Upcoming Real Estate Appraisal Licenses Courses
Introduction
IMPORTANT CHANGES OF APPRAISER CRITERIA IN SC
Continuing Education
Examination
Qualifying Education
College Course Requirements
Classroom Hours
Required Core Curriculum
This guide will explain how to get your South Carolina Appraisal License. Let's start from the beginning. Labor License and regulations (LLR) regulates
South Carolina Appraisal licenses.
LLR regulates the appraisal industry in South Carolina . They handle complaints and issue the curriculum for all appraisal related education in the state
of South Carolina . The Real Estate School for Success has the best instructors, material, facilities, and additional business services to assist you
throughout your appraisal career. We take pride in making appraisal classes fun, entertaining, and of course educational. But don't take my word for it
read our student testimonials and find out what they think about us. The South
Carolina Real Estate School for Success prides itself on its high students satisfaction rating. But enough about us, how do you get a South Carolina
appraisal license?
Board Purpose
The Board establishes qualifications for appraiser certification, licensure and registration; administers examinations; investigates complaints; provides
discipline; and regulates all other matters pertaining to the conduct and activities of real estate appraisers through the effective administration of the
Real Estate Appraisers Act and Regulations.
IMPORTANT CHANGES OF APPRAISER CRITERIA IN SC
There are major components of the education, examination, and continuing education
criteria for which appraisers in South Carolina should be aware.
Continuing Education
The continuing education requirement of the equivalent of fourteen class hours each year
remains unchanged. In addition, the requirement that individuals must complete the 7-hour National USPAP Course every two years as part of the overall
fourteen class hour requirement. There is pending legislation to go to a biennial (two year) renewal cycle to enable appraisers to accumulate 28- hours of
continuing education credit over a two year period.
Examination
All individuals seeking to become a State Licensed, State Certified Residential or State Certified General appraiser must successfully pass an examination
administered by the jurisdiction awarding the credential. The examination requirements have not changed; although, it should be noted that the AQB is in
the process of developing new Uniform State Appraiser Examinations, which will be implemented concurrently with the effective
date of the new Criteria which is January 1, 2008.
Qualifying Education
The most significant changes in the new Criteria relate to qualifying education. The changes fall into the following categories:
1. There are college- level course requirements for the Certified Residential and Certified General classifications;
2. The required number of classroom hours in appraisal education has increased significantly in all three licensure classifications; and
3. There are minimum classroom hours of coverage requirements for specific topic areas, which are known as modules.
Please Note: The question that has been raised on several occasions as to the affect the new Criteria will have on current licensed and certified
appraisers in South Carolina . As long as licensed and certified appraisers maintain their current credential, the Criteria changes should not have any
effect on these appraisers. Those impacted will be:
1. Individuals entering the profession;
2. Individuals seeking a different credential within South Carolina ;
3. Possibly those seeking a credential in another jurisdiction through reciprocity.
College Course Requirements
For the first time, there are now college- level course requirements for the certified classifications. Certified Residential: Associates degree or higher;
in any field of study; or, in lieu of the required degree, twenty-one (21) semester credit hours covering the following subject matter courses: English
Composition; Principles of Economics (Micro or Macro); Finance; Algebra, Geometry or, higher mathematics; Statistics; Introduction to Computers; Word
Processing/Spreadsheets; and Business or Real Estate Law. Certified General: Bachelors degree or higher in any field of study; or, in lieu of the required
degree, thirty (30) semester credit hours covering the following subject matter courses: English Composition; Principles of Economics (Micro or Macro);
Finance; Algebra, Geometry or higher mathematics; Statistics; Introduction to Computers; Word Processing/Spreadsheets; Business or Real Estate Law; and two
(2) elective courses in accounting, geography, agricultural economics, business management, or real estate.
Classroom Hours
In addition to the college- level course requirements, the appraisal education classroom hour requirement has increased for the State Licensed, State
Certified Residential and State Certified General classifications. The Trainee (Appraiser Apprentice) classification remains unchanged at 75 classroom
hours. The number of appraisal education classroom hours to become a State Licensed appraiser has increased from 90 to 150 hours; Certified Residential has
increased from 120 hours to 200 hours; and, Certified General classification has increased from 180 hours to 300 hours.
Required Core Curriculum
At the present time, individuals seeking to become an appraiser may select courses covering material in topic areas approved by the SC Real Estate
Appraisers Board in the licensing or certification categories designated as L-1, L-2, L-3, CR, C-1, C-2, or C-3 Level Courses. Because not all states
subscribed to this "grid level" system of organizing suitable content topic areas there has been considerable inconsistencies in the education received by
appraisers holding similar credentials in other jurisdictions. The emphasis in other states has been on the total number of classroom hours, rather than on
the amount of coverage in specific topics.
The AQB has now created a Required Core Curriculum for each appraiser classification. Examples of Required Core Curriculum modules include Basic Appraisal
Principles, Basic Appraisal Procedures, Residential Market Analysis and Highest and Best Use, and the National USPAP Course. Accompanying the listing of
modules is the specific number of classroom hours for each module. It is important to note that these modules are subject matter areas and not necessarily
the names of courses. The AQB has issued information in the form of a publication to assist in understanding the expected content coverage under each
module. The publication is entitled, A Guide For Understanding The 2008 Real Property Appraiser Qualification Criteria, and can be obtained at The
Appraisal Foundation website:
www.appraisalfoundation.org
The South Carolina Real Estate Appraisers Board has adopted the "Segmented Scenario" in implementing the Criteria changes. Segmented Scenario The requirements are broken down into three segments (or components): Education, Experience, and Examination. An
applicant would have to meet the Criteria in effect at the time he or she completes a particular component or segment. Any component completed
prior to January 1, 2008, would satisfy the current Criteria, while any component not completed by January 1, 2008, would have to conform to the
new Criteria. For example, an applicant for a Certified General designation completes all of the currently required 180 hours of qualifying
education and passes the State Certified General examination in 2007, but does not possess the required 30 months and 3,000 hours of experience. Since the
applicant completed the education and examination prior to January 1, 2008, he or she would be deemed to have satisfied those two components. Therefore,
the only component which the applicant would have to satisfy under the new Criteria would be experience (which, in this case, is no different than
the current Criteria).
Keeping Abreast Of Changes
For appraisers to keep abreast of the changes in the industry on both the state and federal level it is critical that appraisal practitioners to check
periodically the LLR Real Estate Appraisers Board website:
www.llr.state.sc.us/POL/RealEstateAppraisers
