Renting a house thats for sale

[Jilissa K.]

Ok I just recently signed the lease on a beautiful house, already though, I'm having issues with it.
The first things are minor annoyances and inconveniences, and aren't the main reason for this post, but this is a build up of things.
The house is owned by a young woman and her mother. From what I can tell, they buy a lot of real estate and then resell, as well as rent. This house was on the market for sale. They posted an ad on craigslist looking for renters and so I fell in love with the place and signed the lease.
The house is located in Pennsylvania and we have very cold winters here. One of the problems is that they had all of the utilities shut off including the water all winter long and there must have been some in the pipes that froze. Because after we had the water turned on it began to rain from the livingroom ceiling. Also there were no doors on the bedrooms or bathroom upstairs as well as the basement. And finally, there was furniture in the house that we didn't need and was to be moved. Now these are all minor complaints because this stuff is sloooowly but surely being taken care of. The water leak was fixed and the ceiling is being patched up, but all the plaster and saw dust all over the house is making it so we can't really move in because we can't even clean. The construction is ongoing and I believe it must be people doing it that have day jobs and can only dedicate a couple hours at a time at the work in our house. Not only that we have also recently discovered that the bathtub doesn't drain and there is no water pressure in the kitchen. The landlord has been made aware and I'm PRAYING this gets taken care of soon as we can't live in a house where we can't bathe. And I don't think spending hours to wash dishes without water pressure will be fun either.
Ok, now here is for the stuff that is irritating me a lot. When we signed the lease the landlord said to us, "I'm going to unlist the house, and take down the sign, but just be aware that if someone comes to us looking for a house like that in that area, that we might bring people to see it from time to time." We agreed to that.
Anyway, the realtor lock box is still on the door. If the house is unlisted now, doesn't that mean the real estate agent no longer is showing the house? I mean, I know the landlord said she might still show if, but doesn't unlisting a house mean unlisting it with the real estate agency? Am I mistaken about this? And here is the reason this is making me upset. Last week, we went and picked up some stuff in another state to bring to the house and when we got back to the house it was very late and we decided to sleep there although there were no beds, it was easier than driving to my current house that the lease hasn't ended on yet. The next day we are awakened by loud knocking on the door. We get up to go answer and before we are able to get downstairs someone just walks right into the house.
I hear a man yell, "I'm the real estate agent. I wanted to see the work that is being done. By the way, I'm bringing people over tomorrow at 2 to see the house. Will you be here?" We reply that no, we will not and then he sounds irritated that we won't be there. Um yeah... I don't know many people who like to sleep in a house with no beds after working a 12 hours night shift. I plan on sleeping in a bed at that time in a house that still has my damn beds.
Perhaps I'm wrong about this, but this seems messed up to me. Did I misunderstand what the landlord meant when she said the house will be "unlisted". Do real estate agents still show unlisted houses? Is it normal for real estate agents to show houses that the new tenants haven't even moved into yet? And why the hell did the guy just walk into my house? Can they do this? Will he do this when I'm in the shower? Will I ever just walk out of the bathroom to find him standing there to inform me of ppl coming to see the house? I'm so confused. Help.

[Jon Holdman]

The first question is "why did you lease a house under these circumstances"? It has incomplete construction and its for sale. I hope you're getting a screaming deal.

Yes, houses can be for sale without being listed. People do it all the time. FSBO - for sale by owner. And, yes, RE agents might show such a house. She told you she was going to continue to try to sell the house and you agreed. So, you're pretty much stuck with people showing up and having a look around.

You might be able to insist on 24 hours notice to show the house. Does you lease say anything about that?

Have you already signed a lease and paid your deposit and first months rent? Otherwise, I'd just move on and find some other place.

Does the lease address what happens if the place is sold? Normally leases follow the property, and the buyer would be required to honor your lease. But if there are provisions that terminate the lease, or if this is a month to month lease, you could be out as soon as its sold.