As a commercial appraiser, you are essentially solving a new puzzle every day; no day is the same as the last. However, it is immensely rewarding to find a job where you feel like you fit— and if you are a true logic sherlock, maybe commercial appraisal is right for you. The highly lucrative real estate and appraisal industry is growing, so now might just be your time to shine. If you are considering a commercial appraisal career, it is vital to know the top four career obstacles of a commercial appraiser.

Obstacle 1: Multiple Barriers to Entry for Commercial Appraisals

The largest obstacle for commercial appraisers is the vast barriers to entry in the industry. First, in order to be considered for a license in most states, you have to have college credentials. For specific appraisals, you can get by with a two-year associate degree, but most appraisals require a bachelor’s degree as well. Once you have your university degree, you can work on your certifications, including over 15 hours of courses and tests. After this, you must submit to work while supervised until you have enough credible experience to submit your work for review. 

Obstacle 2: Expanding Regulations for Commercial Appraisals

Our world is continuously changing, and although many of the recent laws and regulations are directed towards residential appraisals— many extend to commercial appraisals as well. The appraisal industry is heavily regulated, which makes this problematic since not all commercial appraisals are the same. Real estate, in its own right, is diversified, meaning that appraisals are as well. There are many federal and state regulations for commercial appraisals, and they change regularly. As a commercial appraiser, it is essential to have tabs on the changing regulations. 

Obstacle 3: Commercial Appraisals Take TIME

On average, commercial appraisals take three to four weeks, but several delays can make a commercial appraisal take much longer. Commercial appraisals often require a financial institution to hire an appraiser, which means you are already working on another business’s timeline. If there are changes or updates to construction plans, costs, or specifications, this can cause significant delays. 

If you are waiting on relevant documents, such as proformas or financial statements, this can cause even more delays. As a commercial appraiser, this often means that your paycheck is over five weeks out, which causes issues with managing cash flow. 

Obstacle 4: Communication is Tough for Commercial Appraisals

In all aspects of real estate, communication is at the epicenter of the process. Since appraisals require you to wait on information from clients, financial institutions, and third parties, this can increase the amount of time that the appraisal process takes. For every appraisal, the financial institution must provide the appraiser an accurate description of the commercial property, an up-to-date work scope, and a point of contact for the project. This is commonly where you run into the first roadblock for appraisals: getting the wrong contact person or information. Coupling this with a growing influence of lenders on this process, appraisers often do not get all of the information they need. Running an appraisal can often fall on the appraiser to track down the right contact and push financial institutions to gather the appropriate information. 

Archstone Group is an appraisal company that works to fight these career obstacles for appraisers. By teaming with industry leaders and independent businesses, leveraging technology and data, and cultivating trust with our clients, Archstone is changing the industry of commercial appraisals. Archstone Appraisal Group has U.S. offices in Washington D.C., Boston, West Virginia, and Idaho. Additionally, we maintain a network of over 200 experts devoted exclusively to valuation and consulting services in more than 40 countries.

We work with Global Companies, Portfolio Managers, Equity LPs, and GPs, CFOs or Accounting departments, Attorneys, Property Owners, Lenders, Government Entities, and Nonprofits.