How to become a real estate appraiser in Alabama

Becoming a real estate appraiser in Alabama means earning a credential from the Alabama Real Estate Appraisers Board (REAB), the state agency that regulates appraisers under Title 34, Chapter 27A of the Alabama Code. You start as a Trainee Real Property Appraiser: 83 hours of qualifying education plus a supervisor course, a $150 application, and a state exam given by PSI. You then log supervised experience, or complete an approved online alternative program, and upgrade to the credential that fits the property you want to appraise. This page covers what Alabama adds to the national path, which is explained in full in the national guide to becoming a real estate appraiser.

The national path, and what Alabama adds

The shared national path (qualifying education, supervised experience or PAREA, the national exam, and the application to the state board) is covered in the national guide. Alabama follows that framework and adds:

• a fifth credential, the State Registered Real Property Appraiser, which the state created for non-federally related transactions;
• a required exam at the Trainee level, which the national criteria do not include;
• PAREA (Practical Applications of Real Estate Appraisal) as an online alternative to supervised experience, adopted by Board rule in 2025;
• annual renewal on a license-year cycle, with 28 hours of continuing education every two years.

Alabama's five appraiser classifications

Alabama issues five real property appraiser credentials through the REAB: Trainee, State Registered, Licensed, Certified Residential, and Certified General. Under Rule 780-X-9^[1], every person who performs real estate appraisals in Alabama must follow USPAP (the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice), with no differentiation between federally related and non-federally related transactions.

The qualifying education hours for each classification, including the 75 hours for State Registered, come from Rule 780-X-3^[2], and the education prerequisites differ by level. The Licensed classification requires only a high school diploma or its equivalent, while Certified Residential requires a college-level option and Certified General requires a Bachelor's degree (both detailed below).

The experience minimums come from Rules 780-X-6-.03, 780-X-6-.04, and 780-X-6-.05^[3] of the Alabama Administrative Code. For the State Registered credential, the Board awards points by property type under Chapter 780-X-6^[4]: one point per one-unit dwelling, two points per two-to-four-unit dwelling, and half a point per residential lot, with 100 points required.

Two scope details set Alabama apart. The State Registered Real Property Appraiser is a state-created classification below the national credential levels, and holders do not appear on the federal Appraiser Registry because trainee-level credentials are not federally recognized, according to the Appraisal Subcommittee's FAQ^[5]. Alabama's Licensed scope is also more restrictive than the national minimum for complex transactions: the AQB criteria effective January 1, 2026^[6] allow complex 1-4 unit residential work up to $400,000, while Alabama caps it at $250,000.

Meet Alabama's qualifying education requirements

A Trainee applicant completes 83 hours of coursework plus a separate supervisor course, all within the five years before applying. Under Rule 780-X-3-.06, amended effective January 10, 2026, the 83 hours break down as:

• Basic Appraisal Principles (30 hours)
• Basic Appraisal Procedures (30 hours)
• the 15-hour National USPAP course
• Valuation Bias and Fair Housing Laws and Regulations (8 hours)

The amendment that added the 8-hour Valuation Bias course brought Alabama in line with the criteria the Appraiser Qualifications Board (AQB) set for January 1, 2026, and superseded the 75-hour Trainee curriculum printed in the Board's checklist dated March 13, 2023. The supervisor course, oriented to the responsibilities of supervisory appraisers and trainees, is required in addition to the 83 hours before the Trainee license is issued. USPAP courses must be taught by an AQB-certified instructor.

For upgrades, Rule 780-X-3^[2] sets 150 hours for the Licensed classification (including the 8-hour Valuation Bias course if you did not take it as a Trainee, and a USPAP course completed within the 24 months before you file), 200 hours including 12 hours of electives for Certified Residential, and 300 hours including 22 hours of electives for Certified General. The AQB's 2026 chart lists 158 hours for the State Licensed level, so Alabama's rule figure sits below the national number. Education already approved for one classification never has to be repeated for a higher one.

Certified Residential applicants must meet a college-level option: a Bachelor's degree in any field from an institution accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools or an equivalent accreditor, an Associate's degree in business administration, accounting, finance, economics, or real estate, 30 semester hours of specified college courses, 30 hours of CLEP exams, or a combination. An appraiser licensed at the Licensed classification for at least five years, with no disciplinary action in the five years before applying, is exempt from the college requirement. Certified General requires a Bachelor's degree or higher.

Take courses only from providers on the list of approved appraisal schools and courses^[7] the Board publishes. Tuition varies by provider and package length.

Apply for your Trainee license

You apply online through the Board's portal with the "Application for an Initial Appraiser License," or on paper with a typewritten, notarized application, a photograph taken within the last six months, your course completion certificates, and the application fee. Course providers do not send certificates to the Board, so you attach them yourself.

Alabama's appraiser application does not include a fingerprint-based background check. Instead, under the Beason-Hammon Alabama Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act, you submit a legible photocopy of a driver's license, passport, or non-driver identification as proof of citizenship, plus five signed references, per the Board's application information^[8]. Trainee applicants may use non-appraiser references.

After the Board receives a Trainee application, staff review it, the Director approves it, and the applicant's information is uploaded to PSI. The Board then emails an exam approval letter and the PSI handbook. Trainees who are not registered under a Mentor are placed in Inactive status until the Trainee/Mentor registration form arrives.

The fees are set by Rule 780-X-4^[9], effective August 1, 2018. No application or exam fees are refundable, and the Board takes checks and money orders but no cash.

The exam fee is paid separately to PSI. The $40 National Registry fee, required for the three federally recognized classifications, is the annual registry charge the Appraisal Subcommittee set under a 2010 Federal Register notice^[10], and the Board collects it with the license fee.

Applications postmarked complete, with correct fees, are measured against the criteria in effect on the postmark date. Upgrade applications must reach the Board at least 45 days before the next scheduled Board meeting, and they are not processed until the Trainee experience log review is complete. The Board does not publish a processing time, so plan upgrades around the 45-day meeting cycle. The Board office is at 100 N Union Street, Suite 370, Montgomery, and answers application questions at 334-242-8747.

Pass the Alabama appraiser exam

Every Alabama credential, including the Trainee license, requires an exam administered by PSI Services LLC at $83 per attempt. The Trainee exam is a state addition: the AQB criteria set no exam at the trainee level, but the Board sends approved trainee applicants to PSI, and you must pass before the license is issued.

According to the PSI candidate bulletin^[11], every Alabama appraiser exam has 110 scored questions, and passing takes a scaled score of 75 on a scale of 0 to 110. You receive your score immediately after finishing.

You have 24 months from Board approval to pass, with unlimited retakes inside that window, per the Board's licensing checklist^[12]. After the 24 months expire, you must submit a new application and fees.

Register through PSI's Alabama appraiser site or by phone at 800-345-6559. Test centers operate in Athens, Birmingham, Cullman, Daleville, Huntsville, Mobile, and Montgomery. Bring one signed, valid photo ID and your own financial calculator, and reschedule at least 2 days before your date to avoid forfeiting the fee. After passing, send the original score report to the Board with the license fee and the Trainee/Mentor registration form.

Register with a Mentor and log your experience

A Trainee in Alabama may accept assignments only from a Board-approved supervisor, called a Mentor, and every experience hour must be recorded in a log the Mentor reviews and signs each month.

To qualify as a Mentor, an appraiser must hold the Certified Residential or Certified General classification and have been certified for at least 3 years, with no license revocation, suspension, probation, or disciplinary action in the 3 years before applying, under Rule 780-X-9^[1]. The Mentor must complete a Board-approved Trainee and Supervisory course before supervising, and the application must include two typical sample appraisals completed within the prior 6 months plus a one-time $200 Mentor status fee. A Mentor may supervise at most three Trainees at once, and a Trainee may have up to three Mentors unless the Board approves unique circumstances. The Board's public portal lists approved Mentors under its Entities search, so you can confirm a supervisor's standing before you commit.

In the field, the Mentor must accompany you on inspections of the subject and comparable properties in at least your first 50 assignments and until you are competent, and may not assign a subject property more than 50 miles from the Mentor's office unless the Mentor accompanies you and shares equally in data collection. You must work out of the Mentor's office, and you and the Mentor must each tell the Board of the relationship within 10 days and of its termination within 10 days. A Trainee with no registered Mentor stays in Inactive status but must still complete continuing education and pay renewal fees to remain in good standing.

The Board's Experience Hours Handbook^[13] sets the credit rules: no credit for residential appraisals without an interior inspection of the subject, a 10-hour cap per one-unit dwelling, 20 hours per two-to-four-unit dwelling, and 5 hours per residential lot. Restricted appraisal reports cannot exceed 25% of the required hours, and review appraisals earn 20% of the hours awarded to the original appraisal, up to 200 review hours per year.

Before you apply to upgrade, you submit the experience log with a $125 fee for examination of the appraisal samples, and the Board selects a representative sample of your appraisals to check USPAP compliance. Submit the log when you have accumulated 500 hours toward the Licensed classification, 750 hours toward Certified Residential, or 1,500 hours toward Certified General. The same review applies before a State Registered application.

Using PAREA instead of supervised experience

Yes. Effective May 15, 2025, the Board adopted rules that let aspiring appraisers meet the experience requirement for the Licensed and Certified Residential credentials through PAREA, an online alternative to the supervisor and trainee model, according to the Board's PAREA notice^[14]. Two conditions apply: you must hold an Alabama license before you begin the program, and partial completion earns no credit. Under Chapter 780-X-6^[4], a State Licensed PAREA certificate counts for 1,000 hours and a Certified Residential PAREA certificate counts for 500 hours, and Certified General applicants may use PAREA only for residential hours. The AQB has approved the Appraisal Institute's PAREA program for both paths, and scholarships are available through The Appraisal Foundation.

Renew your Alabama appraiser license and complete continuing education

Alabama renews appraiser licenses every year on a license-year cycle, with fees payable in September and 28 hours of continuing education due every two years. Online renewal for each new license year opens August 1, and no renewals are accepted before that date, per the Board's renewal page^[15].

The annual license fee is $335 for Trainee and State Registered appraisers and $375 for the Licensed, Certified Residential, and Certified General classifications, the $375 including the registry fee, per the Board's reciprocity and fee schedule^[16]. Pay by October 31. After that date a $250 delinquent charge applies, and performing appraisals is illegal until all fees are paid, as the 2026-2027 renewal notice^[17] states.

The continuing education requirement is 28 hours every two years, including at least 7 hours of the National USPAP Update course taught by an AQB-certified instructor, with at least one instructor of the class a state certified appraiser, under Rule 780-X-12^[18]. For the 2026-2027 cycle, CE runs from October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2027, with transcripts filed in September 2027. For any renewal after January 1, 2026, you must also complete a Valuation Bias and Fair Housing course every two calendar years: 7 hours the first time, with the qualifying-education version counting, and at least 4 hours every two years thereafter.

If you need to pause practice, inactive status requires an application before October 1, a $175 fee each year, and all CE due for the current year. Inactive status lasts at most three renewal cycles, after which the license closes and cannot be reinstated, so a new application is required.

Reciprocity and temporary practice permits

An appraiser licensed in good standing in another state can obtain an Alabama reciprocal license without taking the Alabama exam, or work a single assignment under a temporary practice permit.

For a reciprocal license, non-resident applicants licensed and in good standing in a program created under the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act (FIRREA) do not sit for the Alabama exam, per Rule 780-X-3^[2]. You file an irrevocable consent appointing the Board's executive director as your agent for service of process, a certification under seal from your home state showing license type, number, dates, and disciplinary record, and an original Letter of Good Standing. Spouses of active-duty military personnel and of transitioning service members are exempt from the license fee with the initial reciprocal license under the Alabama Military Family Jobs Opportunity Act.

The temporary practice permit, governed by Rule 780-X-11^[19], is effective for one specific appraisal assignment, with 6 months to complete it and one written 6-month extension available. The Board limits each appraiser to five temporary permits in a 12-month period, and permit holders must affix the notation "Practicing in the State of Alabama under Temporary Permit No....." to all appraisals for use in Alabama. The permit fee is set by the Board.

Your first steps in Alabama

Start at the Board's website and work forward:

1. Check the Board's education page for approved schools, and enroll in the full Trainee curriculum plus the supervisor course.
2. File the initial license application with your certificates, proof of citizenship, and references, then pass the PSI Trainee exam.
3. Submit your score report with the license fee and the Trainee/Mentor registration form, or plan a PAREA program once you hold the Alabama license.
4. Log experience under your Mentor, submit the log for review with the sample examination fee, and file the upgrade application in time for a Board meeting.

The Board office is at 100 N Union Street, Suite 370, Montgomery, Alabama, and answers application questions at 334-242-8747.