How to Become a Real Estate Appraiser in New Hampshire? (+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.

New Hampshire has approximately 1.35 million of population. It is one the smallest states in the US, but also fairly densely populated in comparison to its size. Concord is the most populous city, followed by Dover, Rochester, and Keene. 

How to become a real estate appraiser in New Hampshire? The short answer is you need to begin working as an Apprentice Appraiser, then upgrade your licenses in becoming a Licensed or Certified Appraiser. You must complete the qualifying appraisal courses and work experience requirement.

You also need to register with the New Hampshire Real Estate Appraiser Board. They are responsible for issuing licenses to appraisers and regulating the appraisal industry. 

Your job as a real estate appraiser to provide a professional estimation of the properties’ market value for your clients. Your appraisal report could be used for home purchasing, getting a mortgage, refinance, estate sales, tax assessment, etc.  

New Hampshire Real Estate Appraiser Licensing Requirement

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 Apprentice Appraiser in New Hampshire?

Becoming an Apprentice Trainee is the first step into the real estate appraisal career. You will be supervised and trained by a certified appraiser. An experienced mentor could guide you into the right direction in this career.

The supervisory appraiser should educate you with appraisal techniques, effective ways to conduct research, and how to analyze the data.  Most importantly, how to develop an objective estimation of the property’s market value.

Your daily routine could involve doing property research, working on appraisal reports, and inspecting real estate together with the supervisor.

To accelerate your learning, you should walk through each and every step in the appraisal process, and review carefully on how your trainer inspect and evaluate real estate.

4 Steps to Become an Apprentice Appraiser in New Hampshire

Step 1: Fulfill 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.  

Step 3: Submit Application to the New Hampshire Real Estate Appraiser Board

Step 4: Find a Supervising Appraiser

Once you and your trainer decide to work together, you both need to let the Department know about the mentoring relationship. 

You must also keep record of your working hours with the 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 a snippet of what a Certified General Appraiser recommends when looking for a supervisor

“Along with the PROFESSIONAL resume you send by snail mail and email, enclose a document that thoroughly describes your house (or someone else’s house). I am talking about a thorough description.

In appraisal, we start with the big picture and work our way down to the details. So start with the community you live in and tell your prospective mentor about the community…”

Timothy S. Evans, SRA, Certified General Appraiser at Monroe Valuation, Inc 

Still unsure how to find a supervisor? No problem, here’s another post for you: “How to Find a Supervisory Appraiser? (Tips from CG Appraiser and Trainee).” In there, you will find full details of Timothy’s recommendation and 11 incredibly helpful ideas in finding a supervisory appraiser.

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How to Become a Licensed Residential Appraiser in New Hampshire?

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.

Alternatively, you could also be employed by an appraisal firm, financial institution, government assessor’s office 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 Apprentice status.

5 Steps to Become a Licensed Residential Appraiser in New Hampshire

Step 1: Meet the Basic Requirement

  • You must be at least 18 years old
  • Have a valid Social Security Number
  • Hold an Associate Degree or higher. Or 30 semester credit hours of courses that cover specific subject matter.

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 12 months period.

Step 3: Fulfill the Education Requirement

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 an Appraiser Trainee,  so that you are only required to fulfill the additional course works.

Step 4: Submit Application to the New Hampshire Real Estate Appraiser Board

Step 5: Pass the Licensed Residential Appraiser Exam

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 New Hampshire?

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 large lenders and financial institutions only accept appraisal work from Certified Appraisers

So let’s take a look at the steps to become a Certified Residential Appraiser.

5 Steps to Become a Certified Residential Appraiser in New Hampshire

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 30 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: Submit Application to the New Hampshire Real Estate Appraiser Board

Step 5: Pass the Certified Residential Appraiser 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 New Hampshire?

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

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. 

Commercial Real Estate Appraisal

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.

5 Steps to Become a Certified General Appraiser in New Hampshire

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: Complete the Required Hours of Working Experience

You must have at least 3000 hours of acceptable appraisal experiencewhere 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 Education Requirement

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

Step 4: Submit Application to the New Hampshire Real Estate Appraiser Board

Step 5: Pass the National Certified General Appraiser Exam

Courses Requirement for New Hampshire Appraiser

Apprentice 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 1515
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 Finance15 15
Advanced Residential Applications and Case Studies15
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
Total75 hours150 hours200 hours300 hours

Distance education is not permitted. 

Registration with the New Hampshire Real Estate Appraiser Board

Once you have fulfilled all the prerequisites, you could submit your application to the NH Real Estate Appraiser board. Here are the applications for:

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

  • Registration fee (Here’s the fee schedule)
  • Supporting legal documents
  • Education 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)

Then you could mail the documents to the Office of Professional Licensure and Certification. The addresses are printed on the applications. 

If you have any questions, you could contact the NH Real Estate Appraiser Board.

New Hampshire Real Estate Appraiser Exam

Certified General Appraiser

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

  • Licensed Residential Appraiser Exam is a 4 hours exam,
  • Certified Residential Appraiser Exam is a 4 hours exam;
  • Certified General Appraiser Exam is a 6 hours exam

The licensed and certified exams consist of 125 questions. Only 110 questions will be scored, the other 15 are pretest questions. The required passing score is 75. You will immediately know your score once you finish writing the test.

You could find out more details in the National Appraiser Examination Candidate Handbook.

To increase your chance in passing the exam on the first time, make sure to check out our exam hacks. In there, not only you will find the content of the exam, but also 10 effective tips on how to prepare for it.

FAQ on New Hampshire Real Estate Appraiser Career

FAQ on New Hampshire real estate appraiser license

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

It takes 12 to 30 months to become a real estate appraiser in New Hampshire. 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 New Hampshire, 2,500 hours to become a Certified Residential Appraiser and 3,000 hours to become a Certified General Appraiser.

How to renew a real estate appraiser license in New Hampshire?

All real estate appraisers in New Hampshire need to renew their license every two years.

In addition to the online renewal application, below are the other requirements:

  • Complete 28 hours continuing education every 24 months, of which must include 7 hours of National USPAP Update course 
    • You must take at least half of the CE credit hours in a classroom setting
    • The board will randomly select licensees to audit their CE credits. Therefore, you need to retain the proof of CE courses completion for at least 4 years. 
  • Pay the renewal fee

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

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

How much do real estate appraisers make in New Hampshire?

New Hampshire Real Estate Appraiser Income Guide

Your earning 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), real estate appraisers in New Hampshire make an average annual income of $73,550. The yearly income range typically ranges between $56,720 and $82,040. Top earning property appraisers in New Hampshire more than $101,830 per year.

Here’s a complete income guide on real estate appraisers in New Hampshire. In there, I will uncover the income updates, the percentage of appraisers that are making a good living, and whether being a commercial or residential appraisers has any effect on the income. So be sure to check it out!

Career Tips for Aspiring Appraisers in New Hampshire

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.

However, the NH has restriction that the courses must be taken in a classroom setting. Before you enroll to a course, check out whether it is listed as one of the approved courses

Tip#2: Build Your Network with Other Real Estate Professionals in New Hampshire

Talking to other appraisers in New Hampshire 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 NH-VT 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.

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 New Hampshire Real Estate Appraiser Board.

Reference:

  • New Hampshire Real Estate Appraiser Board (source)
  • The Appraisal Foundation- National Uniform Licensing and Certification Examinations
  • sokanu – How much does a Real Estate Appraiser make in New Hampshire?  https://www.sokanu.com/careers/real-estate-appraiser/salary/New-Hampshire
  • salary.com- Salary for Appraiser (Commercial Real Estate) in
    New Hampshire:  https://www1.salary.com/NH/Appraiser-Commercial-Real-Estate-Salary.html
  • salary.com- Salary for Appraiser (Residential Real Estate) in
    New Hampshire:  https://www1.salary.com/NH/Appraiser-Residential-Real-Estate-Salary.html

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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