Real Estate Appraiser Trainee Jobs in Virginia (NOW HIRING)

Salary : $51,610.42 - $86,465.45 Annually
Location : 810 Union Street, Norfolk, VA
Job Type: Unclassified
Job Number: 12600
Department: City Assessor
Opening Date: 10/06/2025
Closing Date: Continuous
Description
The City of Norfolk's Real Estate Assessor's Office is seeking a Real Estate Appraiser.
The Real Estate Appraiser I is responsible for researching, collecting, and analyzing information to arrive at a fair and equitable appraisal of the value of residential real estate. The incumbent will appraise properties, coordinating the tax abatement program, perform sales validations, and complete taxpayer reviews.
The Real Estate Appraiser II performs the above listed duties and appraises residential, institutional, and income-producing properties, including land and improvements, for tax assessment purpose. The incumbent will visit properties to collect, research and analyze information to develop market value appraisals of real estate in a fair and equitable manner. The Real Estate Appraiser II explains the valuation process and appraisals to property owners, analyzes information presented during appeals of value, and resolves conflicts through discussion. The incumbent may be involved in administering the tax abatement program. This position performs sales validations, develops and reviews reports comparing assessments with sales to determine assessment performance.
The Real Estate Appraiser III performs the above listed duties and manages the yearly reassessment of property. The Real Estate Appraiser III will serve as an advisor to fellow appraisers and uses computer software to generate statistical data. The incumbent will monitor the progress of changes to residential properties, manage the integrity of the computer system, and complete taxpayer review.
Real Estate Appraiser I: $51,610.42 to $59,224.14
Real Estate Appraiser II: $59,745.51 to $68,559.34
Real Estate Appraiser III: $70,486.56 to $80,884.94
Essential Functions
Essential functions include, but are not limited to:

• Appraises residential properties by collecting information on-site regarding land and improvement characteristics.
• Reviews sales and permit data to evaluate market conditions.
• Performs on-site investigations to collect additional data as needed; enters physical characteristics into a computer-assisted mass appraisal software system; reviews the resulting value for consistency, equity, and accuracy.
• Explains appraisals to property owners and defends appeals as needed.
• Reviews properties receiving tax exemptions to determine eligibility for continued exemption.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Real Estate Appraiser II:

• Appraises residential, institutional and commercial properties by collecting and reviewing sales and permit data, evaluate property conditions, perform on-site investigations to collect additional data, perform mathematical computations to determine value, and adjust information when appropriate. Establishes a separate land and improvement value as appropriate.
• Performs sales validations and maintains the sales database. Performs data entry, prepares appraisal survey cards and organizes work for efficient field inspections.
• Verifies information submitted for appeals to determine the validity of such information as well as verify the accuracy of tax data.
• Works with property owners to resolve appeals. Works with other property owners, appraisers, real estate agent and brokers, paralegals and attorneys to answer assessment questions, provide data and defend values.

Real Estate Appraiser III:

• Prepares and performs reassessments by generating sales ratio, characteristics, and various other reports, analyzing data, comparing the area to the current market, determining the proper land to building ratio, making recommendations for reassessment, making any necessary changes, verifying accuracy, and running reports to determine the appropriate degree of equity on a city wide scale.
• Monitors the progress of changes to residential properties by measuring physical changes made and determining the effect they have on the value of the property.
• Manages the integrity of the computer system by recording and verifying the accuracy of building permit information in the database, dealing with security issues, training staff on software applications, and making recommendations for improvements.
• Completes taxpayer reviews by explaining the change in assessments to clients and conducting a sales analysis to determine if any adjustments are necessary.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Education/Experience
Real Estate Appraiser I: Work requires knowledge of a specific vocational, administrative, or technical nature which may be obtained with a two year associate's degree, diploma or equivalent from a college, technical, business, vocational, or correspondence school. Appropriate certification may be awarded upon satisfactory completion of advanced study or training.
Six months experience.
The preferred candidate will possess:

• One year of experience related to real estate appraisal, real estate sales or brokerage, geography, construction management, or a similar discipline.
• A Bachelor's Degree.
• A Virginia real estate appraisal license.

An equivalent combination of related work experience and education may be considered at the discretion of the City Assessor.
Real Estate Appraiser II: Work requires knowledge of a specific vocational, administrative, or technical nature related to real estate appraisal; real estate sales or brokerage; geography; construction management; or similar discipline which may be obtained with a four-year degree, associates degree, diploma or equivalent from a college, technical, business, vocational, or correspondence school. An equivalent combination of related work experience and education may be considered at the discretion of the City Assessor.
Over two years' experience in Mass Appraisal or Assessment, real estate appraisal, real estate sales or brokerage, geography, construction management or similar discipline.
Real Estate Appraiser III: Work requires knowledge of a specific vocational, administrative, or technical nature which may be obtained with a two year associate's degree, diploma or equivalent from a college, technical, business, vocational, or correspondence school. Appropriate certification may be awarded upon satisfactory completion of advanced study or training.
Over three years experience in Real Estate, and microcomputers.
Additional Information & Requirements

• Valid Driver's License

Real Estate Appraiser II:

• Related state sanctioned on Mass Appraisal Procedures and Techniques courses (IAAO 101, 102, 300, 171 and 151 are preferred). Courses offered by the Appraisal Institute, the American Society of Appraisers or similar organizations may be considered for equivalency by the City Assessor.

Real Estate Appraiser III:

• Advanced courses sanctioned by State or National Appraisal organizations that lead to appraisal certification.

Work Hours: Monday to Friday, 40 hours per week. Flexible schedule may apply.

• Regular full-time and permanent part-time employees may receive paid holidays, vacation and sick leave, employer paid pension plan, basic life insurance, voluntary participation in medical and dental, Section 457 deferred compensation, long-term disability, optional life insurance for self, spouse and children, medical and dependent care reimbursement plans, access to membership in credit union and employer provided parking.
  
• Special project/grant employees are generally eligible for the same benefits of regular full-time employees; however, retirement, life insurance and participation in health plans vary depending upon funding and authorization.
  
• Temporary/seasonal and part-time employees are generally only eligible for employer provided parking and access to membership in credit union.
  
• Retirement

If you are hired October 5, 2010, or after to a position with City of Norfolk Retirement System benefits, you will be required to contribute five percent (5%) of your salary toward your retirement benefit. This will be a pre-tax payroll deduction.
If you are hired January 1, 2022, or after to a position with Virginia Retirement System (VRS) benefits, you will be required to contribute five percent (5%) of your salary toward your retirement benefit. This will be a pre-tax payroll deduction.

• The Tuition Assistance Program is established to encourage employees toward continued self-development and education. Permanent full-time and permanent part-time classified, unclassified permanent, full-time special projects, and constitutional employees who have completed six months continuous service will be eligible to apply. The applicant's school of enrollment must be an accredited institution.

NOTE:
The benefits described above are broad generalizations. The specific benefits that an employee may be eligible for are governed by City regulations, as applicable to job type.
Non-City
Positions listed with a job type designation of "Non-City" are not subject to the benefits descriptions above. Refer to the content of the job posting for information regarding these positions.
01
The following Supplemental Questions are specific to the position for which you have applied to assist the hiring manager in screening applications for specific experience being sought. Please be specific in answering these questions as they will be used to evaluate which applications will be given further consideration in the process. Do not answer "see resume" or "see application" as these are not valid answers. Please note that if you are invited to be interviewed by the department, your responses to the following questions may be subject to verification.

• I understand and will answer the following supplemental questions completely and thoroughly.

02
Please select the highest level of education you have completed.

• High School Diploma/GED
• Some College (6 months or more)
• Vocational/Technical Degree
• Associate's Degree
• Bachelor's Degree
• Master's Degree or higher

03
Please indicate your years of experience performing the functions of a Real Estate Appraiser.

• Less than six (6) months of experience
• 6 months to 1 year of experience
• 1 to 2 years of experience
• 2 to 3 years of experience
• More than three (3) years of experience
• I do not have any experience

04
Please indicate if you are currently licensed by the Commonwealth of Virginia as a Certified General Real Estate Appraiser, Certified Residential Real Estate Appraiser or are a Certified Assessment Evaluator designated by the IAAO. (Select all that apply)

• I am currently a Certified General Real Estate Appraiser
• I am currently a Certified Assessment Evaluator
• I am currently a Certified Residential Real Estate Appraiser
• I do not have any of the above certifications

05
Please indicate if you have current experience with any of the following: (Select all that apply)

• Attend administrative hearings with property owners or representatives
• Attend Circuit Court as an expert witness
• Review appraisals to assure proper application of approved methodology, logic and make recommendations for revisions as necessary
• Maintain appraisal and reviews records to ensure compliance with federal and state regulations
• Appraise complex properties such as waterfront and commercial
• Conduct market studies and prepare gross appraisals for reports
• Provide technical leadership and guidance to team members regarding policy and regulatory guidance
• I do not have any of the above experience

06
I understand that as a condition of employment, this position serves at the will of the City Assessor.

• Yes
• No

07
This position requires the performance of physical work in an outdoor setting in a variety of weather conditions. Are you able to work during inclement weather conditions and outside of normally scheduled work hours?

• Yes
• No

08
Are you a current or previous City of Norfolk employee?

• Yes - I am a current City of Norfolk Employee
• Yes - I am a previous City of Norfolk Employee
• No - I am not a previous or current City of Norfolk employee

09
Please provide an explanation of any periods of unemployment that are 30 days or longer. Indicate N/A if you have not experienced any periods of unemployment.
10
A conviction (felony or misdemeanor) does not necessarily eliminate you from employment consideration. A criminal background check is conducted on all new hires. Failure to disclose all criminal convictions may result in disqualification from employment consideration or may result in dismissal from City of Norfolk employment if you have been hired. The nature of the offense; the time that has passed since the offense, conduct and/or completion of the sentence; and the nature of the job sought may be taken into consideration. Have you ever been convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor?

• I have been convicted of a felony
• I have been convicted of a misdemeanor
• I have been convicted of a felony and a misdemeanor
• I have not been convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor

11
If you answered, that you have been convicted of a felony and/or a misdemeanor, please provide an explanation including the city, state and date of the conviction. This excludes minor traffic violations such as speeding tickets.
12
Please indicat