My father was an appraiser. It was his 3rd and last career, and the one he had the longest. He liked the job, but retired from it as soon as he could. Positives are that you're a one-man band, and on-site visits don't usually take very long; most of the job is paperwork that can be done at home anytime. It's not physically taxing, though it requires mobility.
Negatives. When you're working on comps, occasionally you get the cops called on you, since you're driving around taking photos of houses. Once, in a rural area, the homeowner gave chase in his car, though it turned out okay when Dad pulled over and explained. Also, dogs and terrible conditions. Mom could never buy new furniture because my father's standards had been lowered by seeing that most people live like rats in a nest.
He could never raise his rate. He knew all the other appraisers' rates, and no one was able to break the $400/appraisal mark (this is a midsized town, Midwest, 5 yrs ago). If you tried, the banks stopped hiring you. His rate was $300-$350 from the late 80s to 2010.
You have to open checking accounts at banks you want to hire you, and you have to go in, physically, and flirt with their reps. They give business to people they like. My folks had 10+ checking accounts, spread all over town.
As banks nationalized, they would insist on coastal standards for appraisals that were unreasonable in the Midwest. For example, they would send back some of his cases multiple times, INSISTING that the comps be within 1 mile, have the same number of bedrooms, etc. Unfortunately, the one-room shack in question was 2 or 3 miles from the nearest dwelling, which was a 4-br McMansion. His explanations were met with radio silence.
He hatched his escape plan during the boom, when banks put the pressure on for inflated appraisals, which he felt was unethical. They don't have to be overt about it, though they sometimes were. If you turn in an appraisal, and that bank doesn't hire you again for 6 months, you know they are displeased.
You have to retain the appraisals for 5 years or something. My folks had a basement full of document boxes. Try downsizing your home with all that around! Twice, his appraisals were contested in court, years after the fact. He never had to appear, but sent the lawyer his written explanation, and won both times.
So, it's not a panacea, but it's a good gig. Dad offered his business to me several years before he retired... I seriously considered it, but didn't want to return to my hometown.
At his height, I think he made ~$70,000/yr. That was when he had my retired mother doing most of the data-entry, so he could take on more cases.
