Step 13 - The Appraisal.
The Buyer's lender always requires that a property be appraised prior to funding. The Lender will order an appraisal which is paid for by the buyer- usually C.O.D. Average appraisals run $300-$600 depending on the size of the property. Your real estate agent will make sure that the appraisal is ordered and advise you if you need to pay upfront.
Only if you have excessively overpaid for a property will you have an appraisal problem, and this rarely happens. Furthermore, you can be protected from the rare occurrence of overpaying for a property if you stipulate in your RPA that the property must at least appraise for the purchase price.