How to Become a Real Estate Appraiser in Louisiana

To become a real estate appraiser in Louisiana, you register as an Appraiser Trainee with the Louisiana Real Estate Appraisers Board (LREAB), complete 83 hours of qualifying education plus a 4-hour supervisor/trainee course, and work under a certified supervisory appraiser until you meet the experience requirement for the credential you want. Louisiana adopts the national criteria the Appraiser Qualifications Board (AQB) set effective January 1, 2026 without adding education hours of its own, so the work that is specific to the state is the trainee registration, the supervision rules, the exam through Pearson VUE, and a two-year renewal cycle with 28 hours of continuing education.

How Louisiana regulates real estate appraisers

The Louisiana Real Estate Appraisers Board issues every appraiser credential in the state and operates under the umbrella of the Louisiana Real Estate Commission, per the ASC's Louisiana program profile^[1]. Under the Louisiana Real Estate Appraisers Law (La. R.S. 37:3391 et seq.)^[2], the state issues three license classes, Licensed Residential, Certified Residential, and Certified General, plus two registration classes, Trainee Appraiser and Supervisory Appraiser. The federal Appraisal Subcommittee (ASC) reviewed the program in August 2025 and awarded a finding of "Excellent," with 1,329 state-credentialed appraisers on the Appraiser Registry^[3]: 719 Certified General, 610 Certified Residential, and 7 Licensed Residential. The board's office is at 9071 Interline Avenue in Baton Rouge, and its phone number is 225-925-1923.

The national path, in brief

The parent guide to this page, "How to Become a Real Estate Appraiser: Licensing Steps and Requirements," explains the path every state shares: qualifying education, supervised experience or its PAREA alternative, the national exam, and the state application. Louisiana follows those steps in that order and matches the AQB hour counts at every level, so this page covers only what the state adds: the trainee registration with the board, its supervision rules, its fees and exam logistics through Pearson VUE, and its renewal requirements.

Registering as an appraiser trainee

Louisiana trainees register with the state before performing appraisal work, and registration requires 83 hours of qualifying education completed within the 5 years immediately before you apply. Per the LREAB trainee requirements page^[4], the 83 hours follow the Required Core Curriculum: Basic Appraisal Principles, Basic Appraisal Procedures, Valuation Bias and Fair Housing Laws and Regulations, and the 15-Hour National USPAP Course, which ends with a required exam. The 75-hour total printed in the Pearson VUE candidate handbook from July 2024 predates the AQB criteria effective January 1, 2026 and is superseded.

Two further requirements attach to the registration. First, both you and your proposed supervisor must complete the 4-hour supervisor/trainee course required by the Appraisal Subcommittee of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), and the board states this course is not creditable^[4] toward the 83 hours. Second, you must submit the Appraiser Trainee Registration Application, signed by the proposed supervisory appraiser, with a $245 fee, per the board's Appraiser Trainee Checklist (Rev. 02/26)^[5]. No experience is required to register, and there is no exam beyond the end-of-course exams in each qualifying course. RealEstateU offers the trainee qualifying education online, covering the Required Core Curriculum courses.

Every applicant undergoes the background screening the AQB mandates and the board prescribes; an applicant previously convicted of a felony must contact the board's Regulatory Compliance staff at info@lreab.gov before applying. Trainee registrations renew every two years.

Working under a supervisory appraiser

A supervisory appraiser in Louisiana must be a Certified Residential or Certified General appraiser who has been licensed and in good standing for at least three years, with no disciplinary action affecting legal eligibility to practice within the last three years in any jurisdiction. The supervisor must register with the board for each trainee supervised and may supervise no more than three trainees at one time, in all states, under LAC 46:LXVII.10308^[6]. A trainee may have more than one supervisor, and a separate experience log must be maintained for each.

The supervision rules are specific. The supervisor must personally inspect each appraised property with the trainee until satisfied the trainee is competent to inspect alone, must review and sign every trainee report, and must keep those reports for at least five years. Each joint log must record the property type, report date, address, description of the work performed, actual work hours, and the supervisor's signature and state certification number, per the LREAB trainee page^[4]. No more than 50% of experience credit hours can be awarded for appraisal review under LAC 46:LXVII.10315.C.

The credentials Louisiana issues and what each requires

Louisiana matches the AQB criteria effective January 1, 2026 at every level, adding no education hours of its own. The LREAB Licensed Residential page^[7], the LREAB Certified Residential page^[8], and the LREAB Certified General page^[9] state the requirements:

The 158 hours for Licensed Residential took effect January 1, 2026; the 150-hour figure in the July 2024 Pearson VUE handbook reflects the pre-2026 AQB minimum and is superseded. A trainee reaches the Licensed Residential total by adding 75 hours of residential coursework, covering Residential Market Analysis and Highest and Best Use, Residential Site Valuation and Cost Approach, Residential Sales Comparison and Income Approaches, and Residential Report Writing and Case Studies, per the LREAB Licensed Residential page^[7].

Certified Residential applicants can satisfy the college-level requirement in several ways, per the LREAB Certified Residential page^[8]: a bachelor's degree in any field; an associate degree in business administration, accounting, finance, economics, or real estate; 30 semester hours of specified college courses; 30 semester hours of CLEP exams in those subjects; or a combination. A licensee who has held the Licensed Residential credential for at least five years with no adverse, final, non-appealable disciplinary action can qualify for Certified Residential without the college requirement. Foreign degrees may be evaluated for equivalency by an accredited domestic institution or a NACES-member credential evaluation service.

Upgrade paths add fewer hours than starting over. Moving from trainee to Certified Residential requires 117 additional hours, Licensed Residential to Certified Residential requires 42, Certified Residential to Certified General requires 100, and trainee to Certified General requires 217, per the LREAB Certified General page^[9]. Appraisers who use the Valuation Bias and Fair Housing course to meet a qualifying education requirement for an upgrade must also pass the course's required 1-hour exam through the same provider; the 7-hour continuing education version alone does not satisfy qualifying education, under the board's March 2026 notice to upgrading appraisers^[10].

Using PAREA instead of supervised experience

Louisiana accepts Practical Applications of Real Estate Appraisal (PAREA) in place of supervised experience for both residential credentials. Under R.S. 37:3399 (2022)^[2], an applicant may submit an official PAREA program completion certificate to evidence all the experience needed for licensure as a Licensed Residential or Certified Residential appraiser, and must obtain board approval before conducting appraisal activity. The AQB criteria effective January 1, 2026 let PAREA supply 100% of required experience for those two credentials and 50% for Certified General, with no credit toward the non-residential hours that credential requires, per the AQB 2026 criteria chart^[11]. PAREA programs are run by independent education organizations the AQB approves, and The Appraisal Foundation's PAREA page^[12] tracks which states accept it.

Taking the Louisiana appraiser exam

You apply to the board first, and Pearson VUE administers the exam only after the board approves you. Once the LREAB confirms your education and experience, Pearson VUE emails an authorization to test^[13], which is valid for one year and allows unlimited attempts within that year; if you do not finish testing within the year, you must resubmit an initial application and fee to the LREAB.

Each exam costs $130 for the first attempt and $145 for each repeat attempt, paid to Pearson VUE at reservation. Every exam has 125 questions, with 4 hours allotted for Licensed Residential and Certified Residential and 6 hours for Certified General.

The retake rules come from two sources. An applicant who fails may retake by submitting the fail notice and a new examination processing fee to the board within 90 days of the failed test date; after one year, a new application and all prescribed fees are required, under LAC 46:LXVII.10303^[6]. And an applicant not licensed within two years after passing the exam must retake it, under the Louisiana Real Estate Appraisers Law^[2].

Logistics are set by the vendor. Reservations must be made online at least 24 hours in advance, walk-ins are not available, and a change or cancellation requires 48 hours' notice or the exam fee is forfeited. Non-alpha programmable calculators such as the HP12C are permitted if you bring the instruction manual so the memory can be cleared. Louisiana test centers operate in Baton Rouge (two locations), Metairie, New Orleans, Shreveport, Alexandria, Bossier City, Lafayette, Lake Charles, and Natchitoches. The state also publishes a Louisiana appraiser content outline for the Certified Residential and Certified General exams^[14], effective for exams taken on or after January 1, 2022, covering the real estate market, the three approaches to value, reconciliation, USPAP, and statistical methods.

What getting licensed costs in Louisiana

The board charges most of its fees as a single $245 payment, and the exam is billed separately by Pearson VUE. The fee schedule below comes from the board's current forms^[5], the LREAB renewal page^[15], and the statutory caps in R.S. 37:3407^[2]:

The $245 application fee charged on the board's current forms is consistent with the caps in R.S. 37:3407^[2]: a $200 license application fee, a $20 research and education fund charge per two-year license, and a $25 processing fee. All fees submitted to the board are nonrefundable, the application fee covers no more than two calendar years, and it is not prorated, under the board's rules^[6]. The National Registry fee of up to $40 per year is set by 12 U.S.C. 3338^[16]. The required background screening and fingerprinting are paid separately. Education itself is priced by the provider; plan on the 83-hour trainee package costing in the hundreds to low thousands of dollars.

Renewal, continuing education, and late renewal

Louisiana appraiser credentials run on a two-year cycle that ends December 31, and renewals must be received or postmarked on or before December 31 to be on time. Licenses are issued for two years and expire on the second December 31 after issuance, and Louisiana credential expiration dates fall on December 31 of odd years, per the ASC credential counts page^[17]. The renewal period opens October 1, and you can renew online through the MyLREAB portal or by paper, per the LREAB renewal page^[15]. A license not renewed by January 1 is expired, and practicing after expiration violates the law.

Each cycle requires 28 hours of board-approved continuing education, under R.S. 37:3408^[2]. Two mandatory courses are counted within, not on top of, the 28 hours: the 7-Hour National USPAP Update Course and the 7-Hour Valuation Bias and Fair Housing Laws and Regulations Course, per the LREAB continuing education page^[18]. The Valuation Bias course is a one-time initial requirement; once completed, the requirement drops to 4 hours for each subsequent cycle. No credit is granted for courses shorter than two instructional hours, and courses completed for a real estate license continuing education requirement generally do not count toward appraisal CE. All CE certificates must be uploaded as one PDF at renewal. USPAP is updated in January of even-numbered years, and the board typically schedules at least two presentations of the USPAP update course each year to help licensees meet the requirement, per its USPAP page^[19].

Late renewal carries a staged penalty: a $25 delinquent fee applies during the first delinquent period, January 1 through February 15, and a $100 delinquent fee applies during the second delinquent period, February 16 through June 30, per the LREAB renewal page^[15]. A licensee may renew during the six-month period after the license lapses; beyond that window, the former licensee must apply as an initial applicant.

Reciprocity, non-resident applicants, and temporary practice

Louisiana grants reciprocal licenses by written agreement with states whose requirements the board finds substantially equivalent. Under R.S. 37:3401.D (2012, Act 429)^[20], the board may enter a reciprocal agreement allowing a resident applicant certified in that jurisdiction to obtain a Louisiana license. There is no blanket reciprocity: an appraiser from a state without such an agreement must complete the same licensing process as a Louisiana resident, including testing and experience review, per the board's non-resident page^[21].

One rule eases the path for out-of-state licensees. An applicant currently licensed and in good standing in a state approved by the ASC is deemed to satisfy the experience requirements for the same level of licensure in Louisiana, with the documentation the board requires, under LAC 46:LXVII.10309.E^[6].

Appraisers from other states who need to work a single Louisiana assignment can use a temporary practice license. The fee is $150, the license is granted for the specific assignment described in the application, and the privileges expire when the assignment is complete, with written extension possible, under LAC 46:LXVII.10319^[6].

The National Registry and FHA roster work

Trainee credentials are not federally recognized, so Louisiana trainees do not appear on the ASC National Registry; only State Licensed, Certified Residential, and Certified General appraisers are listed, per the ASC FAQ^[22]. Registry updates come from the state agency and can take 30 to 35 days to appear after a new license is issued.

FHA appraisal work requires a higher credential. All FHA roster appraisers must be state certified^[23] at the Certified Residential or Certified General level and must appear on the ASC National Registry, so Licensed Residential appraisers and trainees cannot perform FHA appraisals. New roster applicants apply online through FHA Connection, and the name and license number must match the National Registry exactly; applicants must not appear on the GSA's SAM, LDP, or CAIVRS exclusion lists.

How to get started in Louisiana today

The path begins with the board and a course catalog. Work through these steps:

1. Confirm the current requirements on the LREAB website^[4], which posts each credential's criteria and forms.
2. Complete the 83 hours of qualifying education with a board-approved provider, finishing all courses within the 5 years before you apply.
3. Find a supervisory appraiser, since trainees are responsible for finding their own supervisor, and complete the 4-hour supervisor/trainee course together.
4. Submit the Appraiser Trainee Registration Application, signed by your supervisor, with the $245 fee.
5. Log experience hours jointly with your supervisor, or complete an AQB-approved PAREA program, until you reach the hours your target credential requires.
6. File the Application for Appraiser Testing, then schedule your Pearson VUE exam once the authorization to test arrives by email.