Commercial Real Estate Appraiser job outlook, and salary
How much do cre appraisers earn and what's the job outlook like in the future? What do some of the top earners in your firm do? Working as a trainee and trying to get a guess of what's out there in this field. Light at the end of the tunnel so to speak.
I worked in valuation for about three years at a large regional shop, not one of the national brands (CBRE, Marcus, etc.) so someone will have to step in and speak to that compensation. Keep in mind these are old figures I am working off of.
From what I’ve seen there are three “steps” in the profession as an appraiser:
Provisional/trainee - usually within 1-2 years of undergrad, state issues a provisional license that eventually expires. Pay typically ranges from $40K to $55K flat + 5-20% bonus while you get trained up and pursue your general license.
Certified General Real Estate appraiser - usually provisional licenses expire within 2-3 years so once you’ve done additional classes, have a portfolio of evaluations then you pursue your certified general appraiser license. Pay usually switches from flat salary to a percentage of your completed appraisals and respective fees. Pay ranges from $60K up to $100K+ in rare instances - if you are super productive (high volume on turning out reports), can independently do most valuations, etc.
MAI appraiser - the highest distinction you can obtain as an appraiser. There is a whole process you go through included additional classes, an exam and 4,500 hours of specialized experience. Someone will have to speak to pay range but likely is $80K+ with a theoretically unlimited upside because usually at this point you can go run your own shop so it is on you to go find clients, hire staff, etc. Personnel is expensive though so usually appraiser shops are small (1-3 guys). This is also the “ceiling” because as the MAI of the office you need to sign off and review every valuation so you can only be so productive which eventually limits you unless you bring other MAI partners in.
I ended up only going through provisional and transitioned to PERE after three years so others who have gotten their Certified General and MAI can chime in on current market conditions.
Can confirm these figures are accurate , currently interning In valuation at a large national broker.
Thanks that was very helpful but what do you mean by PERE? I've seen that term thrown around but don't know what that means.
PERE = private equity real estate, a firm which places equity capital typically in joint ventures with operators who execute them.
This is used on this forum broadly to describe any firm that does the above but others define it by going one step further and only including companies that raise third party equity (vs. just using their own funds).
The reason why you see it a lot is that there are a limited number of these positions, they are highly strategic and for that reason typically pay the most so they are highly desired and asked about on WSO.
FutureCEO3 provided a good base of the path towards designations. Just giving my perspective - I worked in Valuation at one of the larger brokerage shops (CBRE, Colliers, NGKF, etc.) for about 3 years before transitioning to a principal side role.
Trainee/Valuation Analyst/Associate: Between 1-3 years of experience, pay has varied drastically based on team and production. I know compensation at this level has varied from $40k to $120k. Those who reached $80k and above were generally part of a larger production team, i.e. going through 15-30 appraisals/month at our office. Those on the teams were generally given more leniency in achieving the Certified General license due to more time spent on producing, in this case, writing reports.
Certified General/MAI: I have lumped this group together because the general role for CGs and MAIs is to bring in new business and turn around reports. MAIs at the company however would receive better splits. There were two groups at our office with either designation: Individuals and Production teams. I cannot comment on the Individuals compensation, however most would generally do anywhere from 4-10 appraisals/month. For those on a production team who oversaw the 15-30 appraisals/month were bringing in $450-$600k, net to the Producer. I would generally say this volume was an outlier and were the general top ~5% at the company nationwide.
Overall this route can produce decent amount of change if you choose to go for your CG/MAI designations and run a team in a target market where volume is high. It is directly correlated with the amount of appraisals you produce, essentially a direct factor of how much time you put in.
I know an Executive MD at a large brokerage shop who said that you can make ~$150k after about 5 years if you get your MAI.
This could just be that he was trying to recruit as well.
A large shop MAI that doesn’t clear $150k is doing something wrong or is semi-retired and just holding on to the health insurance. The timeline on the MAI in 5 years is a little tight though, 6 years is probably a more accurate timeline based on regulatory stuff.
Appraisal's is similar to brokerage in it depends on how much production your manager does. I work for a top producer at a large brokerage and he pulls in 500k+ annually, Last year was 7 figures, however, this is not typical. This was because he originates almost all of his jobs and does not rely on the brokerage md's to originate. Top 10 in the nation last year. Analyst is 50k+ bonus per job, higher bonus percentage the higher up you go. You also get time and half overtime which adds up.
How does the bonus per job work?
Sorry, I may have worded that poorly. Its more of a flat fee depending on job price. For example if an Appraisal costs $5,000, your manager may allocate $100-$200 per 5,000 appraisal towards you. That range can very widely as it is very manager dependent.
Does anyone know what the fee splits are for CG producers at CBRE?
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