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

How to Become a Licensed Residential Appraiser in Maryland

Now let's take a deeper look at the steps necessary to really start your appraisal career as a licensed real estate appraiser in Maryland.

1. 1. Obtain Your Maryland Appraiser Trainee License

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

   Before you can become a licensed real estate appraiser in Maryland, you must first get your Maryland Appraiser Trainee License. And before you can apply for that, you need to complete the required 79 hours of Maryland Appraiser qualifying education, 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

   Once your qualifying education is complete, Maryland requires you to take an AQB-Approved Trainee Appraiser and Responsibilities Course (4 hours). Before signing up, you’ll need to find a supervisory appraiser who will act as your mentor through completion of your experience hours. (Your supervisory appraiser will also need to complete the AQB Supervisor-Trainee Course if they haven’t already done so.) And finally, you and your supervisor must complete and mail in the Trainee and Supervising Appraiser Verification Form Registration form.

2. 2. Complete Your Maryland Licensed Real Estate Appraiser Education

   After getting your Appraiser Trainee license, it’s time for the next step toward becoming a licensed real estate appraiser: completing 150 hours of Maryland-approved qualifying education. Remember: you’ve already completed 75 of these hours with your trainee license, so only 75 to go – nice work!

   Maryland requires a very specific breakdown of this coursework.

3. 3. Conduct Your Appraisal Work Experience

   Once you have your Appraiser Trainee license, you must conduct at least 1,000 hours of actual appraisal experience. Additionally, 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 you must take no less than six months to complete your 1,000 hours of appraisals. To put things in perspective, if a trainee works around 38 hours per workweek, they will complete their training in a little over six months. If, however, they put in any fewer than 38 hours per week, it would take longer. See our table below for a helpful overview of the timeframes you’d be looking at:  

   Number of Hours Per Week	Length of Time to Complete 1,000 hours
   ≈38 Hours	≈6 Months
   ≈19 Hours	≈12 Months
   ≈13 Hours	≈18 Months
   ≈9 Hours	≈2 Years

   * This must all be completed under the supervision of a certified Maryland appraiser. *

4. 4. Complete the National Uniform Licensing & Certification Examination

   After completing your courses and logging your appraisal experience, you are now eligible to take the National Uniform Licensing & Certification Exam.

   In Maryland, the test is administered by PSI. There is a $100 fee to take the exam, and The Appraisal Foundation has tips on the exam structure and some example questions that you can use to prepare. Additionally, we’ve compiled a few extra pieces of information to help you prepare: 

   • The exam is four to six hours long. Both the Licensed Residential Examination and the Certified Residential Examination take four hours to complete, and the Certified General Examination takes six 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, however, 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 zero and 110 points. Each question carries an equal weight of one 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.

   After you pass the exam, you have two years from the date you took the exam to apply for a license.

5. 5. Submit Your Application

   Now that you’ve passed your exam, it’s time to apply for your license. Here’s a list of what you’ll need to get started:

   We should note that there are some licensing fees associated with getting your original (first-time) appraiser license:

   • Read through the application carefully 
   • Gather all of your supporting documentation (e.g., transcripts; proof of coursework; experience log; etc.)  
   • Be prepared to answer legal background questions, if needed 
   • Prepare the $250 application fee plus the $120 Federal Appraisal Subcommittee National Registry fee

   In Maryland, you can complete the application either online or by email.

Appraiser License Types in Maryland

Maryland recognizes four different levels of appraisal licensure, so it’s important to understand the differences as each has their own unique qualifications. The four license types are:

• Appraiser Trainee
• Licensed Real Estate Appraiser
• Certified Residential Real Estate Appraiser
• Certified General Real Estate Appraiser

Appraiser Trainee:

Like most states, Maryland offers a pilot program for potential appraisers to begin their path toward becoming fully licensed. Known as an appraiser trainee, this is the first level you must achieve before you can become fully licensed and start performing valuation services on real property – including appraising homes – on your own. You must work under the direct supervision of a certified appraiser.

Licensed Real Estate Appraiser:

The next level up is a licensed real estate appraiser. At this level, you can provide appraisal services in transactions with:

• Non-complex 1-4-unit residential properties (transaction value < $1,000,000)
• Complex 1-4-unit residential properties (transaction value < $250,000)
• Commercial properties (transaction value < $250,000)

Here are the requirements to earn this license, at a glance. Later, we dive into the full picture a little deeper.

Certified Residential Real Estate Appraiser:

Certified residential real estate appraisers may provide appraisal services in transactions with:

• 1-4-unit residential properties without regard to value or complexity; and
• Commercial properties (transaction value < $250,000)

Certified General Real Estate Appraiser:

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