How to become a real estate appraiser in South Carolina: requirements and steps

To become a real estate appraiser in South Carolina, you start as an appraiser apprentice, complete 87 hours of qualifying education, work under a certified supervisory appraiser, and then upgrade to the Licensed, Certified Residential, or Certified General credential once you hold the required experience hours and a passing exam score. The South Carolina Real Estate Appraisers Board issues every credential, contracts with PSI to administer the national exam, and renews licenses every 2 years on June 30 of even-numbered years. The steps match the national path the Appraiser Qualifications Board (AQB) criteria set for every state; this guide covers what South Carolina adds and where its rules differ.

Who regulates appraisers in South Carolina

The South Carolina Real Estate Appraisers Board, housed in the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation (LLR), licenses, renews, and disciplines the state's real property appraisers. Its office sits at 110 Centerview Drive, Columbia, SC 29210, and its program pages are at llr.sc.gov/appr/, as the ASC's state compliance profile for South Carolina^[1] lists.

The federal Appraisal Subcommittee (ASC) reviewed the South Carolina program on July 8-10, 2025 and awarded a finding of "Good" with a two-year review cycle, according to the ASC's 2025 South Carolina compliance review^[2]. During the June 2023 to June 2025 review period, the state renewed 2,246 appraiser credentials on the National Registry, received 142 complaints, and closed 71 of them.

What South Carolina adds to the national path

South Carolina follows the national appraiser requirements and layers a short list of state-specific rules on top of them. The shared path is explained in full in RealEstateU's national guide, "How to Become a Real Estate Appraiser: Steps, Requirements, and Costs": choose a credential, complete qualifying education, log supervised experience (or finish a PAREA program), pass the National Uniform Licensing and Certification Examination, and apply through your state agency. South Carolina's regulations adopt the AQB Real Property Appraiser Qualification Criteria by reference, including later amendments, so the state's education and experience minimums match the national ones, per the S.C. Code of Regulations, Chapter 137^[3].

The state's own additions appear in the sections below: the appraiser apprentice name for the trainee level, a state supervisor/trainee course, rules for how experience hours are counted, the PSI exam contract, the renewal cycle, and reciprocity.

What each South Carolina credential authorizes you to appraise

South Carolina statute, not the AQB, defines what each credential authorizes, and the state's thresholds are more generous than the national scope in two places.

The Licensed appraiser's limits come from the South Carolina Code, Title 40, Chapter 60^[4], which 2024 Act No. 196 amended effective May 21, 2024 to raise the complex-unit and nonresidential cap to $500,000. The national AQB scope for a Licensed Residential appraiser caps complex residential work at $400,000, as the Appraisal Institute's credential overview^[5] states, so South Carolina's statute gives its licensees more room than the national threshold allows.

The Certified Residential scope also runs wider than the national one. Under Section 40-60-20(24), the credential covers 1-4 residential units without regard to transaction value or complexity and adds nonresidential appraisals under $500,000, work the bare AQB Certified Residential scope does not include.

If Federal Housing Administration (FHA) assignments are part of your plan, aim at a certified credential. HUD's FHA roster requirements^[6] state that all roster appraisers must be state certified (Certified Residential or Certified General) and appear on the ASC National Registry with an "AQB Compliant" status of Yes, so a South Carolina Licensed appraiser cannot appraise FHA-insured mortgages.

South Carolina also issues mass appraiser classifications at the licensed, certified residential, and certified general levels, and the state regulations^[3] exempt the two certified mass appraiser classifications from the college requirements the standard certified credentials carry.

Becoming an appraiser apprentice

South Carolina's entry credential is the appraiser apprentice, and it takes 87 hours of qualifying education effective January 1, 2026: the 83-hour AQB core curriculum plus a 4-hour South Carolina Supervisor/Trainee course that state law adds on top, per the Board's licensure page^[7] and the state regulations^[3].

Apprentices work under a state-certified supervisory appraiser and cannot independently appraise property for federally related transactions. Because the trainee level is not federally recognized, apprentices do not appear on the ASC National Registry, as the ASC's frequently asked questions^[8] confirm.

Every applicant, at every credential level, is subject to a background assessment. AQB criteria effective January 1, 2017 require states to determine that an applicant's background would not call public trust into question, and the ASC policy statements^[9] leave the basis for that determination to each state.

Logging experience hours, or using PAREA instead

Under the South Carolina regulations^[3], the experience minimums are the national ones: 1,000 hours over at least 6 months for Licensed, 1,500 hours over at least 12 months for Certified Residential, and 3,000 hours over at least 18 months for Certified General, with at least 50% of the Certified General hours from nonresidential work.

How South Carolina counts experience hours

Not all hours count at full value. Under the state regulations, sole appraiser credit is 100%, co-appraiser credit is 75% (co-appraisers must have performed at least 50% of the work), field review credit is 50%, and desk review credit is 25%. Review experience is also capped: at most 500 hours count toward Licensed, 750 toward Certified Residential, and 1,500 toward Certified General.

PAREA and the State Practicum option

South Carolina accepts a Board-approved PAREA program or a State Practicum program in place of the supervised experience requirement for the Licensed and Certified Residential credentials, alongside the required core curriculum. The regulations list no PAREA option for Certified General, so those hours must come from actual appraisal work with the nonresidential share intact.

Taking the appraiser exam through PSI

PSI Services LLC administers South Carolina's appraiser exams, and you must apply to the Board and be approved before you can register. Approval brings an Examination Eligibility letter valid for 1 year, and you then register with PSI at test-takers.psiexams.com/scap or by phone at 855-746-8173. As of October 2026, the exam fee is $79, and registration fees are not refundable or transferable, per the PSI South Carolina candidate information bulletin^[10].

A scaled score of 75 on the 0-110 scale passes, and PSI provides score reports immediately on completion. Test sites sit in Greenville/Spartanburg, Columbia, North Charleston, Beaufort/Hilton Head, and Myrtle Beach, plus Charlotte, North Carolina.

You can cancel or reschedule without forfeiting the fee if PSI receives notice 2 days before the appointment; a missed appointment or late cancellation forfeits it. Bring one government-issued photo ID. You may bring a financial calculator, and a programmable calculator requires its written manual so the proctor can clear stored programs.

Apprentice appraisers may sit for a licensing or certification exam once they hold the education and experience the classification requires. After passing, you must be licensed within 2 years, or you retake the exam.

How long the application takes

Federal policy sets the benchmark: state agencies should process credentialing applications within 90 calendar days of receiving a completed application, the ASC policy statements^[9] direct. After the Board issues a license, expect a wait of up to 30-35 days before the new credential appears on the ASC Appraiser Registry, because states submit registry data at least monthly and the registry does not update in real time, per the ASC's frequently asked questions^[8].

Renewing your South Carolina appraiser license

All appraiser licenses expire every 2 years on June 30 of even-numbered years, with two timing exceptions in the state regulations^[3]: appraisers first licensed between April 1 and June 30 of a renewal year renew the following period, and an initial license issued in an odd-numbered year renews the following year, then biennially.

Renewal requires 28 hours of continuing education per cycle, and the Board's continuing education page^[11] spells out what goes in them: the current 7-hour National Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) Update and a 7-hour Valuation Bias and Fair Housing course for the 2026 renewal, with the Valuation Bias course dropping to 4 hours in later cycles. Providers report completions electronically to the Board within 14 days, per the state regulations^[3]. Qualifying education above your current credential level can count toward CE, and nonresident appraisers may meet the requirement through their resident state's CE if it matches South Carolina's minimum hours.

A license expired more than 12 months is cancelled, and reinstatement is costly. It takes a new application, payment of the original license fee, and proof of all the continuing education that would have been required had the license stayed active, including the most recent 7-hour USPAP Update.

Reciprocity and temporary practice permits

The Board may waive the examination requirement for an applicant already licensed or certified in another state who proves they passed an AQB-approved exam that the current state required for the existing credential, the state regulations^[3] provide. Federal ASC policy directs states to maintain a reciprocity policy when the appraiser's home state is Title XI-compliant and its credentialing requirements meet or exceed the receiving state's.

South Carolina's temporary practice permit is narrow: the board may issue an appraiser licensed in another state a permit that is effective for one specific appraisal assignment, as the ASC compliance review^[2] describes. The ASC policy statements^[9] set the outer limits for such permits: states must issue them within five business days of a completed application and may not charge more than $250 including one extension fee.

Where to start this week

Open llr.sc.gov/appr/ and confirm the current application forms and the Board's approved education providers. Decide which credential you are working toward, keeping in mind that FHA work requires a certified credential. Then enroll in the apprentice qualifying education package, and if Certified General is the target, request your college transcripts early, because that credential requires a bachelor's degree.