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 state licensed real estate appraiser in Tennessee, the best way to start is to get your Registered Trainee license. In order to obtain your trainee license, you need to complete 79 total hours of Tennessee Appraiser Qualifying Education, broken up as follows:

• 30 hours of appraisal principles

• 30 hours of appraisal procedures

• 15 hours of Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP)

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

You must complete all qualifying education prior to the date of submission of a trainee application.

Background Check. In order to apply for your license in Tennessee, you must submit a background check with fingerprints through Identogo. Once you are on their page, select Digital Fingerprinting, and schedule a new appointment. If you are unsure of your service code, select the Department of Commerce and Insurance, and then the applicant type as Real Estate Appraiser Commission. The site will walk you through scheduling. A background check with fingerprinting typically costs $39.15.

Once you’ve met the above requirements, you will need to apply with the Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance for your Registered Trainee license, which requires a $125 fee.

After getting your Registered Trainee license, it’s time for the next step toward becoming a State Licensed Appraiser in Tennessee: 75 additional hours of real estate appraiser education. Tennessee follows course requirements set by the Appraisal Foundation. The Foundation has a thorough guide on these courses for more information.

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

• Under the supervision of a 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 a trainee 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. Here’s a helpful table to give you an overview of the timeframes you’d be looking at:

*This must all be completed under the supervision of a Certified Appraiser—either Residential or General

If the application is accepted, you’ll be sent instructions on how to take the National Uniform Licensing and Certification Examination—the final step before you can apply for your license.

Before moving on to the next step, take a final look through Tennessee’s application requirements for a State Licensed Appraiser to ensure you’ve met them all.

Now that you've completed your education and logged your experience, it’s time to apply for your license. Generally, candidates can expect the entire application process to take one to two weeks. Factors that affect the processing time are the completeness of the application when filed and the number and nature of any character issues or questions with respect to fitness for licensure.

The first step to filling out your application is to create an account on the online portal. The Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance has helpful videos to guide you through the application process on CORE, the portal site.

When you first apply for your license, you’ll need to pay a $405 licensing fee. Then, once you pass the National Exam (the next and final step!), you’ll be asked to pay the $80 National Registry Fee.

After the Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance receives your application and determines it’s complete, you’ll be directed to take the National Uniform Licensing & Certification Exam.

At this point, it’s up to you to schedule your test through PSI Examination Services (PSI), the examination provider for Tennessee. There is a $125 exam fee. For more information, please refer to the Candidate Information Bulletin. Here are a few pieces of information about the exam to help you prepare:

• The exam is four to six hours long. Both the Licensed Appraiser Examination and the Certified Residential Examination take four hours to complete, and the Certified General Examination takes 6 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. In Tennessee, you’re allowed to take the test up to four times.

You get four attempts to pass the exam, and you have to pass the exam within 12 months of your exam approval date; after that, you are required to submit a new application.