How to Become a Real Estate Appraiser in Mississippi

To become a real estate appraiser in Mississippi, you register as an Appraiser Intern with the Mississippi Appraisal Board (MAB), complete 87 hours of qualifying education, and work under a certified supervisory appraiser until you meet the experience requirement for the license or certification you want. The Board, an independent state agency in Jackson, follows the Appraiser Qualifications Board (AQB) criteria effective January 1, 2026, and adds requirements of its own: a state-required supervisor course for trainees, a state-specific exam for licensed and certified applicants, and annual renewals for trainees.

The path every state shares

The four-step path is the same in every state: choose a credential, complete qualifying education, gain supervised experience (or complete a Practical Applications of Real Estate Appraisal (PAREA) program where the state accepts one), and pass the National Uniform Licensing and Certification Examination before applying. The national guide to becoming a real estate appraiser on this site explains each shared step in full. Mississippi ties its requirements to the AQB Real Property Appraiser Qualification Criteria effective January 1, 2026, as its how to become an appraiser page^[1] states, so this guide covers only what the state adds or does differently.

The credentials the Mississippi Appraisal Board issues

The Board issues four appraiser credentials: Appraiser Intern (the trainee level), Licensed Residential Appraiser, Certified Residential Appraiser, and Certified General Appraiser. Mississippi law makes it unlawful to engage in real estate appraisal activity in the state without one of them (Mississippi Real Estate Appraiser Licensing and Certification Act, 73-34-5^[2]). The requirements below come from the Board's four credential information sheets (trainee^[3], licensed residential^[4], certified residential^[5], and certified general^[6]).

The experience minimums set the pace for each upgrade: 6 months at the fastest, 18 months at the Certified General level. For context on the regulator, the federal Appraisal Subcommittee (ASC) lists the Mississippi appraiser program's current compliance finding as "Needs Improvement" (ASC program profile^[7]).

How to become an Appraiser Intern in Mississippi

You become a trainee by completing 87 hours of qualifying education and submitting a short application package with a $50 fee; there is no exam and no fingerprint requirement at this level. The Board's trainee information sheet^[3] (revision 05/2026) lists the package in effect since January 1, 2026: Basic Appraisal Principles, Basic Appraisal Procedures, the 15-Hour National USPAP Course, the 8-hour National Valuation Bias and Fair Housing Laws and Rules course, and the Supervisor/Trainee course, for a total of 87 hours. USPAP is the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice, the professional standards the 15-hour course covers.

The 8-hour valuation bias course is the AQB addition that took effect January 1, 2026; through December 31, 2025, the trainee package was 79 hours. The AQB national core for trainees is 83 hours, and Mississippi's total is 87 because the state adds its own Supervisor/Trainee course on top of the national core (AQB 2026 criteria chart^[8]).

The trainee application package is the MAB Appraiser Licensing Application with the "Appraiser Intern" box checked, a $50.00 application fee, the MAB Supervisory Appraiser Affidavit, and copies of your qualifying education certificates. There is no examination for the trainee credential (MAB Rule 11.4, Board administrative rules^[9]). Fingerprints are not part of the package: under Miss. Code 73-34-14(1)(b)^[2], fingerprint-based criminal history checks apply to licensed and certified applicants and to renewal applicants, not to trainees.

Two rules shape your timing. All qualifying education must be completed within the 5 years before your application date (MAB Rule 11.5). And you must take the courses from a provider on the Board's approved provider list^[10], which named 10 providers in its March 2026 revision.

As an intern, you may perform any part of the appraisal process except determining the property's market value and choosing the comparables used in the report, and you may not sign a report unless the client has required your signature in the engagement letter.

Working under a supervisory appraiser and logging experience

Your experience counts only while a qualified supervisory appraiser is on record with the Board and signs your log. A supervisor must have held a state-certified credential for at least 3 years, be in good standing, and have had no disciplinary action in any jurisdiction in the last 3 years (MAB Rule 12.1, Board rules^[9]). A supervisor may train at most 3 trainees at one time, and you may work under more than one supervisor at once.

To start earning credit, you must immediately notify the Board of your supervising appraiser by filing a signed Supervisory Appraiser's Acceptance of Responsibility^[11] letter. The supervisor must personally inspect and be physically present at each property with you until deciding you are competent (MAB Rule 11.6). Keep a separate log for each supervisor, have every sheet totaled and signed by both of you, and attach the notarized Appraiser's Affidavit^[12] to every log you submit.

The Board caps the experience credit one appraisal can earn (MAB license application^[13], Rule 2):

Whether Mississippi accepts PAREA in place of supervised experience is unconfirmed. None of the Board's materials (the statute, the administrative rules last updated February 26, 2020, the credential sheets, or the application) mentions it; they describe only the supervisor-and-log pathway. The Appraisal Foundation, which developed PAREA, leaves the acceptance decision to each state (TAF PAREA overview^[14]). Before you pay for a PAREA program, confirm the Board's position directly.

Upgrading to a licensed or certified credential

Upgrading means finishing the additional education hours for your target credential, logging the experience it requires, and submitting the license application with your experience log and course certificates. From the trainee level, the additional hours are 75 for Licensed Residential (158 total), 117 for Certified Residential (200 total), and 217 for Certified General (300 total). If you already hold Licensed Residential, Certified Residential takes 42 more hours and Certified General takes 142 (licensed sheet^[4], certified residential sheet^[5], certified general sheet^[6]).

Licensed Residential requires no college education. Certified Residential requires college-level education, with an alternative for appraisers who have held the Licensed Residential credential for at least 5 years. Certified General requires a bachelor's degree or higher. The license application^[13] also asks licensed and certified applicants for a college transcript, a 5-year employment history, 3 business references from non-relatives, a criminal offense disclosure, photos, and a notarized affidavit. When you upgrade, the Board reviews sample work: a Certified Residential upgrade file must include an income approach, and a Certified General upgrade must include a report that uses all three approaches to value.

Licensed and certified applicants must submit to a fingerprint-based criminal history records check of the Mississippi and FBI databases under Miss. Code 73-34-14(1)(b)^[2]. The Board has not charged a fee for the check since January 1, 2023 (MAB notice^[15]). The Board must deny a credential to an applicant whose appraiser license was revoked in any jurisdiction within the previous 5 years, or who was convicted of a felony within the previous 5 years, or at any time if the felony involved fraud, dishonesty, breach of trust, or money laundering (Miss. Code 73-34-14(2)(b)).

The Mississippi examination process

After the Board approves your application, you have 3 months to pass the national exam through PSI, then 60 days to pass a short Mississippi state test. The Board mails an approval letter with PSI registration instructions (licensed appraiser sheet^[4]); you then schedule the National Uniform Licensing and Certification Examination for your credential with PSI. You may sit for the national exam as many times as you can within the 3-month window, and a passing record stays valid for 24 months (MAB Rule 3.1, Board rules^[9]).

The state test is Mississippi's addition to the national exam. It covers the licensing act, the Board's rules, and USPAP; runs 2 hours; and is administered by Board staff. You must pass it within 60 days of passing the national exam, you get 2 attempts, and failing both means a 6-month wait before you may reapply (Rule 3.1). The Board's fee schedule rolls the state exam into the application fee (Rule 3.4); the Board's current credential sheets list no separate exam fee, so check the PSI materials that arrive with your approval letter for any scheduling charge. Once you pass both parts, you have 180 days from the examination date to pay the credential issuance fees, or the application fee is forfeited and the process restarts (Rule 3.5).

What Mississippi appraiser licensing costs

Count on $50 to register as an intern and $225 to apply for a licensed or certified credential, plus a $325 issuance fee and an $80 National Registry fee at each two-year renewal. The Board's fee rule (MAB Rule 3.4, Board administrative rules^[9]) sets the schedule:

Renewal and continuing education

Licensed and certified appraisers renew every 2 years and must complete 28 hours of Board-approved continuing education in each cycle. A license expires 2 years from the last day of the month it was issued (Miss. Code 73-34-25^[2]), and renewal applications are accepted starting 120 days before expiration (Miss. Code 73-34-27). The 28 hours break down as 21 elective hours plus a 7-hour National USPAP Update (MAB Rule 5.1^[16]). As of January 1, 2026, renewal also requires the 7-hour National Valuation Bias and Fair Housing Laws and Regulation course (MAB^[1]). Email continuing education certificates to mmg@mab.ms.gov (MAB forms page^[17]).

Miss the expiration date and you have 60 days to renew late with a late fee; the statutory delinquent renewal penalty can equal the entire renewal fee (Miss. Code 73-34-45). The bigger trap is continuing education. A licensee whose continuing education is incomplete on the expiration date is placed inactive the following day, including on the National Registry, even if the renewal fee was already paid online (MAB online renewal guide^[18]). Reactivation requires the completed course certificate, the Board's reactivation form, and a $50 fee. Up to half of the required hours can be earned through teaching, program development, or authorship instead of as a student (Rule 5.5).

Trainees renew every year rather than every 2 years, with 14 hours of continuing education annually and a 7-hour USPAP update every second renewal (Rule 11.7); there is no fee to renew the trainee certificate. A trainee who misses continuing education is placed inactive and cannot gain experience hours while inactive.

Reciprocity and temporary practice permits

An appraiser licensed in another state can obtain an equivalent Mississippi credential without new education, experience, or exams for a $50 application fee, though the Board may require Mississippi License Law test questions. Under MAB Rule 9.1^[19], you submit the application and fee, an original letter of licensure from your home state (not a copy of the license or pocket card), and an irrevocable consent to service of process; after approval, you submit a fingerprint card for the background check, which carries no fee (Rule 9 instructions^[20]). An incomplete application expires 60 days after the Board receives it. Nonresident licensees may count continuing education approved by their home-state appraisal board.

A nonresident appraiser with a single Mississippi assignment can instead buy a temporary practice permit for $250, which covers one assignment and expires 6 months after issuance. The fee is a $175 application fee plus a $75 certificate issuance fee, and the application must include the engagement letter and the assignment's estimated start and end dates (temporary permit instructions^[21]). The Board grants no more than 2 permits in any 12-month period, allows one 60-day extension on written request, and typically processes applications within 24 hours. You may start the assignment only after the pocket card arrives, you must place the temporary number next to your signature on the report, and you may not advertise yourself as Mississippi licensed or certified.

How to start this week

Start by downloading the Trainee Information sheet and the Appraiser Licensing Application from mab.ms.gov, and call the Board at (601) 359-5440 with any question the sheets do not answer. The Board's office is at 239 North Lamar Street, Suite 502, Jackson, Mississippi 39201.

Then:

• Choose an education provider from the approved list and enroll in the full trainee package, since the courses build on each other in sequence.
• Approach potential supervisory appraisers early, because their acceptance form must be on file before your hours count.
• If you are weighing a PAREA program instead of supervised experience, ask the Board directly before you pay for one.