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BREA appraiser licensing

California Real Estate Appraisal: California licensing, exams, and education

Understand California trainee, licensed residential, certified residential, and certified general pathways without confusing appraisal credentials with DRE sales licenses.

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California qualification roadmap

How to qualify for a California real estate appraiser credential

Choose the target appraisal credential before buying education. Each upgrade changes the qualifying hours, college education, experience, work samples, and examination requirements.

  1. 1

    Choose the appraisal level

    Compare Trainee, Licensed Residential, Certified Residential, and Certified General scope and identify whether the application is initial or an upgrade from an existing credential.

  2. 2

    Complete approved qualifying education

    Finish the AQB module hours plus California supervision, cultural competency, bias, and laws courses required for the chosen level through approved providers and delivery methods.

  3. 3

    Establish supervision and experience

    For the trainee path, affiliate with a qualified supervisory appraiser. For licensed or certified credentials, document the required hours and minimum months using BREA's experience log or an accepted PAREA or practicum alternative.

  4. 4

    Submit the BREA application

    File the current application, education log, fingerprints, college documentation where required, experience log, fees, and any background explanation or selected work samples.

  5. 5

    Pass the national examination

    After BREA approves eligibility for a licensed or certified level, schedule the correct National Uniform Licensing and Certification Examination and pass within the allowed eligibility period.

  6. 6

    Maintain the four-year CE cycle

    Track both two-year renewals, complete the seven-hour USPAP update in each half, and document all 56 hours and California-specific subjects within the CE cycle.

Official California requirements

What the licensing authority requires

Reviewed July 21, 2026

California appraisal credentials are separate from Department of Real Estate salesperson and broker licenses. BREA applies AQB education, examination, and experience criteria plus California-specific education and background requirements.

Authority: California Bureau of Real Estate Appraisers (BREA)

Trainee and licensed residential

  • A Trainee Appraiser is at least 18 and completes 83 hours of AQB basic education plus California's four-hour Supervisor/Trainee course, one-hour Cultural Competency course, and four-hour Laws and Regulations course: 92 hours total. No prior experience or licensing exam is required for the trainee credential.
  • A Licensed Residential applicant completes 158 hours of basic education plus the one-hour Cultural Competency and four-hour Laws and Regulations courses, earns 1,000 experience hours over at least six months, and passes the national examination after BREA approves eligibility.
  • Qualifying and California-specific trainee education must generally fall within the five years immediately before the trainee application.

Certified residential and certified general

  • Certified Residential requires an approved college-education pathway, 200 hours of appraisal qualifying education, California-specific education, and 1,500 experience hours over at least 12 months.
  • Certified General requires a bachelor's degree or higher, 300 hours of appraisal qualifying education, California-specific education, and 3,000 experience hours over at least 18 months; 1,500 hours must be non-residential.
  • Licensed and certified applicants receive examination eligibility after BREA reviews education, experience logs, background materials, and selected appraisal work samples. The current handbook allows five exam attempts within one year of eligibility.

Renewal and USPAP cycle

  • BREA normally uses a four-year continuing-education cycle divided across two two-year license terms.
  • The first renewal in the cycle documents a seven-hour National USPAP Update. The second documents 49 additional hours, including another seven-hour USPAP Update, for 56 hours across the cycle.
  • The 15-hour National USPAP qualifying course and seven-hour updates have distinct AQB instructor, licensing, course-approval, attendance, examination, and certificate rules.

How 101PD becomes an approved provider

  • BREA course-provider accreditation and course approval are separate submissions. Current regulations list a $300 provider application review fee and a $200 review fee per ordinary course.
  • Distance-education offerings must also hold IDECC approval. USPAP offerings require the applicable Appraisal Foundation licensing or equivalency evidence and an AQB-certified instructor who is a certified appraiser in good standing.
  • The special BREA course fee is $350 for the 15-hour National USPAP qualifying course and $50 for the seven-hour USPAP continuing-education course.
  • 101PD qualifying and CE products remain training-only and $0 until every provider, course, distance-delivery, instructor, and certificate condition is proven.

Verify with the licensing authority

Agency rules control. Requirements can change and individual eligibility varies. 101PD identifies whether each course is professional training or regulator-approved credit; exam preparation is never represented as statutory credit.

Choose your licensing stage

Everything for this profession, in one row.

BREA qualifying education, the national appraiser examination, supervised experience, and the four-year continuing-education cycle. Colors identify the stage; they never imply approval.

Exam prep: 1 option. Focused California exam outlines, practice questions, readiness checks, and progress tracking.

Exam prep

Professional training or exam-preparation material. No CE/MCLE/CPE credit hours are issued.

California Real Estate Appraiser License Exam Prep

California Real Estate Appraiser License Exam Prep with California-specific scope, transparent credential information, and secure enrollment when available.

$99.00

20 hours

View details

What the learning experience includes

The depth of a full training site, without the clutter.

California-specific roadmap

A plain-language path from education through exam readiness and renewal, separated by the stage of the license.

Detailed course outlines

Every course page exposes learning objectives, a section-level syllabus, sample material, assessment rules, and FAQs.

Practice and readiness checks

Quizzes support learning; server-graded finals, timers, retries, and recovery rules follow the applicable track configuration.

Progress that follows you

Resume reading and learning from the account portal, with state, deadlines, and completion evidence calculated by the server.

Clear eligibility on every card

Exam preparation, professional training, and regulator-recognized credit are labeled separately and never blended into one sales claim.

Completion evidence

Downloadable certificates, verification pages, and regulator instructions appear only in the form the course status permits.

Course-level detail

Open the syllabus before you join.

Continuing education

California Real Estate Appraiser Continuing Education

No course listings are currently available in this track.

Exam prep

California Real Estate Appraiser Exam Preparation

Prelicensing

California Real Estate Appraiser Qualifying Education

No course listings are currently available in this track.

How 101PD works

Know the path before creating an account.

  1. 1

    Choose the stage

    Start with prelicensing, exam preparation, or continuing education.

  2. 2

    Inspect the course

    Read its syllabus, sample, status, hours, assessment format, and package relationships.

  3. 3

    Enroll or request updates

    Available content opens the appropriate secure enrollment path. Other offerings accept a single availability request.

  4. 4

    Learn and document

    Resume from the portal, complete the configured assessments, and receive the permitted completion evidence.

Common questions

Before you choose a track

How is pricing handled?

Permanent public-exam practice remains free. Eligible professional products show their regular price and may display a launch promotion at secure checkout.

Are prelicensing, exam prep, and continuing education the same?

No. They serve different stages of a license. This page keeps them together for comparison while every card states its own purpose and credit status.

What do I receive after completion?

Training completions receive an honest training certificate. Regulator-credit certificates are issued only when the specific course and provider approval permit them.

What is the comparable market fee?

When a defensible public comparison exists, the product card names the provider, comparable offer, checked date, and source price. It is context only: the listed 101PD price controls, and a comparison never creates approval or credit rights.

When does secure checkout appear?

Secure Stripe checkout appears only for an enrollable product. Every page states whether the result is exam preparation, professional training, or regulator-recognized credit.