How to Become a Real Estate Appraiser in Michigan: Requirements, Costs, and Steps

Learning how to become a real estate appraiser in Michigan starts with the state's trainee credential, the Limited Appraiser license issued by the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA)^[1]. Earning it takes 87 hours of qualifying education and a $285 fee, with no licensing exam and no experience hours. The three credentials above it, State Licensed, Certified Residential, and Certified General, each add education, supervised experience, and a national exam. Michigan adopts the national Appraiser Qualifications Board (AQB) criteria by reference, so the shared path matches every other state; this guide covers the fees, rules, and dates Michigan adds on top.

The path every state shares

The national route to a real estate appraiser license is identical everywhere: choose the credential you are working toward, complete qualifying education from a state-approved provider, log supervised experience hours (or finish a Practical Applications of Real Estate Appraisal (PAREA) program), pass the National Uniform Licensing and Certification Examination, and apply to the state regulator. The national guide, How to Become a Real Estate Appraiser: Steps, Requirements, and Costs, explains each shared step in full, including the trainee education package effective January 1, 2026, the one-to-two-year timeline, and the typical start-up cost. Michigan follows that framework with its own entry-credential packaging, its own fees, and a few rules that go beyond the national minimum.

Michigan's four appraiser credentials

Michigan issues four real property appraiser credentials through the Michigan Board of Real Estate Appraisers, part of LARA's Bureau of Professional Licensing: Limited Appraiser, State Licensed Real Estate Appraiser, Certified Residential Appraiser, and Certified General Real Estate Appraiser. Article 26 of the state Occupational Code requires anyone who issues an evaluation, opinion, conclusion, or analysis of real property value to hold one of them, with narrow exceptions for a real estate broker's no-fee market analysis and a certified assessor acting in an assessing capacity.

LARA sets these figures on its credential pages for the Limited Appraiser^[2], State Licensed^[3], Certified Residential^[4], and Certified General^[5] licenses.

The dollar thresholds for federally related transactions are Michigan rules, set in Michigan Administrative Code R 339.23403^[6], effective May 7, 2025: a State Licensed appraiser may appraise noncomplex 1-4 family residential property with a transaction value below $1,000,000, complex 1-4 family residential property below $400,000, and nonresidential property with a transaction value that does not exceed $500,000. A Certified Residential appraiser may appraise 1-4 family residential property without regard to value or complexity, plus nonresidential property in federally related transactions up to $500,000, and may assist a Certified General appraiser on larger nonresidential work without signing the report. A Certified General appraiser may appraise real property of any type or value. LARA's State Licensed web page still shows the $250,000 thresholds that applied before the 2025 amendment; the amended rule controls.

For Certified Residential applicants, the six college-level education options LARA accepts are 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 credit; 30 hours of CLEP examinations covering the same topics; a combination of those two; or no college education at all for appraisers who have held a Licensed Residential credential for at least five years with no adverse, final, non-appealable disciplinary action in the preceding five years.

Step one: the Limited Appraiser license

The Limited Appraiser license is Michigan's trainee credential, and it requires 87 hours of qualifying education and a $285 fee, with no licensing exam and no experience hours. Rule R 339.23202^[6] adopts the AQB Real Property Appraiser Qualification Criteria by reference, so the national curriculum applies directly. Effective January 1, 2026, the package is 30 hours of Basic Appraisal Principles, 30 hours of Basic Appraisal Procedures, the 15-Hour National USPAP Course, an 8-hour Valuation Bias and Fair Housing Laws and Regulations course, and Michigan's 4-hour Supervisor/Trainee Course. Through December 31, 2025 the package was 79 hours, because the valuation bias course was added to the AQB criteria effective January 1, 2026. LARA's trainee web page still lists the older hour counts; the criteria the rule adopts control from their effective date.

Courses count only from a provider LARA approves, so confirm the school appears on the state's approved education list before enrolling. A Limited Appraiser may appraise only what the supervisory appraiser's own credential and competence permit, which makes the credential entirely dependent on supervision.

You apply online through LARA's MiPLUS portal at michigan.gov/miplus after finishing the coursework. The application asks the Good Moral Character question and requires a Social Security Number, with an affidavit if you are exempt. LARA's limited appraiser licensing guide^[7] lists no fingerprinting or background check for this credential. Nonresident applicants must also file a Consent to Service of Process form.

Earn experience hours with a supervisory appraiser or through PAREA

Michigan accepts two routes to the experience hours every upper credential requires: supervised field work recorded in a log your supervisor signs, or a completed virtual training program. Under Michigan's experience rule^[8], the virtual route substitutes the training provider's completion certificate for the experience log.

Your supervisor must be a state-certified appraiser who completed the supervisor course before supervising anyone. Under R 339.23203a^[9], a supervisor may not supervise more than 3 trainees at one time. LARA can authorize up to 6 when the supervisor has more than 5 years of experience, files a mentoring plan and trainee progress reports on department forms, and supervises no more than 3 trainees with less than 1 year of experience.

The log rules are strict. The date on the log must match the date of the report, the supervisor must mirror the trainee's work on the log, and a self-made log must carry the supervisory certification statement. You must keep reports, work samples, and supporting documents for at least 6 years after application.

Pass the licensing exam through PSI

Michigan contracts with PSI Services, LLC to administer the State Licensed, Certified Residential, and Certified General examinations, and the fee is $126 per examination. This is a state-level departure from the national picture, where other states administer the same exams through Pearson VUE. In Michigan, you schedule only through PSI at psiexams.com, and only after LARA approves your application.

The order of operations matters. You submit the license application to LARA first, and LARA evaluates your education and experience before authorizing you to test; that evaluation often takes 30 to 90 days. Once you receive the authorization to test, every licensure requirement, including a passing score, must be completed within one year, or the application is void and the fees you paid to the state are forfeited under MCL 339.409(3). A passing score itself stays valid for 2 years from the exam date.

The exams are the AQB-developed National Uniform Licensing and Certification Examinations, and passing takes a scaled score of at least 75 on the 0-to-110 scale. The State Licensed and Certified Residential exams each have 110 scored questions plus 15 unscored questions, with 4 hours allowed; the Certified General exam has the same question count with 6 hours allowed. PSI operates five Michigan test centers: Holt-Lansing, Southfield, Grand Rapids, Gaylord, and Marquette. You must bring your own financial calculator, and a programmable calculator must be cleared by the proctor with its written manual (PSI candidate bulletin^[10], PSI Michigan appraiser portal^[11]).

What a Michigan appraiser license costs

Beyond the trainee fee covered above, each Michigan credential above trainee carries a $385 application and two-year license fee, plus the exam, renewal, and relicensure costs in the table below. LARA publishes each credential's fees in its licensing guides, and the application fee includes the two-year license itself.

Education is the other major cost, and the state does not set course prices; approved providers charge the market rate for the required hours. Appraisers who perform federally related transactions also pay an annual National Registry fee of up to $40, which the state collects and transmits to the federal Appraisal Subcommittee under 12 U.S.C. 3338^[12].

Renewal and continuing education

Michigan appraiser licenses expire every two years on July 31, and renewal costs $250 for a Limited Appraiser and $350 for the other three credentials. Online renewal opens no sooner than 90 days before expiration, and LARA accepts payment only online^[13], by MasterCard, Visa, or Discover card or by e-check; mailed or in-person payments are not processed.

Each two-year cycle requires 28 hours of continuing education completed in the 24 months before expiration. Under R 339.23321^[6], the 28 hours must include the 7-Hour National USPAP Update Course, or an AQB-approved equivalent, at least once every two calendar years, and beginning January 1, 2026, a valuation bias and fair housing course meeting AQB content requirements: 7 hours the first time, then at least 4 hours every two calendar years. The same course earns no credit twice in one cycle, LARA grants no continuing education waivers, and deferrals are limited to returning active military duty or a declared disaster, up to 90 days. A single day of coursework earns no more than 10 classroom hours. LARA tracks course completion through CE Broker.

Miss the July 31 date and you enter the 60-day grace period LARA's licensing guide describes^[7], during which you may renew but must submit proof that you met the continuing education requirements. Once the license fully lapses, relicensure costs $305 for a Limited Appraiser and $405 for the other credentials, plus 14 hours of continuing education for each year and partial year missed, including the USPAP update and the valuation bias course completed within the two years before applying.

Reciprocity and the temporary practice permit

Michigan licenses out-of-state appraisers by reciprocity at the same application and two-year license fee as examination applicants, and nonresidents must file a Consent to Service of Process form. LARA verifies the applicant's good standing through the National Registry before issuing the license.

For a single assignment rather than a full license, Article 26 of the Occupational Code offers a temporary practice permit^[14]. The permit costs $125, is valid for 180 days, and requires a written description of the appraisal assignment plus the consent form. One extension of up to 180 days is available to finish the same assignment, and under R 339.23209 no temporary permit may run longer than 360 days for the same assignment.

Which credentials can perform FHA and Fannie Mae appraisals

Only Michigan's Certified Residential and Certified General appraisers can perform FHA appraisals, because HUD's roster requirements^[15] demand state certification and a listing on the Appraisal Subcommittee's National Registry. Limited and State Licensed appraisers are excluded, along with anyone listed on GSA's SAM, HUD's LDP list, or CAIVRS. Roster applications go through FHA Connection, and the applicant's information must match the National Registry exactly.

Fannie Mae appraisal requirements reach further down the credential ladder. Under the Fannie Mae Selling Guide, B4-1.1-03^[16], lenders must use appraisers who are state licensed or state certified, with the credential active on the report's effective date, but a trainee may perform a significant portion of an appraisal, or the entire appraisal if qualified, under a state-licensed or state-certified supervisor who signs the certification and where state law allows it. Michigan's Limited Appraiser scope fits that rule, which is how trainees build the experience hours described above.

Appraisal work and pay in Michigan

LARA oversees roughly 6,011 limited, state licensed, certified general, and certified residential appraisers, and 2,473 of them hold a state credential listed on the Appraiser Registry, according to the Appraisal Subcommittee's July 2025 compliance review^[17]. Trainees do not appear on the registry, because the trainee level is not federally recognized and trainees cannot independently appraise property for federally related transactions. The same review rated Michigan's appraiser program "Excellent" and kept it on a two-year review cycle.

Beyond lender work, Michigan licensees commonly handle appraisals for divorce, probate and date-of-death valuations, estates, and property tax appeals.

Getting started as a Michigan trainee

Four moves get you started. Open LARA's real estate appraiser pages at michigan.gov/appraisers and confirm the requirements for the credential you are targeting, since hour counts and fees change with rule amendments. Enroll in a Michigan-approved qualifying education package that includes the Supervisor/Trainee Course. Approach certified appraisers in your area about supervision, keeping in mind the state's cap on trainees per supervisor. Then file the MiPLUS application once your coursework is complete. You can verify any Michigan appraiser's standing, including a prospective supervisor's, for free at michigan.gov/verifylicense.