As you obtain your experience hours necessary for your level of licensing you will soon begin thinking about taking your license exam. You want to pass the first time, so how will you prepare? You should develop a good study plan with good study materials.
Whether you are testing for the license, certified residential or certified general there are many study options available. Most companies that offer the qualifying education also offer study guides, review books and cram courses. You also may purchase supplemental appraisal books for review. Another option, which I used to help pass the state test the first time, is LearnAppraising.com. Learn Appraising is an online study program consisting of multiple choice review questions, practice exams, topic summaries, cheat sheets and games each geared toward the license test you are taking. It costs $59.99 for 1 year of access.
I heard about LearnAppraising.com from a colleague who used it prepare for his certified general exam, which he passed the first time. I used it for my licensing exam preparation and it definitely contributed to helping me pass the first time.
LearnAppraising Pros
1. The questions on LearnAppraising are very similar to the questions I saw on the state licensing test. I recognized some as being almost identical. Awesome!
2. The practice questions also cover a very broad range of topics and problems.
3. The appraisal math questions also very well prepared me for the appraisal math on the actual exam.
4. The interface has “competency meters” which are indicators that show you how well you are answering the questions for a certain topic.
5. Learn Appraising has a 100% pass guarantee. If you don’t pass you get a refund.
I didn’t use the games or “toon-torials” so I cannot comment on them.
LearnAppraising Cons
1. When I used LearnAppraising, the USPAP material had not been NOT updated to reflect the 2014-2015 changes. The most notable changes are the retirement of STANDARDS 4 and 5 – STANDARDS 4 and 5 addressed real property appraisal consulting development and reporting and also the revision of Report Options in STANDARDS 2, 8, and 10. USPAP now has two written report options, Appraisal Report and Restricted Appraisal Report, for real property and personal property appraisal assignments. A few practice questions asked about the Summary Appraisal Report which is no longer an option. I was a little disappointed, but this is why you should use a range of study materials. For example, rather than relying solely on the LearnAppraising material for reviewing USPAP you should also review the USPAP manual itself.
2. It’s not smart phone compatible. It would have been nice to review questions on my iphone during work breaks, but the site is not viewable. That’s ok, because the overall usefulness of the site compensated for this incompatibility.
LearnAppraising Conclusion:
I highly recommend LearnAppraising.com. Did it help me pass the license exam? Absolutely. But a range of other materials – and also my work experience and discipline – also contributed to passing. I studied for 3 weeks straight using LearnAppraising and it paid off!
Interested in Appraising? Check out the Ultimate Appraiser Career Guide!
Get an inside look at being a real estate appraiser
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