How to Become a Real Estate Appraiser in Pennsylvania

To become a real estate appraiser in Pennsylvania, you first obtain the licensed appraiser trainee credential, which requires 87 classroom hours of qualifying education, a $75 application fee, and a criminal background check, and it carries no exam requirement and no experience requirement. You then log supervised experience, or complete a PAREA program, and upgrade to the Certified Residential or Certified General Real Estate Appraiser credential. Pennsylvania's regulator, the State Board of Certified Real Estate Appraisers, follows the national Appraiser Qualifications Board (AQB) criteria for the steps every state shares, so start with the national guide for the full path. This page covers what Pennsylvania adds and where its numbers differ.

The Pennsylvania path at a glance

Pennsylvania keeps the national sequence, with education, supervised experience or PAREA, the national exam, and then certification and renewal, and layers its own rules on top: a heavier trainee course load, a background check for every applicant, a supervisor registry form that must be filed before experience hours count, and two continuing education requirements beyond the national criteria.

The State Board of Certified Real Estate Appraisers^[1] regulates appraisers, trainees, and appraisal management companies under the Certified Real Estate Appraisers Certification Act (Act 98 of 1990, as amended). The federal Appraisal Subcommittee compliance review issued October 15, 2025^[2] rated the program "Excellent," found no required or recommended state actions, and counted 3,068 state-credentialed appraisers on the Appraiser Registry during the review period.

What credentials Pennsylvania issues

The Board issues the licensed appraiser trainee, Certified Residential Real Estate Appraiser, and Certified General Real Estate Appraiser credentials, plus two state-specific credentials: the Certified Broker/Appraiser and the Certified Pennsylvania Evaluator. It also registers appraisal management companies, according to the Board's credential list^[1].

Pennsylvania does not issue the AQB "State Licensed" credential, the Licensed Residential license most other states offer. That omission shapes your plan: the first credential that permits appraising without supervision is Certified Residential, so your trainee study feeds directly into the Certified Residential requirements rather than an intermediate licensed level.

How to get the licensed appraiser trainee credential

The trainee license requires 87 classroom hours of qualifying education, a $75 nonrefundable application fee, and a criminal background check, and there is no exam and no experience requirement. Applicants must be of good moral character under 49 Pa. Code § 36.12a^[3]. Most applicants finish the coursework within weeks, and the January 2026 trainee application^[4] states a 3-week evaluation window once the file is complete.

The 87 hours of qualifying education

Pennsylvania requires 87 classroom hours: 30 hours of Basic Appraisal Principles, 30 hours of Basic Appraisal Procedures, the 15-hour National Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) course or an equivalent taught by an AQB Certified USPAP instructor, 8 hours of Valuation Bias and Fair Housing, and the 4-hour Trainee/Supervisor Appraiser course. The Board's trainee licensure snapshot^[5] lists this curriculum.

The 4-hour supervisor course is Pennsylvania's addition to the 83-hour national minimum in the AQB criteria effective January 1, 2026^[6]. Your supervisory appraiser must complete the same course before supervising you.

Courses must be completed within the 5 years before you apply, and one semester hour of college credit converts to 15 classroom hours. The trainee application instructions^[4] rule out courses shorter than 15 hours, courses without a passed exam, and continuing education courses for qualifying credit.

Qualifying education may also be completed by distance education, which 49 Pa. Code § 36.12a^[3] permits.

The application, background check, and fee

Every applicant must submit an official criminal history record check from the state police or equivalent agency for every state where the applicant has lived or worked during the past 5 years, dated within 90 days of the application, under 49 Pa. Code § 36.2. Pennsylvania residents obtain the report at epatch.pa.gov. If the report states "Record Exists," the trainee application^[4] requires a conviction summary, the criminal complaint, an affidavit of probable cause, the sentencing order, a probation status letter dated within 90 days, and a written description of the circumstances.

The $75 fee is nonrefundable, and a check returned unpaid draws a $20 charge. The Board processes applications through PALS, its online licensing system^[7]. Allow 3 weeks for evaluation; an application older than one year requires a new application and fee, and supporting documents generally must be less than six months old.

Working under a supervisory appraiser in Pennsylvania

Your supervisor must file the Board's Registry for Supervisor of Licensed Appraiser Trainee form before you accumulate any experience, because the registry form^[8] warns that trainee experience will not be accepted without it.

A Pennsylvania supervisor must hold the Certified Residential or Certified General credential, have at least 5 years of experience as a residential or general appraiser, be certified in Pennsylvania for at least 3 years immediately before notifying the Board, and be in good standing with no disqualifying disciplinary action in the past 3 years, under 49 Pa. Code § 36.54^[9]. A supervisor may supervise no more than 3 trainees at one time.

The supervisor must accompany you on physical property inspections until you have logged 300 hours of appraisal experience or until the supervisor determines you are competent under USPAP to inspect alone, whichever takes longer. If you work more than 50 miles from your supervisor, the registry form requires a description of how supervision will occur. As the trainee, you must inspect both the interior and exterior of each property, must not arrive at an independent determination of value, must comply with USPAP, and must complete and co-sign the Board's trainee checklist, which becomes part of the appraisal report the client receives, under 49 Pa. Code § 36.13^[10]. You and your supervisor jointly maintain the experience log on Board forms, and the supervisor must provide designated appraisal reports when you apply for certification.

Upgrading to a certified appraiser credential

Pennsylvania's two unsupervised credentials, Certified Residential and Certified General, set the education, experience, and college requirements that take you beyond trainee status.

The Board's Certified Residential snapshot^[11] requires 203 classroom hours, above the 200-hour national minimum in the AQB criteria^[6], while the Certified General snapshot^[12] requires 300 hours, matching the national figure. At least 75% of the Certified Residential experience must come from preparing actual appraisal reports, including physical interior and exterior inspections, and at least 50% for Certified General under 49 Pa. Code § 36.13^[10].

For Certified Residential, the degree options effective with the May 1, 2018 AQB change are a bachelor's degree in any field; an associate's degree in business administration, accounting, finance, economics, or real estate; 30 semester hours of specified college courses; 30 semester hours of specified College Level Examination Program (CLEP) exams; a combination of these; or 5 years as a licensed real estate appraiser in another state, per the Board's Certified Residential snapshot^[11]. Certified General requires a bachelor's degree or higher.

Using PAREA instead of supervised experience

Pennsylvania accepts an AQB-approved Certified Residential PAREA program for 100% of the experience requirement for Certified Residential applicants. For Certified General applicants, the same program covers 50% of the experience requirement, the residential portion; the applicant still needs trainee licensure and logs and work samples documenting the nonresidential portion. The Board added both pathways in an amendment to 49 Pa. Code § 36.13^[10] effective June 21, 2025.

PAREA (Practical Applications of Real Estate Appraisal) is a virtual training alternative to in-the-field supervised experience, delivered by independent providers and requiring all qualifying education first, according to The Appraisal Foundation^[13].

Taking the exam in Pennsylvania

The Board contracts with Pearson VUE^[14] to administer the National Uniform Licensing and Certification Examinations for the Certified Residential and Certified General credentials, and each attempt costs $145, paid to Pearson VUE, per the March 2026 Pennsylvania candidate handbook^[15].

You schedule only after the Board approves your certification application. Under 49 Pa. Code § 36.2, Board approval constitutes approval to take the AQB examination, valid for 1 year with unlimited attempts inside that window; miss the window and the application is deemed withdrawn, requiring a new application and fee. Each retake costs the exam fee again, and you must wait 24 hours after a failed attempt before rebooking. Reschedule at least 48 hours before the appointment or the fee is forfeited.

If the Board disapproves the application, you have 1 year to correct the deficiencies or request reconsideration. You must also meet any increased education or experience requirements that take effect between filing and passing.

After passing, you upload the original score report to the "Exam Results" item in PALS and pay the initial certification fee through the PALS shopping cart. Pennsylvania test centers sit in Allentown, Altoona, Erie, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh (East), Pittsburgh (West), and State College, and you may sit at any United States Pearson VUE test center.

What Pennsylvania licensure costs

The Board's fee schedule under 49 Pa. Code § 36.6^[16] sets the application and renewal fees, while the exam fee goes to Pearson VUE and the registry fee goes to the federal Appraisal Subcommittee.

The initial certification fee depends on when you certify: $90 if you certify on or after July 1 of an odd-numbered year or on or before June 30 of an even-numbered year, and $45 if you certify in the other half of the cycle. The Board's initial certification fee chart^[17] shows the registry fee bundled with it: a credential issued between July 1, 2025 and June 30, 2026 carries a $90 initial fee plus an $80 registry fee for the two-year term, a $170 total, while one issued between July 1 and December 31, 2026 carries $45 plus $40, an $85 total.

The National Registry fee is $40 per year, the amount the Appraisal Subcommittee^[18] set effective January 1, 2012 and the maximum Title XI allows without federal banking-regulator approval. The state collects it with the initial certification and each renewal.

Budget the certified renewal as $305 per cycle: 49 Pa. Code § 36.6^[16] sets the Board's renewal fee at $225, and the Board's renewal page^[19] lists $305 for Certified Residential and Certified General renewals because that figure includes the two-year registry fee of $80.

Renewing your credential and meeting continuing education

Credentials expire June 30 of every odd-numbered year, and each renewal requires 28 hours of continuing education over the preceding 24 months, according to the Board's renewal page^[19]. The 28 hours must include the 7-Hour National USPAP Update Course, which the national path already requires, plus two Pennsylvania additions: at least 2 hours on the Real Estate Appraisers Certification Act, Board regulations, and Board policies under 49 Pa. Code § 36.41^[20], and a valuation bias and fair housing course, 7 hours for the first completion due by June 30, 2027 and at least 4 hours for renewals beginning June 30, 2029.

Trainees meet the same 28-hour requirement, and a trainee license may not be renewed more than 4 times unless the Board finds good cause for more, under 49 Pa. Code § 36.12a^[3].

Under 49 Pa. Code § 36.41^[20], amended effective June 8, 2024, a licensee whose initial credential becomes effective between January 1 and June 30 of a biennial renewal year does not have to complete continuing education for that cycle. The Board's snapshots describe the waiver window as January 1 through April 30 of odd-numbered years, but the regulation text controls.

The Board emails renewal notices 30 to 45 days before expiration, and licensees must keep their PALS mailing address current because the Postal Service does not forward licenses. The fee schedule carries no late-renewal fee; a lapsed credential becomes inactive or expired, certified appraisers reactivate through PALS, and trainees contact the Board office.

Reciprocity and temporary practice

Out-of-state appraisers have two routes into Pennsylvania work: reciprocal certification or a temporary practice registration.

The Board may grant reciprocal certification to an appraiser certified in another state whose qualifications equal or exceed Pennsylvania's, and certified applicants must pass the AQB examination, per the Board's Certified Residential snapshot^[11]. The application fee is $40 under 49 Pa. Code § 36.6^[16]. The Board may also endorse a licensee from a state with substantially equivalent requirements who is active, in good standing, and free of discipline or criminal conviction under Act 41.

For work tied to a federally related transaction, an appraiser whose Pennsylvania business is temporary may register with the Board and pay the $30 fee. 49 Pa. Code § 36.53^[21] defines temporary as "no more than three specific appraiser assignments during a period not to exceed 12 consecutive calendar months." The Board processes the Temporary Practice Permit Application through PALS^[7].

Getting started in Pennsylvania

Three moves start the process this week.

Open the Board's resources page^[7], confirm the approved education provider list and the current application forms, and choose the credential you are targeting. Enroll in a trainee course package from an approved provider, including the supervisor course Pennsylvania adds to the national curriculum. Order your criminal history record at epatch.pa.gov, since the report must be dated within 90 days of your application.

The Board answers licensing questions at 1-833-DOS-BPOA and St-APPRAISE@pa.gov, though neither the Board nor its staff may provide legal advice.