(**) 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 Oregon, you would start off in working as an Appraiser Assistant, then work your way up toward other licenses such as the Licensed Residential Appraiser, Certified Residential Appraiser, and the Certified General Appraiser.
You must fulfill the qualifying appraisal education, work experience requirement and register with the Oregon Appraiser Certification and Licensure Board. This board is the responsible for issuing licenses and governing individuals and companies that appraise the value of real estate, and also appraisal management companies (AMCs), in accordance with federal guidelines.
There are over 4.2 million people reside in Oregon, but it is a state with a sparsely spread population. With Portland being the most populous city followed by Salem and Eugene.
As a real estate appraiser in Oregon, 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, your work products must remain objective, unbiased and professional.
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 Assistant in Oregon?
To begin your journey as an appraiser, your first step is to become a Trainee 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 from 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. (Here are the Top 10 Tips to Find a Supervisory Appraiser.)
4 Steps to Become an Appraiser Assistant in Oregon
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
Step 2: Complete the Pre-License Education
You need to complete the 75 hours of qualifying appraisal-related education and the Trainee/Supervisor 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: Submit Application to the Oregon Appraiser Certification and Licensure Board
Now you have completed the education prerequisites, your next step is to register with the State Board. If the Appraisal Board has 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: Work under the supervision of a Certified Appraiser
You might wonder how to find a supervisory appraiser. You could start connecting with Certified Appraisers through different industry associations, forums or even on LinkedIn. The more appraisers you connect to, the bigger the chance you could find a supervisor.
Once you start working alongside with a supervisor, you and your supervisor would need to inform the Appraiser Board about the mentoring relationship.
You also need to keep track of your working hours with the board-approved experience log. This document is important for the purpose of upgrading your appraiser license in the future.
Keep in mind that you and the supervising appraiser are required to sign on every page of the experience log.
Here’s 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.
How to Become a Licensed Residential Appraiser in Oregon?
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 Oregon
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: Complete the Required Hours of Working Experience
You must have at least 1500 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 course provider.
You should have taken some of the courses when becoming an Appraiser Assistant, so that you are only required to fulfill the additional course works.
Step 4: Submit Application to the Oregon Appraiser Certification and Licensure 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.
Step 5: Pass the Licensed Residential Appraiser Exam
Now it’s the time to write the exam! Doing multiple sets of practice questions is an excellent way to prepare for the exam and also boost your confidence.
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 Residential Appraiser in Oregon?
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 Oregon 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 Oregon
Step 1: Meet the Basic Requirement:
- You must be at least 18 years old
- Have a valid Social Security Number
- Complete one of the following 6 college-level education requirement:
- Route #1: Hold an associate’s degree in either Accounting, Business Administration, Economics, Finance, or Real Estate; OR
- Route #2: Hold a bachelor’s degree in any field of study
- Route #3: Complete 3 hours of each of the following college-level courses with a total of 30 semester hours
- Algebra, Geometry, or Higher Math
- Computer Science
- English Composition
- Finance
- Macroeconomics
- Microeconomics
- Real Estate Law or Business Law
- Statistics
- 2 elective courses (3 hours each) in any of the above subjects or in Accounting, Agricultural Economics, Business Management, Geography, or Real Estate;
- Route #4: Complete 30 hours of College Level Examination Program® (CLEP®) examinations that cover each of the subjects in Route #3
- Route #5: Any combinations of Route #3 and Route #4 which consists all the topics mentioned above
- Route #6: If you have been a Licensed Residential Appraiser for 5 years or more, while your license is in good standing, then the college-level requirements can be waived.
Step 2: Complete the Appraisal Work Experience
You need to complete a minimum of 2000 hours of acceptable appraisal experience in not less than a 18 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 Assistant or Licensed Residential Appraiser, you are only required to complete the extra classes.
Step 4: Submit Application to the Oregon Appraiser Certification and Licensure Board
Once you have fulfilled the education and working experience requirement, it’s time to submit the license application. Most Licensing 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
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.
How to Become a Certified General Appraiser in Oregon?
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 Oregon
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 18 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 Oregon Appraiser Certification and Licensure 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 final step is to pass the Certified General Appraiser Exam. Don’t try to cramp up all the study materials all at once. If possible, focus on studying only one to two topics per day. But be really good at it.
Table of the Required Real Estate Appraisal Courses in Oregon
| Appraiser Assistant (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 |
Here’s how to register at the Oregon Appraiser Certification and Licensure Board
Once you have fulfilled all the prerequisites, you could submit your application to the State Board. Here is the link to download the application forms.
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)
If you have any questions, you could click here to contact the Oregon Appraiser Certification and Licensure Board.
More info about the Oregon Real Estate Appraiser Exams
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.
You could find out more details in the National Appraiser Examination Candidate Handbook.
Be sure to check out my other post: “10 practical tips on how to pass the real estate appraiser exam“
FAQ on the Oregon Real Estate Appraiser Career
How long does it take to become a real estate appraiser in Oregon?
It takes 12 to 18 months to become a real estate appraiser in Oregon. 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 1,500 hours of work experience to become a Licensed Residential Appraiser in Oregon, 2,000 hours to become a Certified Residential Appraiser and 3,000 hours to become a Certified General Appraiser.
How to renew an Oregon real estate appraiser license? Any continuing education requirements?
All real estate appraisers in Oregon are required to renew their license every two year. Here are the renewal application for:
Besides the application, below are the requirements to renew your appraiser license:
- Finish 28 hours continuing education every 24 months, of which must include 7 hours of National USPAP Update course.
- You need to submit copies of the continuing education certificates
- Renewal fee. (They have a credit card authorization form)
- $75 for Appraiser Assistant;
- $580 for Licensed/Certified Appraiser
- A copy of your photo
Then you simply email all the documents to online.application@oregon.gov.
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 appraisers make in Oregon?
According to Bureau of Labor Statistics, property appraisers and assessors in Oregon make an average yearly income of $61,920. The income range typically ranges between $48,730 and $79,600. Top earning Oregon appraisers make over $100,630.
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 Oregon could be large.
Here’s a complete income guide on real estate appraisers in Oregon. 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 Oregon
Tip#1: Take 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 courses before your working experience could count toward the licensing requirement.
Tip#2: Build your network with other real estate professionals in Oregon
Connecting with other appraisers in Oregon 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,
- Coalition of Oregon Real Estate Appraisers (COREA)
- AppraisersForum.com – Oregon Forum
- The Great Oregon 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.
Tips#3: Consider the commercial real estate route
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.
Here’s an article you might be interested: “Is Commercial Real Estate Appraisal a Good Career?” In there, a CRE appraiser shared his view on what he thinks about this profession.
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 Oregon Appraiser Certification and Licensure Board.
Reference:
- The Appraisal Foundation- National Uniform Licensing and Certification Examinations: http://www.appraisalfoundation.org/imis/TAF/Standards/Qualification_Criteria
- sokanu – How much does a Real Estate Appraiser make in Oregon? https://www.sokanu.com/careers/real-estate-appraiser/salary/Oregon
- salary.com- Salary for Appraiser (Commercial Real Estate) in Oregon: https://www1.salary.com/OR/Appraiser-Commercial-Real-Estate-Salary.html
- salary.com- Salary for Appraiser (Residential Real Estate) in Oregon: https://www1.salary.com/OR/Appraiser-Residential-Real-Estate-Salary.html
- Oregon Appraiser Certification and Licensure Board- https://public.orlicensing.oregon.gov/ACLBPortal/Home.aspx
