Becoming an appraiser in CA, is it more stressful/risky than other states?
Hi! I’m considering a career change and thinking of becoming an appraiser in California (SF Bay Area/Sac).
Both my parents are Certified Appraisers— first in Ohio, and now in Florida where they currently live. They work for themselves under their own company. In Ohio as a teenager I’d ride around with them on appraisals while they inspected foreclosures (very common in Ohio due to poverty), and I used to love walking around the empty houses with them and helping them do inspections. Now in Florida they’re doing less foreclosures but still focused on residential properties rather than commercial.
But surprisingly, they don’t think it’s a good idea for me to become an appraiser, even though it allowed them to climb out of poverty themselves (they also started it as a career change in their 30s/40s).
They keep saying “With California homes being so expensive, you’re more likely to be sued if someone doesn’t agree with the valuation of their home, and California doesn’t protect appraisers like Ohio and Florida does. Plus, you need a college degree now (this wasn’t required when they became appraisers) so you’ll have to invest a lot of time and money before you can even work and make a decent wage from it. And, it’s so hard to find someone to supervise you, even out here it’s hard to find appraisers who are taking apprentices and trainees. If we were appraisers in California we could take you on, but we’re not and we don’t want to be. We hear so many horror stories from appraisers who worked in California and they all say they would never go back.”
My question is: is it really that stressful being an appraiser in California compared to other states? Is it truly that difficult to get started and find someone to take me on as a trainee? I appreciate any feedback anyone has for me! ❤️