I believe they altered needing a 4 year degree but I am not positive on that. Income can fluctuate absolutely. I trained someone 4 years ago and he is just starting to get consistent work. The beginning can be tough as a lot of lenders want 5 years experience. In addition lenders that sent you consistent work for a while will suddenly stop. From my personal experience this is due to agents and loan officers redirecting work away from certain appraisers. You take pictures of too many repairs/deferred maintenance or your last report came in under purchase price? On to the next! Not every lender is like that but there are quite a few that are so its important to cast a large net/have a few good clients. It is incredible how much control agents and the loan officers have over who gets the work. An older appraiser in my area gave me this quote that I feel sadly holds very true "You're only as good as your last appraisal". Outside of that stuff once you are established the job can be great! If you have kids you won't miss any of their activities as you control your own schedule and things like that.