How hard is it to become a real estate appraiser? How well do you have to be at math? And...?
492242
Some banks have inhouse appraisers and you might try that route if you are going to be moving.  There is more job security if you are just transferring from one bank to another.
216554
Realtors suck big time.   I have just had two very bad experiences.  They will lie to your face to get you to sign stuff.  For example, I was offering 106,000 for a home.  The realtor then added 6 percent to that and some other stuff, all said and done, I paid 115,900.  When I asked him why the numbers were higher than what I wanted to pay, he said "you aren't paying that, the buyer is going to pay the difference".  You are supposed to pay these people to help you and they don't.  They are just as bad as the mortgage companies.
989276
First, I don't know of any online pre-licensing course. Please check with your state Real Estate Appraiser Board to make sure that the course qualifies towards your education hours requirement. You can find your appraiser board website through the Appraisal Subcommittee website (below). The state site will have a list of approved courses and schools for PRE-LICENSE or CORE coursework.\n\nIn teaching appraisal, I have found Henry Harrrison's course book the most readable for adult learners. His books can be acquired through his website, Forms and Worms, or through Amazon.com. Dearborn Publications also has a fairly good guide.\n\nGood luck. I usually advise students to start looking for a supervisor for their apprenticeship while they are still in school. It is probably the hardest part of getting into the profession. You can download a list of licensed appraisers from the Appraisal Subcommittee website. Just click on the National Registry tab. Then click on custom reports. Be sure to select your state and select "Active" status for your list. The list is available in Excel, which can be tied to Word's Mail Merge Tool. You can then mail your resume to all available, active appraisers.
456919
If I were a new Realtor, just getting into the business, an "instructor" who learned from a book or school, rather than experience, is not someone whom I would feel confident learning from.  Let me tell you why....\n\nRealtors jobs are pretty basic....find a client, find a house, sell them the house.  Or it could be....find a client that wants to sell their house, then find the client that wants to buy their house....  Pretty simple huh???  Well...not really.  In between all of those pretty "simple" things, you need experience.  Things happen in the real estate experience that nothing in books is going to teach you to deal with. \n\nThe best real estate "instructors" are the ones that have been successful in real estate, and or at least they have been doing it for years and they are now teaching others.\n\nPlease do not think that you can just go and get some kind of instructors license to teach Realtors how to do their jobs, when you yourself would not even know except by the book that would teach you.  Real estate does not work that way...please don't try to make it work that way...
977440
Pros - R.E. agent:\nBig sales commissions -- maybe you'll get rich\nFlexible hours - part time a possibility\n\nCons - R.E. agent\nincome depends on self-motivation\nMuch of time spent may not yield results\nCan screw up a deal and get sued\nMust deal with all kinds of people, regularly, and be nice!\n\nPros - Appraiser\nSteady work & steady pay once you get in\nFlexibile hours\nAutonomy - work on your own, write up your appraisal\nNo need to deal with many people directly\nMany web-based forums to bid on future work\n\nCons - Appraiser\nProbably won't get rich unless you move up and manage others\nNegative consequences associated with bad appraisals
6907
The real estate market is cooling off and so is the mortgage industry.  Proceed with caution.  That said, if you are in a steady low-paying job, you will always regret the chances that you never took.  Besides real estate appraisers are needed during foreclosures also.  I would think that they are not as affected by the market as realtors or mortgage brokers.  Best bet is to have a few months of income saved up.
1173698
I have been in real estate for 10 years.  It takes the average agent about 4 months before they see their first deal.  I takes about a year to really see some measure of success.  I have seen agents have up and down careers, meaning a good year then a not so good year.  True financial gain exists in this business.  I have seen more success on the investment side than the sales/listings side of the business.  It takes anywhere from 2 to 5 weeks to complete the pre-licensing classes and they cost about $325.  Once you complete the required course, you have to take the state and national exams.  When you pass those, you can place your license with a real estate broker and get started.  It is a very exiting business.  It takes a lot of time and it cost money to get your name out there, via advertising, etc...\n\nGood luck in your career.  BTW...the competition isn't that fierce.  Any broker will tell you that there are probably 100,000 licensed agents and only about 5% that really do the business.
553213
Appraisal fees are mostly based on the property and the property type. Around in Southern California, the fees are from 300-450 dollars for basic apprasials (Single family homes under a million).\n\nThey need to be licensed. Once licensed, they can work for themselves, banks or other companies.\n\nThere's something called a Broker's price opinion. They are not as detailed as an appraisal, but they run 100-150 bucks each (around here). Basically a broker runs comps of the property and makes a physical inspection of the property and gives his opinion on how much he/she thinks the property is worth.\n\nYour best bet is to have a real estate agent run the comps for the properties you like and have your purchase agreement be subject to the property appraising at x amount of dollars.
938313
I am a professional appraiser.  Today appraisals are done by statistical approaches which is why they all spend only 15 min., they all take the parameters needed and leave.  In their offices they make the calculations based on statistics, end of story.  This means that if you consider a mass of appraisals as dots and plot them and compare them in time with real transactions, many dots will be above and below the "real selling price" curve, although as a whole the deviation will still be acceptable.  From a Government standpoint or a Corporation, this is sufficient.  From an individual standpoint where you are one of the dots, it is not acceptable because you are not interested in the mass mean values, you are interested in your particular, very private, and singular, property.  If you want an appraisal which comes closer to the "real expected selling price", perhaps the best approach is to get in touch with a real estate firm that specializes in selling the type of property you have.
851528
Hi,\n\nFACT! 10% of the realtors NATIONWIDE make 90% of the commissions.\n\nI built a $6Kb initial investment to just under a million in 10 years with RIP (residential income property)\n\nI had a CA. RE license and let it lapse because I did NOT want to be associated with the residential SLIME BALLS that lie and spin the truth for their 6% or 3% co-op.\n\nRE agents hook up with title companies and escrow companies and generally get "consideration" for their alliance.\n\nThe BIG DEAL in residential is "farming your patch"; scratch pads and all the other junk that you hang on doors.\n\nIt ONLY takes ONE Realtor to LIE and you are ALL SCREWED, so it is NOT about YOU but your assciatres.\n\nThe bottom line is the BROKER!  If he/she has it together ETHICALLY then you are OK.  It is the BAD ones that set the tempo.\n\nDISCLOURSURE is the KEY and if you "spin" or lie it sends a WAVE of dis-trust that you can NEVER recover.\n\nI figure that 90% ofthe real estae agents get their license out of either desperation or are chasing the BIG BUCKS.\n\nThe former spends %$500 to get a job when no one else wilhire them; wonder why and the rest are housewives with too much time on their hands and KIDS to pick-up from school and take to practice.\n\nYou have the NEW BMW and huge house that you can't afford unless the wife contibutes some income.\n\nWhen you are chasing the "AMERICAN DREAM" with certified letters posted on the door, ETHICS take a second seat to a 6% commission on a $300,000 house clousure.\n\nTo get a "LISTING" you have to SELL that you are going to turn it QUICKLY at the asking (even though it isn't worth the asking)  Why be HONEST with 6% on the line. Get it in the MLS and collect the 3% when somebody else sells it?  Ain't rocket science.\n\nIf you are considering RE look at RIP because it is a FINANCIAL DECISION and you can walk from the BS if you do YOUR HOMEWORK and the math works.\n\nGood Luck,\nJacques
73338
As a full time Realtor, I would say that.  Real Estate is as tough or easy as you make it.  There will be some fees up front for classes and licenses, but those should be minimal.
1075832
It isn't easy.  Contrary to what others have suggested you need to have the cash (read cashiers check) prior to bidding.  In the states I work (OR, WA, CA) require "qualified" bidders, this means that prior to bidding you must present evidence of funds on hand.  This doesn't include a pre-qualification letter which would require that the property appraises out, or even a letter of credit from your bank - cashiers checks.  Unless you have excess funds you would want to have cashiers checks in the minimum amount plus 5 $1,000, 3 $5,000, 1 $20,000.  This would allow you to bid up to $40,000 over the minimum bid amount.  Of course if you are going to bid higher, you'll need more.
1151748
yes it all depends on the state you want your real estate  license in ,or if you want you license at all ,if it is a money thing  you can try a local community collage, but the online school i used was \nLumbleau real estate school... anyway have fun\n\nFrank Camodeca\nColdwell Banker\nSunnyvale California
12793
I don't think any college experience is necessary to get in real estate.  \n\nAll you need is the drive and PR skills to sell the crappiest dumps for the highest price possible... and/or have the capital to buy the nicest places at the lowest price and the savvy to resell them even higher.\n\nIt's a very competitive environment, better be ready to fight your way through
1179474
Depends what kind of career in real estate.  Realtor, investor, developer etc.  In general, any business, economics, urban planning, law degree will do.
802800
Relatively little.  Technically anyone can be a real estate agent.\n\nClasses are usualy random times, but for me it was 3 weeks of 10 hour classes Monday / Wednesday/ Friday\n\nYou dont have to take the classes at a major university, there are plenty of oddball colleges around that only teach real estate.\n\nFor the government test its only required that you take the set amount of hours.....anywhere.\n\nIf you are relatively good with logic and law, the tests are fairly easy.\n\nHowever, there are costs involved.  You need access to MLS system which is about $1600 per year.  There are also numerous license fees per year and some companies (Realty One, Howard Hanna) that MAKE you sign up with some local boards which dont really do anything for you.\n\nOther than that, you need a sponsor b4 taking the test.   Sponsor is the company you want to work for.\n\nYou must be a real estate agent for 5 years b4 you can become a broker and do your own work.  Trick is that brokers cant sell/buy directly, they need to employ agents.\n\nReal estate market is good for women with big tits (dont mean to be sexist but those are the ppl that make the most money) and you need to be able to talk your ass off.\n\nWhen i was with Realty One, one of the girls that "graduated" school with me was a 27 yr old mom with 2 kids, that used to be a teacher but thought real estate money was better.   After busting her ass off for a full year (worked 7 days a week, had to hire a baby sitter, was gone practicaly from 9am to 9pm) only made 39,000 that year.\n\nOn the other hand, other women (women dominate this proffession btw) in the office were pulling in over 80,000 no problem but they were in the business for more than 20 years and have established contacts that allowed them to have access to REALLY expensive houses and thats where the money is.\n\nYou will be working 70-80 hours a week to get decent money with average priced houses.   Ppl that own the expensive houses only go to realtors about which they hear from friends, and you need to be around for a LONG time for some of those ppl to hear about you.
960128
All you have to do is pass the Real Estate exam.  Take a class with your local realtor and they will prep you for it, for a fee.  Good luck!!