiser license. They also governing individuals and companies that appraise the value of real estate.

Your job as a real estate appraiser 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.

However, regardless of 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.

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 Trainee Appraiser in Idaho?

This is your first step into the real estate 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 develop an objective 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 learning stage,  you should walk through each and every step in the appraisal process, and review carefully on how your trainer inspect and evaluate real estate.

Step 1: Meet the basic requirement

• At least 18 years old
• Have a valid Social Security Number
• No prior related experience is needed

Step 2: Complete the qualifying education

You must complete the 75 hours of appraisal courses and the AQB Supervisor/Trainee course. The courses must be taken from an approved education provider, here’s one that I like.

Step 3: Register with the Idaho Real Estate Appraiser Board

Now you have completed the education prerequisites, your next step is to register with the Appraiser Board. To do so, you need to submit an application and fees to the Board.

Step 4: Work under the supervision of a Certified Appraiser

Once you and your mentor decide to work together, you both need to let the Appraiser Board know about the mentoring relationship. 

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

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 Idaho?

As a Licensed Residential Appraiser, you can evaluate non-complex residential properties with 1-4 units, while the transaction value cannot be greater than $1,000,000. Although you can also appraise complex properties, the maximum value is up to $250,000.

When working as a fee-based appraiser, your assessment could be used by customers such as individuals, lenders, banks, or appraisal management companies (AMC). Your daily activities could include conducting, inspecting properties, analyzing data and writing appraisal reports.

[Read: How to start an appraisal business?]

Alternatively, you could also be employed by an appraisal firm or financial institution as their in-house appraiser, where you could enjoy the stable income and employee’s benefits.

This license is worth considering if you have not fulfilled the necessary work experience, appraisal courses or college-level education to become a certified appraiser but wish to advance the scope of practice beyond the Trainee Appraiser title.

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

Step 2: Obtain the required appraisal work hour

You must have at least 1000 hours of acceptable appraisal experience, where they need to be acquired for over a 6 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 when becoming a Trainee Appraiser,  so that you are only required to fulfill the additional course works.

Step 4: Register with the Idaho Real Estate Appraiser Board

Once you have fulfilled the education and working experience requirement, you should submit the application to the the State Board along with other required documents.

In some states, you may need to apply within a specific period after you complete the pre-licensing education. Therefore, don’t wait till it expires!

Step 5: Pass the Licensed Residential Appraiser Exam

Now it’s the time to write the exam! The purpose is to test your appraisal knowledge, especially the subjects that are covered in the pre-licensing courses.

The Licensed Residential Appraiser Exam is a 4 hours exam with 110 questions. The required passing score is 75 or higher.

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.

How to Become a Certified Residential Appraiser in Idaho?

As a Certified Residential Appraiser, you can assess for:

• 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

You could a self-employed appraiser where you deal with your own clients, set your working schedule, and have the flexibility to run the business in ways you want .

Alternatively, you could be hired by an appraisal firm or financial institution to as their in-house appraiser, where you could enjoy the stable income and company’s benefits.

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 only accept assessment work from Certified Appraiser.

So let’s review the steps for you to become a Certified Residential Appraiser.

Step 1: Meet the basic requirement

• You must be at least 18 years old
• Have a valid Social Security Number
• Finish 1 of the 6 college-level education options:
  1. Bachelor’s Degree or higher
  2. Associate’s Degree in a focused field of study. (i.e.: business, economics, or real estate);
  3. Complete 30 college semester credit hours in specified topics;
  4. Complete College-Level Examination Program (CLEP)1 exams equivalent to a minimum of 30 semester credit hours in specified subject matter areas; or
  5. Any combination of #3 and #4 above that includes all of the topics identified.
  6. If you have been a LICENSED RESIDENTIAL appraiser for over 5 years while your license is in good standing with no disciplinary actions, then the college-level education requirement can be waived. 

(Is a college degree necessary for a real estate appraisal career? Check out this post for more details.)

Step 2: Obtain the appraisal work hours

You need to complete a minimum of 1500 hours of acceptable appraisal experience in not less than a 12 months period.

Step 3: Fulfill the Education Requirement

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

Step 4: Register with the Idaho Real Estate Appraiser Board

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

Most State Boards allow you to apply through their website. Some would even charge a lower registration fee by doing online. You should definitely check out this option.

Step 5: Pass the Certified Residential Appraiser Exam

The Certified Residential Appraiser Exam is a 6 hours exam with 110 questions. The required passing score is 75 or higher.

Cramming for the exam is ineffective. Instead, you should study for 45 to 60 minutes, then take a break. Concentration tends to wander if you study for too long. If possible, focus on studying only one to two topics per day. But be really good at it.

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 Idaho?

So you want to further expand your scope of appraisal work? Then becoming a Certified General Appraiser would be the way to go!

This is the highest license type you could obtain in the appraisal industry. You could assess all types of real estate regardless of the transaction value or complexity. 

Although you still could evaluate for residential properties, many would choose to focus on the commercial line of work. 

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 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 over the steps to get you this credential.

Step 1: Meet the Basic Requirement

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

Step 2: Obtain the appraisal work hours

You must have at least 3000 hours of acceptable appraisal experience where they need to be obtained for over a 18 months period. At least 1500 hours of the working experience needs to be from non-residential appraisal work.

Step 3: Fulfill the Education Requirement

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

Step 4: Register with the Idaho Real Estate Appraiser Board

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. The Certified General Appraiser Exam is a 6 hours exam with 110 questions. The required passing score is 75 or higher.

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.

(Table) Required courses for Idaho Real Estate Appraiser licenses

	Trainee Appraiser (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.

Here’s how to register with the Idaho Real Estate Appraiser Board

Once you have fulfilled all the prerequisites, you could submit your application to the Appraiser Board.

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 Licensed/Certified Appraiser)

Once the Board approves your application, they will send you a letter to request 2 work samples from your experience log. 

If you have any questions, you could contact the Idaho Real Estate Appraiser Board at:

• Address: 700 West State Street, Boise, ID 83702 
• Phone: (208) 334-3233
• Email: ibol@ibol.idaho.gov

More info on the Idaho Real Estate Appraiser Exams

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.

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

FAQ on the Idaho Real Estate Appraiser Career

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

It takes 6 to 18 months to become a real estate appraiser in Idaho. 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 1,000 hours of work experience to become a Licensed Residential Appraiser in Idaho and 1,500 hours to become a Certified Residential Appraiser, and 3,000 hours to become a Certified General Appraiser.

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

It costs between $1,215 to $1,775 to become a real estate appraiser in Idaho. Here’s the breakdown:

• Pre-licensing education: $840 to $1,400
• Application fee: $250
• License fee: $125

In addition to the above, there will be other expenses such as exam fee, 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 much do real estate appraisers make in Idaho?

Your income 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 the Bureau of Labor Statistics (May 2021), property appraisers and assessors in Idaho make an average yearly income of $48,390. The income range typically ranges between $38,320 and $60,670. Top earning Idaho appraisers make over $74,670.

The average cost of a home appraisal is $385 – $520 in Idaho. 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 Idaho. 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!

Is there demand for real estate appraisers in Idaho?

According to the figures displayed on the Appraisal Subcommittee website, there are a total of 724 appraisers in Idaho. The breakdown is as follow:

• # of Certified General Appraisers 332
• # of Certified Residential Appraisers 332
• # of Certified Residential Appraisers 60

Idaho has approximately 1.7 million of population. It has an impressive population growth since 2000. Among all the cities within, Boise city has the highest population, followed by Nampa, Meridian, and Idaho Falls.

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 translate to the demand of real estate appraisers in Idaho.

How to renew the real estate appraiser license in Idaho?

All real estate appraisers in Idaho are required to renew their license annually. In addition to the online renewal application, below are the other requirements:

• Complete 30 hours continuing education every 24 months, of which must include 7 hours of National USPAP Update course in every 2 years.
  • There is no restriction on how many CE credit hours you can take online
• 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.

Career Tips for Aspiring Appraisers in Idaho

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.

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. (**)

Tip#2: Network with other real estate professionals in Idaho

Connecting with other appraisers in Idaho 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, the Southern Idaho 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.

(**) 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 Idaho Real Estate Appraiser Board.

Reference:

• The Appraisal Foundation- National Uniform Licensing and Certification Examinations (source)
• Idaho Real Estate Appraiser Board (source)
• Appraisal Subcommittee- Active Appraiser Credentials Summary Report (source)
• sokanu – How much does a Real Estate Appraiser make in  Idaho? (Source)
• salary.com- Salary for Appraiser (Commercial Real Estate) in Idaho (source) 
• salary.com- Salary for Appraiser (Residential Real Estate) in Idaho (source)