If you’ve ever bought a home in Florida that involved a mortgage loan, then you’re somewhat familiar with real estate appraisers. But even then many home buyers don’t get a lot of details about what Florida real estate appraisers do.
Real estate appraisers are professionals that are integral to closing transactions. Because of their expertise, Florida real estate appraisers have an annual salary that’s comfortable, and there’s potential to increase earnings as experience is gained. But how exactly does an appraiser earn a living? What exactly does a Florida real estate appraiser do?
Let’s find out!
The Role of a Florida Real Estate Appraiser
At the most foundational level, a real estate appraiser is a professional that evaluates property for the purpose of determining market value. Their services are typically needed when a mortgage company is issuing a home loan, a bank is analyzing a customer’s assets or someone simply wants to know the market value of a property that’s for sale.
Even though valuing a property is the primary objective, there are a number of skills and services that fall under the umbrella of property appraisal. For instance, some real estate appraisers specialize in multi-family units. They can help a property owner determine the value of their multiplex if they make certain renovations and improvements.
A Florida real estate appraiser has an extremely important job that can make or break a property sale. For that reason, Florida appraisers have to meet education and experience requirements before they can issue an appraisal report.
Licensing for Florida Real Estate Appraisers
Anyone who is a Florida real estate appraiser has hours of experience and completed hours of higher education. Earning a Florida appraiser license is a real achievement to be proud of, even if an appraiser can’t provide appraisal services on their own yet.
There are actually three Florida appraiser licenses:
Registered Trainee Appraiser
A registered trainee appraiser has been approved to work but only under the supervision of a licensed Florida appraiser. They can also only take on assignments that come from their supervising appraisers.
To become a registered trainee appraiser in Florida you must:
Have a high school diploma or the equivalent
Complete 100 hours of pre-licensing education that consists of:
National USPAP course - 15 hours
Basic appraisal principles course - 30 hours
Basic appraisal procedures course - 30 hours
Appraisal Subject Matter Electives - 25 hours that must include the 3-hour Florida Laws and Rules course and rules and 3-hour Supervisor and Trainee course
Certified Residential Appraiser
Certified residential appraisers are approved to evaluate residential properties with 1-4 living units. This includes residential properties at all value levels.
To become a certified residential appraiser in Florida you must:
Have a high school diploma or the equivalent
Complete 200 hours of pre-licensing education
Have one of the following:
Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university
Associate's degree from an accredited college or university
Completed 30 semester hours of college-level courses in all specific topic areas
Complete 30 hours of College Level Examination Program (CLEP) examinations all specific topic areas
Combination of semester hours of college-level courses and CLEP exams
Minimum 1,500 hours of experience working as a registered trainee appraiser.
12+ months working as a registered trainee appraiser
Certified General Appraiser
The highest level of licensing is certified general appraiser. These professionals can appraise any type of property. Despite this wide range of properties, it’s not uncommon for a certified general appraiser to specialize in one or two types of properties.
To become a certified general appraiser in Florida you must:
Have a high school diploma or the equivalent
Complete 300 hours of pre-licensing education
Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university
Minimum 3,000 hours of experience.
At least 1,500 hours must be non-residential
18+ months working as a registered trainee appraiser
If you’re interested in becoming a Florida real estate appraiser it all starts with a DBPR-approved real estate school. You can also get a Florida real estate license in just 63 hours with the Aceable online course. You’ll get industry experience while learning more about property appraisal.