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


(**) Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning our company, JCHQ Publishing 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 Kentucky, you would begin working as an Associate Appraiser, then step-by-step work your way toward other credentials in becoming a Licensed or Certified Appraiser. 

You must fulfill the qualifying appraisal education, work experience requirement and register with the Kentucky Real Estate Appraisers Board. This is the regulatory agency which governs individuals and companies that appraise the value of real estate, and also appraisal management companies (AMCs), in accordance with federal guidelines.

Kentucky has over 4.4 million of population and is densely filled state.  The largest city in Kentucky by population is Louisville, follow by Lexington-Fayette, Bowling Green, and Owensboro.

According to statistic from the State Board, as of Nov 08, 2018, there are 1570 real estate appraisers in Kentucky in total. The breakdown is as follow.

  • Certified General 650
  • Certified Residential 716
  • Licensed Residential Real Property 12
  • Associate 191

As a real estate appraiser in Kentucky, 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, you should always provide the best work products to your clients, which is an appraisal report  that is objective, unbiased and done professionally.

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 Associate Appraiser in Kentucky?

To begin your journey as an appraiser, your first step is to become a Associate Appraiser. 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 in this learning phase,  it is recommended you to 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 Associate Appraiser in Kentucky

Step 1: Meet the Basic 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 experience is required

Step 2: Complete the Pre-License Education

Most states only require 75 hours of qualifying education, but Kentucky has a higher requirement, where you’ll need to complete 90 hours of qualifying appraisal-related courses and the AQB Trainee/Supervisor course.

Step 3: Submit Application to the Kentucky Real Estate Appraisers Board

Now you have completed the education prerequisites, your next step is to register with Appraiser Board.

If they have the online submission available, I strongly encourage you to use that option. Not only this is the quickest and most convenient way, but less paper mailing is also good for the environment.

Step 4: Find a Certified Appraiser to be Your Supervisor

You might wonder how to find a supervisory appraiser. You could consider participating events hosted by your local appraisal association, or network with appraisers through online forum or social media. 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 Appraiser Board about the mentoring relationship. Here’s the Real Property Appraiser Supervisor Form.

You also need to maintain a good record 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.

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How to Become a Licensed Residential Appraiser in Kentucky?

Realtors In Front Of A House

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.

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 Kentucky

Step 1: Meet the Basic Requirement:

  • You must be at least 18 years old
  • Have a valid Social Security Number
  • Hold an Bachelor’s 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 180 hours of qualifying appraisal education from an approved course provider.

You should have taken some of the courses when becoming an Associate Appraiser,  therefore you just need to fulfill the additional course works.

Step 4: Submit Application to the Kentucky Real Estate Appraisers Board

Once you have fulfilled the education and working experience requirement, you should submit the application to the the Real Estate Appraisers Board together with other required documents.

Step 5: Pass the Licensed Residential Appraiser Exam

Now it’s the time to focus on the appraiser exam! Doing multiple sets of practice questions is an excellent way to prepare for the exam and also boost your confidence.

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 Kentucky?

real estate professionals with clients

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).

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 in Maryland only accept assessment work from Certified Appraiser.

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 Kentucky

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.

Since you should have taken some of the courses when becoming an Associate Appraiser or Licensed Residential Appraiser,  you are only required to make up for the remaining classes. 

Step 4: Submit Application to the Kentucky Real Estate Appraisers Board

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

The Licensing Board in most states 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

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.

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 Kentucky?

real estate agent client meeting

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 Kentucky

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 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: Fulfill the Education Requirement

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.

I included some details which could be helpful to your studying on our education resources page. Be sure to check it out.

Step 4: Submit Application to the Kentucky Real Estate Appraisers Board

Once you have completed all the education and working experience prerequisites, you should fill out the license application. Some Licensing Boards require you to apply within a specific period after you complete the pre-licensing education. Therefore, don’t wait till it expires!

Step 5: Pass the Certified General Appraiser Exam

The last thing left to do is write the Certified General Appraiser Exam. Get enough sleep the night before the exam and have a good meal before it. Managing your stress level during the test is another key to passing it.

Actual Feedback from a Commercial Real Estate Appraiser

Be willing to work extremely hard in the beginning as it will work out well in the long term.”

Jeffrey Harris, MAI, Commercial Real Estate Appraiser and Consultant

“I appraise a variety of commercial properties. Although, I do more investment types than any thing else (office, shopping center, multi-family), I do a little bit of everything, excluding marinas, hotels/golf courses, single-family residential.

I started working for a commercial appraiser in college. I have never done any residential work.

There are several challenges in the field, but overall, it has been wonderful for me. I really enjoy the flexibility the career offers… Every day is a new property and a new challenge and that helps break up the monotony.

Jeffrey Harris, MAI. Commercial Real Estate Appraiser and Consultant at Harris Property Advisors

Want to know whether being a commercial real estate appraiser is a good career? Check out this complete career guide. In there, you’ll find the type of work involved as a CRE appraiser, the income potential, and the training you need to become one. You’ll find the full sharing from Jeffrey Harris as well!

Courses Requirement for Each Appraiser License Level

Associate Appraiser (Credit Hours)Licensed Residential Appraiser
(Credit Hours)
Certified Residential Appraiser
(Credit Hours)
Certified General Appraiser
(Credit Hours)
National USPAP Course or Equivalent15 15 15 15
Basic Appraisal Principles30 30 30 30
Basic Appraisal Procedures3030 3030
Residential Market Analysis and Highest & Best Use 151515
Residential Appraisal Site Valuation and Cost Approach 1515
Residential Sales Comparison and Income Approaches 3030
Residential Report Writing and Case Studies 1515
Statistics, Modeling and Finance1515 15
Advanced Residential Applications and Case Studies1515
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
Total90 hours180 hours200 hours300 hours

Here’s a review of the learning institution that many students like.

Register at the Kentucky Real Estate Appraisers Board

real estate application

Once you have fulfilled all the prerequisites, you could submit your application to the Kentucky Real Estate Appraisers Board.

Here is the application. Although there is 18 pages, you just need to fill out the ones relevant to the license you are applying for.

In additional to the application, you must provide the following:

  • Registration fee (Click here for the appraiser fees structure)
  • 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)

If you have any questions, you could contact the Kentucky Real Estate Appraiser Board at (859) 623-1658 .

More info about the KY 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.

  • 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.

The exam fee is $125. You could find out more details in the Kentucky Appraiser Examination Candidate Information Bulletin.

Be sure to check out my other post: 10 tips on how to pass the real estate appraiser exam!

FAQ on the Kentucky Real Estate Appraiser License

Common questions on Kentucky real estate appraiser license

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

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

How to renew the Kentucky real estate appraiser license?

All real estate appraisers in Kentucky are required to renew their license every year.  You could do so online through this link

In addition to the online application, below are the requirements to renew your appraiser license:

  • Finish 14 hours continuing education before May 16 of each year
  • Take the 7-hour USPAP Update Course or Equivalent between January 1 through May 15 of the even numbered year.
    • There is no limits on the number of course hours to be taken 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. 

How much do real estate appraiser makes in Kentucky?

Kentucky Real Estate Appraiser Income Guide

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 differential among real estate appraisers in Kentucky could be large.

According to the Bureau of Labor of Statistics (May 2021), property appraisers and assessors in Kentucky make an average yearly income of $49,000. The income range typically ranges between $39,670 and $62,350. Top earning property appraisers in Kentucky make over $80,510.

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

(No doubt, the income potential is an important factor in deciding the career path. Therefore, I wrote a complete guide which covers the different factors that could influence it. You will also find how to become six figures earning real estate appraiser.)

Career Tips for Aspiring Appraisers in Kentucky

Tip#1: Take pre-licensing 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.

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.

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

Connecting with other appraisers in Kentucky 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,

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.

Tip#3: Consider the commercial real estate niche

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.

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 Kentucky Real Estate Appraisers Board.

Reference:

Author

  • Jacob Coleman

    Jacob is a content writer and a real estate investor. He has experience working with different real estate professionals throughout the years. (i.e., appraisers, real estate agents, property managers, home inspectors.) In order to build a career you love, Jacob believes not only you need a thorough understanding about the profession, but you also have to find out what type of jobs could match your personality, lifestyle and expectation.

Jacob Coleman

Jacob is a content writer and a real estate investor. He has experience working with different real estate professionals throughout the years. (i.e., appraisers, real estate agents, property managers, home inspectors.) In order to build a career you love, Jacob believes not only you need a thorough understanding about the profession, but you also have to find out what type of jobs could match your personality, lifestyle and expectation.

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