A realtor might have suggested making the repairs they can't afford, or might have warned them that it would take months to find an interested buyer because of the repairs.  

Pump and Dump due diligence schemes are as old as Real Estate my dad warned me of them when I first started in RE in 1975....

What this means is that no traditional mortgage company will finance the home as the 2nd lien holder so if you plan on refinancing or selling the home, you have to pay off the "program" to be able to do so.(3) Some of these "programs" have penalties attached for early pay off or transfer of loan to another.(4)  The interest rates on these "programs" for these loans are high as many of them do not use credit scores to qualify people seeking the loans.Finally, there was a recent news article in my local paper about the "HERO" program [one of the green programs] which warned about using the program for these very reasons:**Beth Mills, a spokeswoman for California Banking Association, said in a telephone interview that any program that makes homes more energy-efficient is valuable, but the financing structure is problematic.

This usually takes 2-4 weeks to receive this refund.3) Lenders are afraid of a "charge back," because if a borrower pays off our loan too early (conventional, FHA, VA, USDA loans, etc) we are warned that we get charged back our commission.

It's unfortunate, and I wanted to warn the group and maybe save someone lots of trouble.

I'm simply saying this as a warning to him and other people as this has happened to me before.

It's always better to lean more towards the side grace than being stern.

Definitely appreciate the warnings.

When I was considering a remodel on my own home a friend who used to be in construction warned me not to pay until the work was completed.

Wow, Multiple Red Flag Warnings!