Selling "As Is" = Free From Liability... Myth or Reality?

[Account Closed]

This question pertains to an investor selling a property they own.

Given my own experience in being asked to conceal problems (which I won't do under any circumstance) as well as having encountered on several occasions, problems that show-up on flipped properties after settlement*, and conversations with other investment professionals regarding their position on this topic, I'm curious to hear from the legal community here, as well as thoughts from the masses as to their understanding on this subject: 

Does selling a property "as is" provide investors with full protection from liability, under any and all circumstances?  Are investors given the same lay-person leeway in these transactions as homeowners and REOs, or are investors held to a higher standard legally?

Scenario Example: Investor acquires a property they intend to flip.  The property has some serious mold issues (in part why it was so inexpensive to acquire).  The investor has the mold remediation performed (since it's another topic altogether, let's assume for the sake of argument that the mold removal was done legally).  However, the investor does not correct the problem that led to the mold to develop in the first place.  Given that temporary conditions or measures (e.g., drought, adding downspout extensions, etc.), may easily prevent the underlying cause of the mold formation to go into abeyance, or otherwise render the condition as one that is not readily identifiable/observable (by the purchaser or their inspector), has the investor, whether through lack of knowledge in understanding that mold is not, in and of itself, the problem, but rather evidence of another problem (and so did not correct the underlying cause) or simply from a lack of ethics, free from accountability if the property is sold "as is"?  In short, are investors off the hook if they put lipstick on a pig simply by selling a property with the words "as is"?

Thanks!

*Real world scenario: I had a homeowner reach out to me as their basement had flooded (for a second or third time since they owned it - usually following excessive rainfall)... they had purchased a detached single family property that had been rehabbed and sold via the open/MLS market (so it may not have been sold as "as is")... the homeowner was surprised to learn that I had looked at that house when it was on the market (prior to being rehabbed) and shared with them the major mold problem that existed there (and therefore, moisture problem)... of course, with all the new basement walls and floor coverings...