General Accredited Appraiser – National Association of Realtors

GAA designation (source: National Association of Realtors® - http://www.realtor.org/appsourc.nsf/pages/designationinformation)

GAA – General Accredited Appraiser is a designation awarded to appraisers by the National Association of Realtors ® that specialize in commercial, industrial, and income producing properties.

In 1991, the National Association of Realtors ® established “The Appraisal Section” after the former American Institute of Real Estate Appraisers voted to disaffiliate with NAR and merge with the society of Real Estate Appraisers to form the Appraisal Institute. In 1994, the section created two designations, GAA and RAA, for Appraisal Section members who meet tested education requirements that exceed the requirements for state licensing. Appraisers may obtain both designations. The program was approved by NAR’s Board of Directors at the 1993 Annual Convention.

Criteria for the GAA designation are:

• Must be a REALTOR® or have Institute Affiliate membership in the National Association of Realtors®.  An Institute Affiliate member must be a designee of one of the following five (5) NAR affiliates:  Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM), Commercial Investment Real Estate Institute (CCIM), REALTORS® Land Institute (RLI), Society of Industrial and Office REALTORS® (SIOR), and the Counselors of Real Estate (CRE).\Must be a State General Appraiser. 
• A minimum of 1,000 hours experience in addition to the experience required to obtain state certification.
• Completed 60 hours of tested course work in addition to the Appraiser Qualification Board’s education requirement at the time of certification.

RAA is one of two appraisal designations with the strength and tradition of the REALTOR® name!