Sure, you may find a buyer who is willing to overlook the appraised value for one reason or another in favor of paying list or close to list despite a lower appraised amount. If financing the purchase, the buyers will need to close the gap between the amount they'll be able to get financed and the agreed upon purchase price to make the deal happen (if the seller won't come down and match the appraised value).

This exact scenario happened when my husband (who was my boyfriend at the time) bought his first house. The lender's appraisal came in $8k lower than offered/accepted amount. The sellers refused to budge, so he came up with the additional $8k to close. His other option would have been to walk away under the financing contingency. He paid the extra out of pocket because he felt the neighborhood was quickly appreciating, he had toured about 60 homes and this was the only one that met his criteria, and because he was in a bad living situation and needed out as quickly as possible.

The trick is not knowing what % of the buying pool would be willing to do this. Probably not a high percentage so the seller is taking a real risk by sticking with their higher list price.

In theory, sure, a home can sell above the appraisal for someone who has the funds to pay that extra in cash. In practice, on the low end of the price spectrum where you are talking about, tat's not gonna happen. The buyers with extra cash would already be looking at more expensive houses rather than over pay for a lower priced house. And then there are those that simply wouldn't have the extra at all. That's gonna be a majority on the lower end of the price scale.

Two different appraisers will come up with two different values...guaranteed. An appraisal is not an exact science and comps change daily in many markets.