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

Qualifying Education. Before you can become a licensed residential appraiser in Nebraska, you’ll need to complete 75 hours total of Nebraska Appraiser Qualifying Education (QE), 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, or an equivalent course

You’ll also need to complete a 4-hour Appraiser Trainee/Supervisory Appraiser Course. Before signing up for the course, you need to find a supervisory appraiser who will act as your mentor through completion of your experience hours (Step 3).

All Qualifying Education must be approved by the Appraiser Qualifications Board (AQB) and the Nebraska Real Property Appraiser Board. You must complete all Qualifying Education prior to submitting your trainee appraiser application.

Before applying for your license, take a moment to read through Nebraska’s trainee appraiser application requirements.

Once you’ve met all of the above requirements, you can apply for your Trainee Real Property Appraiser license by submitting a paper application. There is a $195.25 application fee.

After becoming a Nebraska trainee appraiser, it’s time for the next step toward becoming a licensed residential appraiser: 150 total hours of Appraisal Foundation-approved appraiser education. Take a look at the breakdown of coursework. (Please Note: You’ve already satisfied 75 of these hours through your Trainee Real Property Appraiser license – nice work!)

Once you’ve finished your education, you must conduct and log at least 1,000 hours of actual appraisal experience. Those 1,000 hours must be completed:

• Under the supervision of an endorsed certified appraiser; and

• Over a period of at least six months.

This means that you must take no less than six months to complete your 1,000 hours of appraisal experience. To put things in perspective, if an apprentice works 40 hours per workweek, they will complete their training in a little over six months. If, however, they put in any fewer than 40 hours per week, it would take longer.

You can search Nebraska’s Supervisory Appraiser Contact List to find certified residential and general appraisers who are approved to mentor trainees.

Once you’ve completed your appraiser education and experience requirements, you’ll need to submit proof of completion to the Nebraska Real Property Appraiser Board for verification. Once approved, the board will notify you that you can schedule your licensing exam.

After the Nebraska Real Property Appraiser Board approves your education and experience, you can take the National Uniform Licensing & Certification Exam. You will receive a candidate handbook and instructions for contacting the testing company to schedule your exam. The Appraisal Foundation publishes tips on the exam structure that can help you prepare. Here’s an overview:

• The exam is four hours long. The Licensed Residential Examination can take up to four 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 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 0 and 110 points. Each question carries an equal weight of 1 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 passing your exam, it’s time to apply for your license. Generally, candidates can expect this process to take up to six weeks, but it may vary.

To apply, you'll need to complete the application and submit it to the Nebraska Real Property Appraiser Board. There is a $215.25 fee to apply, which includes the fee for fingerprinting and your background check. More info on this process can be found here. After your application has been approved, you’ll need to pay a $320 credentialing fee as well as a $40 National Registry fee.

Nebraska appraiser licenses are valid for two years after an initial one-year renewal period. Continuing Education (CE) must be completed during every renewal period.