Appraiser’s get a copy of the contract and need to know about concessions and contract terms. My feeling is the appraiser’s are not coming up with fair market valuye but rather an opinion as to whether the price can be justified by recent closed sales. While in theory it should be possible for an appraisal to come in above the purchase price they very very rarely do. The appraiser has nothing to gain by appraising above the sales price and rather can create risk/liability for themselves by doing so.