Appraisals derailing many home sales nationwide

In addition to the tighter lending standards banks are now requiring from those looking to buy Houston homes, multiple reports have highlighted the problems the appraisal process is causing across the country.

Realtors say that low and conservative appraisals are causing a number of different issues in home sales nationwide. In many situations, buyers and sellers will agree on what they feel is a fair price for the home. But when the bank's appraiser comes in with a much lower value, the seller either needs to lower their price or see the deal stopped completely.

"The appraisers have so much power to kill deals," Jennifer Snyder, president of the St. Paul Area Association of Realtors, told the Pioneer Press.

Appraisers told the paper that they're simply trying to gauge what a property is worth in the current environment, which means they have to take into account the effect of nearby foreclosures and other factors.

Those looking to buy a home near other foreclosed properties may find its value is somewhat reduced. A study last year by researchers at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that a home could lose 1 percent of its value just by being within 250 feet of one foreclosure.