Background

The Real Property Appraiser Qualification Criteria (Criteria) was established by the Appraiser Qualifications Board (AQB) of The Appraisal Foundation in 1991. Even in the initial years, appraisers, state appraiser regulators, and others have expressed concern with the effectiveness of the examinations used for state licensing and certification purposes.


The AQB made minor enhancements to the Criteria over the years, but the revisions that will become effective on January 1, 2008, significantly increase the hours and the specificity of education required to become a state licensed or certified appraiser. Appraisal education, beginning in 2008, will require, for the first time that the total hours be attributable to specific topic areas, known as a Required Core Curriculum. And each educational topic area in the Required Core Curriculum requires successful completion of an exam.

Since specific appraisal topics will be taught and tested within the education requirement, the 2008 state licensing and certification examinations can focus on a candidate’s ability to apply the knowledge learned rather than simply testing a candidate’s ability to recall information learned in coursework.

Process

In February 2004, the AQB adopted the changes to the Criteria that become effective on January 1, 2008. Almost immediately thereafter, the AQB commenced the process of developing National Uniform Licensing and Certification Examinations for use in conjunction with the revised Criteria as of January 1, 2008.

The first step involved creating an “Occupational Analysis,” which is essentially an appraiser job analysis. The process involved surveying appraisers to determine what tasks they perform in their profession and the relative importance of each of those tasks. The Appraisal Foundation sent surveys to a random group of over 8,400 appraisers nationwide, representing all three appraiser classifications: licensed, certified residential and certified general. From the responses the AQB was able to create new Examination Content Outlines identifying what appraisers should know (and be tested on) to qualify as competent entry level practitioners.

The second step was to select an examination developer. The Appraisal Foundation sent out Requests for Proposals and received responses from a number of professional exam developers. After a thorough evaluation of all the proposals, a company named Comira was selected to develop the new National Uniform Licensing and Certification Examinations.

After being awarded the contract to develop the exams, Comira, in conjunction with the AQB, sent requests out to Foundation Sponsors, state appraiser regulatory agencies, and others, seeking volunteers to participate as Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). The qualifications of those who responded were reviewed by the AQB and Foundation staff and three groups were created to develop the exams. Each group of SME’s consisted of eight highly qualified appraisal professionals that represented the relevant appraiser classification of the test being created, along with members of the AQB acting as liaisons to the Board. The groups were responsible for developing exams for each one of the three classification levels: Licensed Residential, Certified Residential, and Certified General.

Each exam development group was required to develop three examination forms. And each exam form was analyzed to ensure it was psychometrically sound.

Upon completion and final approval by the AQB, the exams will be made available for use as of January 1, 2008. The AQB is working with Comira to develop requirements that states and vendors must meet in order to qualify as exam administrators. This is necessary to ensure the greatest degree of examination security.

The AQB has also worked with Comira to develop guidelines for equivalency to be used by states or vendors who wish to develop their own exams. These exams, if developed, will be reviewed by the AQB to determine if they are equivalent to the national exams.

Exam Design

As indicated above, state appraiser licensing and certification examinations offered prior to January 1, 2008, essentially test a candidate’s ability to recall information learned in qualifying educational offerings. The National Uniform Licensing and Certification Examinations offered as of January 1, 2008, will test a candidate’s ability to apply the knowledge (and possibly experience) they have obtained. This difference may be best illustrated by looking at examples of the type of questions that could appear under each exam:

Pre-2008 Exam Example

1. The anticipated income from all operations of the real property after an allowance is made for vacancy and collection losses is known as:
   
   A) Gross Income
   B) Net Income
   C) Effective Gross Income
   D) Residual Income

2008 Exam Example

An appraiser is asked to appraise an apartment complex consisting of 120 units broken down as follows:

Thirty (30) 1-bedroom units, renting for $500 each
Sixty (60) 2-bedroom units, renting for $750 each
Thirty (30) 3-bedroom units, renting for $1,000 each

The complex has historically had a vacancy and collection loss expense of 3% and operating expenses/replacement reserves of 35% of effective gross income. Assuming the vacancy rate and all expenses are forecast to remain constant in the foreseeable future:

1. What is the Potential Monthly Gross Income for the complex?
    

A) $75,000
B) $90,000
C) $87,300
D) $56,745

2. What is the Effective Monthly Gross Income for the complex?
   
   A) $75,000
   B) $90,000
   C) $87,300
   D) $56,745

3. What is the Net Monthly Income for the complex?
   
   A) $75,000
   B) $90,000
   C) $87,300
   D) $56,745

As can be seen above, candidates taking a state licensing or certification exam in 2008 will be required to not only know things, but to also know how to do things.

For more sample exam questions download the National Examination Sample Questions.

Exam Content

As stated above, the process for developing new exam content included surveying appraisers to create an occupational analysis, which was used to create new Examination Content Outlines (ECO’s).

See the ECO's for the 2008 examinations below.

The ECO’s are broad conceptual topic areas, which are related to the Required Core Curriculum modules (topics) established by the AQB for each license or certification classification. To provide additional detail on what might be expected in the exams, the AQB issued Guide Note 1, which included suggested subtopics for each educational topic area required. Although candidates for an appraiser license or certification credential are not required by the AQB to obtain education covering each subtopic area, Guide Note 1 was issued as a listing of the information that would likely appear on the exams.

Guide Note 1 can be found in the Real Property Appraiser Qualification Criteria handbook available below.

Exam Administration

State appraiser regulatory agencies and exam vendors can apply to become AQB-approved administrators for the National Uniform Licensing and Certification examinations.

Click here to download the Examination Administration Manual.

Equivalent Examinations

State appraiser regulatory agencies and examination developers may either use the National Uniform Licensing and Certification Examinations or develop “equivalent examinations” themselves. Equivalent examinations must be reviewed and approved by the AQB before they can be administered to candidates for a state appraiser license or certification.

Click here to download the Exam Equivalency Guidelines.

For additional technical information, please click here for a White Paper on the AQB National Uniform Examinations.