With it being largely a seller's market in Houston, houses are often going for full price, and above list price in most cases. That's great for sellers, and almost a must for buyers to secure a home nowadays. And since the demand is so high and the rates and inventory mutually low, the market doesn't appear to be changing anytime soon. So, what's the problem? 

The problem is when the APPRAISAL comes in. Just because it's a seller's market doesn't mean the value of homes have kept up with the demand. According to reports found on the Trulia website, homes in Houston were as much as 2% overvalued in the current market but cautioned that this is simply a rebound, not another bubble, at least for now. I have personally seen amongst my team over five homes not appraise in the last month or so.

It's a fundamental problem. Lenders are being assigned appraisers that may or may not know the area. Appraisers then review the homes sold in a particular neighborhood over the past year, looking for comparable home sales on which to base their appraisals. It's just a lot of those numbers may be obsolete given that the booming real estate market in Houston has been particularly dynamic in the past six months. The result can be an appraisal that comes in below the sale price and below what everybody expected.

This process is hard any way you look at it for all parties involved. The appraisers do the best they can do with the information available. Your Realtor is there to educate you on what your home of choice should be valued (approximately). Just know going into it, that this issue has become more and more common. Have a game plan in place as a result. Good luck!