How to Become a Real Estate Appraiser in Arizona: Your
5-Step Guide

How to Become a Licensed Residential Appraiser in Arizona

Now let's take a more in-depth look at the steps recommended to really start your appraisal career as a licensed residential appraiser.

1. 1. Obtain Your Arizona Registered Trainee License

   NOTE: Your state may accept PAREA or Practicum as an alternative to Trainee license with Trainee/Supervisory model.

   Qualifying Education
   Before you can become a licensed residential appraiser in Arizona, you’ll need to complete 79 hours total of Arizona Appraiser Qualifying Education (QE), broken up as follows:

   • 30 hours of appraisal principles
   • 30 hours of appraisal procedures
   • The 15-hour National Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) course, or an equivalent course

   You’ll also need to complete a 4-hour Appraiser Trainee/Supervisory Appraiser Course. Before signing up for this course, you need to find a supervisory appraiser who will act as your mentor through completion of your experience hours (Step 3).

   All qualifying education must be approved by either the Appraiser Qualifications Board (AQB) or the Arizona Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions (DIFI). You must complete all qualifying education prior to submitting your trainee application.

   Notification of Engagement
   And finally, your Designated Supervisory Appraiser will need to fill out a Notification of Engagement. Once you start working as a Trainee Appraiser, you will be earning your experience working under the direction of a Supervisory Appraiser, so you’ll want to start looking now for an appraiser who can take you on as a mentee. (Please Note: This experience is not required to earn your Trainee Appraiser license, so the hours you work with this title will begin to accrue for your Licensed Residential Appraiser license, or whichever license level you choose to pursue next.)

   Before applying for your license, take a moment to read through the Arizona DIFI’s detailed application requirements and pay special attention to the background and character qualifications.

   Once you’ve met all of the above requirements, you will need to apply with the state for your Registered Trainee Appraiser license, which requires a $300 fee.

2. 2. Complete Appraiser Education

   After getting your Arizona Registered Trainee License, it’s time for the next step toward becoming a licensed residential appraiser in Arizona: 150 Hours of AQB-approved real estate appraiser education. Take a look at the breakdown of coursework on page 1 of the Arizona DIFI’s application requirements. (Please Note: You’ve already satisfied 75 of these hours through your Registered Trainee license – nice work!)

3. 3. Conduct Appraisal Work Experience

   Once you’ve finished your education, you must conduct and log at least 1,000 hours of actual appraisal experience. Those 1,000 hours must be completed:

   • Under the supervision of a certified appraiser; and
   • Over a period of at least six months.

   This means that you must take no less than six months to complete your 1,000 hours of appraisal experience. To put things in perspective, if a trainee works 40 hours per workweek, they will complete their training in a little over six months. If, however, they put in any fewer than 40 hours per week, it would take longer. Here’s a helpful table to give you an overview of the timeframes you’d be looking at:

   Number of Hours Per Week	Total Time to Complete 1000 hours
   40 Hours	6 Months
   30 Hours	8 Months
   20 Hours	13 Months
   10 Hours	2 Years

   *This must all be completed under the supervision of a Designated Supervisor Appraiser

   If the application is accepted, you’ll be sent instructions on how to take the National Uniform Licensing and Certification Examination—the final step before you can apply for your license.

4. 4. Submit Your Application for an Arizona Residential Real Estate Appraiser License

   Now that you've completed your education and logged your experience, it’s time to apply for your license. Generally, candidates can expect the entire application process to take four to six weeks. Factors that affect the processing time are the completeness of the application when filed and the number and nature of any character issues or questions with respect to fitness for licensure.

   To fill out your application, you first need to create an account on the Arizona Professional Licensure portal.

   When you first apply for your license, you’ll need to pay a $400 licensing fee. Then, once you pass the National Exam (the next and final step!), you’ll be asked to pay the $80 National Registry Fee.

5. 5. Pass the National Uniform Licensing & Certification Examination

   After the Arizona Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions (DIFI) receives your application and determines it’s complete, you’ll be directed to take the National Uniform Licensing & Certification Exam.

   You’ll need a sponsoring entity to take the exam; the education provider where you completed your coursework should be able to give this to you. Here are a few pieces of information about the exam to help you prepare:

   • The exam is four hours long. The Licensed Residential Examination can take up to four hours to complete.
   • There are 125 questions on the test. The National Uniform Licensing and Certification exam is composed of 125 total questions. Fifteen of these questions are considered practice, and answering those questions wrong does not negatively affect your score.
   • A score of 75 points is passing. Scores for the National Uniform Licensing and Certification exam range between 0 and 110 points. Each question carries an equal weight of 1 point. In order to pass, you must earn a minimum of 75 points.
   • You can take the test more than once. The Appraisal Foundation allows you to take the test up to three times.

   You get three attempts to pass the exam; after that, you must take 15 additional hours of appraiser qualifying education before trying again. After you pass the exam, you have two years from the date you took the exam to apply for a license.

Appraiser License Types in Arizona

It’s important to understand how the state classifies real estate appraisers across four separate categories, each with their own qualifications for licensure:

• Registered Trainee Appraiser
• State Licensed Residential Appraiser
• State Certified Residential Real Estate Appraiser
• Certified General Appraiser
• Designated Supervisor Appraiser*

After receiving your Registered Trainee license, you can “upgrade” to any of the subsequent license levels. Today, we’ll be focusing on how to get to your State Licensed Residential Appraiser license. But first, here’s a quick overview of the requirements for the first four licensing levels.

Find extra details here (sections IV-VI) regarding citizenship and criminal history.

Registered Trainee Appraiser

Arizona, like most states, requires a pilot program for potential appraisers to begin their path toward becoming fully licensed. Known as a registered trainee appraiser, this first level of licensure is recommended before you can become fully licensed and start appraising real estate on your own.

Here's a quick overview of everything you’ll need to become a registered trainee appraiser:

Licensed Residential Appraiser

The next level up is a licensed residential appraiser (aka, licensed residential real property appraiser). At this level, you can provide appraisal services in federally related transactions with:

• Non-complex one-to-four-unit residential properties (transaction value of less than $1,000,000
• Complex one-to-four-unit residential properties having a transaction value of less than $250,000

Here’s a quick overview of everything you’ll need to become a licensed residential appraiser:

Certified Residential Appraiser

Certified residential appraisers may provide appraisal services in federally related transactions with:

• One-to-four-unit residential properties without regard to value or complexity
• Commercial properties (transaction value < $250,000)

Certified General Appraiser

Certified general appraisers are the highest level of appraiser professionals. They can provide appraisal services in federally related transactions with all types of residential or commercial real property without regard to value or complexity.