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Appraiser licensure/certification experience requirements and definitions appear in Parts I and II of the Real Estate Appraiser Board Regulations. Appraisal experience is measured in verifiable hours spent performing traditional appraisal assignments or other appraisal tasks as defined in the regulations. Each appraisal assignment must be reported separately on the Real Estate Appraiser Experience Log.
The Board grants maximum experience hours per appraisal assignment, based on each assignment's "Property Type" and "Value Range," as outlined in the two Board-approved experience charts:
The Board reserves the right to request written reports or file memoranda to verify each experience assignment claim.
Minimum Experience Requirements
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Licensed Residential Real Estate Appraiser License
- 1,000 hours of appraisal experience obtained in no less than 6 months.
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Certified Residential Real Estate Appraiser License
- 1,500 hours of appraisal experience obtained in no less than 12 months.
- Applicants seeking to upgrade from Licensed Residential to Certified Residential MUST submit a NEW Experience Log demonstrating these hours.
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Certified General Real Estate Appraiser License
- 3,000 hours of appraisal experience obtained in no less than 18 months.
- 1,500 hours of the 3,000 hours must be in non-residential appraisal assignments.
- Applicants seeking to upgrade from Certified Residential to Certified General MUST submit a NEW Experience Log demonstrating these hours.
“Review Appraisal Experience” shall not constitute more than 1,000 hours of experience claimed, and at least 50% of the review appraisal experience claimed must be in-field review where the individual has personally inspected the property.
“Real Estate Consulting Appraisal Experience” shall not constitute more than 500 hours of experience claimed.
Ad Valorem Tax Appraisal Experience Requirements
All ad valorem tax appraisal experience on an applicant’s Experience Log must include an Experience Verification Statement from the applicant’s supervisor or employer. Applicants employed by an appraisal firm must also submit a document from the Virginia Department of Taxation verifying the applicant’s supervisor is certified to perform the assessment or reassessment of real property pursuant to § 58.1-3258.1 of the Code of Virginia.
Experience Verification Statements must include the following:
- Applicant’s Name;
- Applicant’s Employment Dates;
- Supervisor/Employer’s Statement Verifying Ad Valorem Tax Experience Claimed on the Experience Log; and
- Supervisor/Employer’s Name, Title, Address, and Telephone Number.
After the Board reviews your License Application and Experience Log for compliance with minimum education and experience requirements, staff will mail you a letter requesting five specific sample appraisal reports that will be reviewed by the Board for USPAP compliance.
Applicants claiming only ad valorem tax appraisal experience must submit the following items in addition to the five specific sample appraisal reports:
- A one-to-three-page description of the methods and techniques employed to produce and communicate credible appraisals within the context of the real property tax laws.
- Licensed Residential and Certified Residential applicants must submit two residential property fee/staff appraisals completed on a Uniform Residential Appraisal Report (URAR) form, under the supervision of a Virginia certified real estate appraiser. The applicant does not need to be employed by the certified real estate appraiser.
- Certified General applicants must submit two commercial property narrative appraisal reports (under the supervision of a Virginia certified general real estate appraiser) as though the reports are being prepared for a private sector client. Both reports must demonstrate the use of the income approach. The applicant does not need to be employed by the certified general real estate appraiser.
Reciprocal License Applicants may be required to submit experience verification and sample appraisal reports if the applicant’s base state’s licensure requirements are not substantially equivalent to those in Virginia.
