Price found working on big appraisal jobs with the Department of Transportation to be excellent training. As DOT appraisers we had to go to court against experienced appraisers even as rookies. You learn to back up what you say. There's so much detail, it's very important that for each person's home you do the best job that you can. Not everyone can be thrown in the deep end like Price.
Many appraisers fall into litigation appraisal almost by accident.
Despite this, formal training is important. You should take real-estate law classes and any other related classes offered by professional organizations. State certification is not required in Washington, Crowe said. However, both the state and the federal governments require state certification for work on federal transactions. As a result, government agencies usually require appraisers they hire to be certified, as do most lawyers.