Importance of an Appraisal

[JC Greyling]

This is a newbie question trying to learn the true value of a 'so called low' appraisal. We offered on a new rental property and it went under contract. Using the BP calculator it looked all well, then the appraiser came back and put the appraisal about $2k under our offer price. The property is in another state but our agent reckons it is still good. My gut tells me to offer at least $2k under appraisal at least (we got about $5-6k worth of fixing to do in next 3 years). Question - if our agent and broker says appraisal was too low, do we accept their word or negotiate? Is a rental purely cash flow or is it prudent to look at the possibility if we need to offload the property in the next 3 years say at the appraisal? Over analyzing....