How much can Real Estate Agents bend the truth?

[Shawn Root]

I went to an "open house" yesterday to see a relatively low priced home in a decent part of town. The home is listed on the MLS and part of the description read

"ALL ROOMS ARE VERY GOOD SIZE. HOUSE IS IN GOOD CONDITION...JUST NEEDS SOME UPDATING ..SOLD AS IS"

When my agent requested more info, they got something like this:

House needs minor leveling. Master bath surround tile needs to be redone. A french drain at the backyard will be a good investment. Showing the house tomorrow at 6pm. This one will not last as we have had lots of interest.

It was being listed for 99.9K and the agent who listed it estimated that it would fetch 125K in good condition.

I hope no one buys that house for the asking price.  They will lose money. The "minor leveling" would probably be an extensive slab repair.  There are diagonal cracks running through some of the sheet-rock.  

The reason that the house was shown "open-house" style is, ostensibly, to minimize the impact to the existing tenants. The tenants, unfortunately, didn't even know that it was going to be happening and were very distraught. They are worried that they have to move out (because the person who took the pics for the MLS listing told them so) but the owner hasn't told them anything. The master bath tile that needs to be redone was a huge hole in the surround that happened four years ago and has been covered with a shower curtain liner ever since. Most likely, there is significant termite damage since the tenant reported that "bugs" ran out when the hole happened. The owner told them that he couldn't fix it because they don't make that tile anymore.

As the agent, who clearly was unfamiliar with the property, walked through it he kept saying things like "as you can see, it's very clean...just needs some minor cosmetic work."  The house was filthy - I mean really filthy - and stank of cigarettes and dog....oh, did I mention the two pit-bulls that prevented a thorough walk-around of the property?

On a rough walk-through, I would guess that (at a minimum) you would need 30K of repairs and likely much more.  

Tree removal (causing foundation and possibly plumbing issues)

Re-sod backyard (big mud pit due to tree and dogs) along with french drain installation.

all new flooring

Full gut of at least one bathroom - probably both

Foundation issues

Myriad smaller repairs (broken doors and door frames, etc.)

That's not minor cosmetic issues.

Sorry, this is probably more of a rant than an actual question, but it is really annoying that the agent was so clearly lying to my face.  Additionally, this landlord was really making the rest of us look bad.  How can you not fix an enormous hole in the shower wall for four years?  I think that the tenants didn't complain because they were paying far below market rent for a property of that size, plus finding a place to rent with those dogs would be a challenge.