A real estate appraiser is an expert who estimates a property's value. To become a real estate appraiser in Texas, one must become certified through the Texas Appraiser Licensing and Certification Board (TALCB). The person must complete two 75-hour programs and have a couple of months of real world experience to become certified. Once a state-licensed appraiser, you will be hired to assess the value of residential homes, commercial buildings, and other property once placed on the real estate market. There is a formal process of collecting data, analyzing the data, and presenting the value of the property.
Appraisers are paid by the job. They work for and find their own clients and aren't typically working through an employer. The median income for a home appraiser is $65,000-80,000 per year. How much the appraiser charges for a property appraisal depends on many things. These include the size of the property, the real estate market it is in, or the time of the year. These variables can greatly differ appraiser's incomes depending on what kind of properties they appraise, from residential homes to apartment complexes to ranch land.
http://www.ehow.com/about_5078927_average-salary-home-appraiser.html
One technique appraisers use to value property is to look at how much similar properties sold for recently. However, currently the real estate market is dragging and in many neighborhoods the only recent sales are foreclosures. In this article, one woman in California was selling her townhome and the appraisal value came in too low, in her opinion. This was because the only sales near her were for foreclosures which greatly undervalue the property. In a national survey this year, 1 out of 3 realtors said that contracts for home sales were renegotiated, delayed, or cancelled due to the appraisal value coming in below the originally agreed upon price.
http://www.bendbulletin.com/article/20121125/NEWS0107/211250308/
