Because of the low inventory, real estate purchase offers are exceeding the contract price by tens of thousands of dollars. Even with an agreement on the purchase price, buyers still need their lenders to appraise properties.Appraisals are based on comparables — prices of other like-kind properties within a reasonably small radius. That radius will change based on the number of property sales in the area, as well as the proximity in time for sales of similar properties.The standard rule of thumb is that if a property …