(**) 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.
There are 4 license levels of appraisers in Tennessee, which are the Appraiser Trainee, Licensed Residential Appraiser, Certified Residential Appraiser, Certified General Appraiser
To become a real estate appraiser in Tennessee, you need to fulfill the qualifying appraisal education, and work experience requirement. Also, you are required to register with the Tennessee Real Estate Appraisers Commission.
It 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.
As a real estate appraiser in Tennessee, your job is to come up with an appraisal report which determines the market value of a property. Your assessment 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 main focus is to provide an independent, unbiased estimate of value of a real property.
This is a complete guide for those who are considering to become a real estate appraiser in Tennessee. Here, you’ll find the step by step instruction to obtain the TN appraiser license, the income details, the format of the exam, and many practical career tips.
Are you ready? Let’s start now!
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 Registered Trainee in Tennessee?
To start your career as an appraiser, your first step is to become a Appraiser Trainee. 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 practical appraisal methods, how to conduct research on a property, how to extract important information from the data. Of course, 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 trainee stage, 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 an Registered Trainee in Tennessee
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 AQB Supervisor/Trainee Course.
Study tip: Whenever possible, I prefer to take online courses. You can study at your own pace at the convenient of your home, library, or wherever there is internet access. Here’s an article review of an online school that I like.
Step 3: Submit Application to the Tennessee Real Estate Appraisers Commission
Now you have completed the education prerequisites, your next step is to register with Real Estate Appraiser Commission.
If they have the online submission available, then I would 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
As a Registered Trainee in Tennessee, your assignment could also involve appraising commercial property, but only given your supervisor is a Certified General Appraiser.
Some people are concerned in how to find a mentor. You could start connecting with Certified Appraisers through different industry coalition, online forums or even on LinkedIn.
(Read: Top 10 Practical Tips to Find a Supervisory Appraiser)
Once you start working alongside with a supervisor, you 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.
But keep in mind that you and the supervising appraiser are required to sign on every page of the experience log.
How to Become a Licensed Residential Appraiser in Tennessee?
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 advance their career from the Registered Trainee.
5 Steps to Become a Licensed Residential Appraiser in Tennessee
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 complete 30 semester credit hours covering specific subject topics.
Step 2: Complete the Required Hours of Working Experience
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: 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 a Trainee Appraiser, so that you are only required to fulfill the additional course works.
Step 4: Submit Application to the Tennessee Real Estate Appraisers Commission
Once you have fulfilled the education and working experience requirement, you should submit the application to the the Real Estate Appraiser Commission along with other required documents.
Later in this post, I’ll go over the documents and fees needed for the registration process.
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.
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 Tennessee?
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 Tennessee only accept assessment work from Certified Appraiser.
5 Steps to Become a Certified Residential Appraiser in Tennessee
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
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 education from an approved course provider.
Since you should have taken some of the courses when becoming an Registered Trainee or Licensed Residential Appraiser, you are only required to complete the extra classes.
Step 4: Submit Application to the Tennessee Real Estate Appraisers Commission
Once you have fulfilled the education and working experience requirement, it’s time to submit the license application.
The Licensing Commission in some states may 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 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 Tennessee?
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.
Of course, the first step is to become a Certified General Appraiser, so let’s go through the steps to obtain this designation.
5 Steps to Become a Certified General Appraiser in Tennessee
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.
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 Tennessee Real Estate Appraisers Commission
Once you have completed all the education and working experience prerequisites, you should fill out 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 General Appraiser Exam
The final step is to pass the Certified General Appraiser Exam.
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.
Table of Tennessee Real Estate Appraisal Courses
| Registered Trainee (Credit Hours) | Licensed Residential Appraiser (Credit Hours) | Certified Residential Appraiser (Credit Hours) | Certified General Appraiser (Credit Hours) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| National USPAP Course or Equivalent | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 |
| Basic Appraisal Principles | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 |
| Basic Appraisal Procedures | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 |
| Residential Market Analysis and Highest & Best Use | 15 | 15 | ||
| Residential Appraisal Site Valuation and Cost Approach | 15 | 15 | ||
| Residential Sales Comparison and Income Approaches | 30 | 30 | ||
| Residential Report Writing and Case Studies | 15 | 15 | ||
| Statistics, Modeling and Finance | 15 | 15 | ||
| Advanced Residential Applications and Case Studies | 15 | |||
| Appraisal Subject Matter Electives | 20 | 30 | ||
| General Appraiser Market Analysis and Highest & Best Use | 30 | |||
| General Appraiser Site Valuation and Cost Approach | 30 | |||
| General Appraiser Sales Comparison Approach | 30 | |||
| General Appraiser Report Writing and Case Studies | 30 | |||
| General Appraiser Income Approach | 60 | |||
| Total | 75 hours | 150 hours | 200 hours | 300 hours |
In addition to the above course work, Trainee Appraisers are required to complete the AQB Supervisor/Trainee course. Also, the State Commission does not accept Distance Education for Qualifying Education.
How to register with the Tennessee Real Estate Appraisers Commission?
Once you have fulfilled all the prerequisites, you could submit your application to the “Real Estate Appraisers Commission“. Here are the links to apply for the appraiser license.
In additional to the form, you must provide the following:
- Registration fee $125
- Licensure fee (includes National Registry fee): $430
- 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 also contact the Tennessee Real Estate Appraiser Commission at RealEstate.Appraisers@TN.Gov
More Details about the Tennessee Real Estate Appraiser Exams
Once the Tennessee Real Estate Appraiser Commission 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.
There will be a $125 exam fee. You could find out more details in the Tennessee Real Estate Appraisers Program Candidate Handbook.
Make sure you check out my other post: “10 effective tips to pass the appraiser exam on the first try“
FAQ on Tennessee Real Estate Appraiser Career
How long does it take to become a real estate appraiser in Tennessee?
It takes 6 to 18 months to become a real estate appraiser in Tennessee. 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 Tennessee, 1,500 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 Tennessee? And what is the continuing education requirement?
All real estate appraisers in Tennessee are required to renew their license every two year. In addition to the renewal 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.
- Keep in mind that no more than 14 continuing education hours can be completed as distance education each cycle.
- Also, you cannot repeatedly taking the same course within 5 years, except for the National USPAP, which needs to be taken every 2 years.
- Pay the renewal fee. ($125 for Appraiser Trainee, $430 for Licensed/Certified Appraisers)
To prevent interruption to your appraisal practice, you should renew it and complete all continuing education requirement before the license expiry date. In fact, the State Commission requires to receive your renewal application, certificates and fee 30 days prior to expiration date of license. The appraiser license renewal can be done online.
How many real estate appraisers are in Tennessee?
According to the Appraisal Subcommittee, there are 1964 in total. The breakdown is as follow:
- 894 Certified General Appraiser
- 977 Certified Residential Appraiser
- 93 Licensed Residential Appraiser
Tennessee has over 6.7 million population, with populous cities such as Memphis and Nashville. When you are deciding the regions to conduct your appraisal business, you should target areas that have a high population. After all, transactions can only occur when there are people.
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 much do real estate appraiser make in Tennessee?
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (May 2021), real estate appraisers in Tennessee make an average annual income of $55,350. It typically ranges between $44,300 and $77,020. Top earning property appraisers in Tennessee more than $102,720 per year.
Your earning ability as a real estate appraiser is subjected to many variables 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.
Here’s a complete income guide on real estate appraisers in Tennessee. In there, You will find out 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 Tennessee
Tip#1: Complete the appraisal education 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.
Tip#2: Network with other real estate professionals in Tennessee
Networking with other appraisers in Tennessee 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,
- Greater Tennessee Chapter of the Appraisal Institute
- Tennessee Appraiser Coalition (TAC)
- AppraisersForum.com
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 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.
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 Tennessee Real Estate Appraisers Commission.
Reference:
- Mckissock Learning- Tennessee Appraisal License Requirements: (Source)
- Mckissock Learning- Learn Appraisal Educational Requirements for Tennessee (Source)
- The Appraisal Foundation- National Uniform Licensing and Certification Examinations: (Source)
- sokanu – How much does a Real Estate Appraiser make in Tennessee? (Source)
- salary.com- Salary for Appraiser (Commercial Real Estate) in Tennessee: (Source)
- salary.com- Salary for Appraiser (Residential Real Estate) in Tennessee: (Source)
- Tennessee Real Estate Appraiser Commission: (Source)
- Appraisal Subcommittee- Active Appraiser Credentials Summary Report (Source)
