But, it's not like this whole STR policy change (A) was a surprise or (B) is final and set in stone yet or (C) necessarily means people will follow the new rules exactly. 

Not saying the agent was right, but I'm often surprised that my wife or I has to sign at title some deed or form for separately owned real property.

I had a few people who surprised me when they showed interest, including people from my day job!

I talked to another company called Arcana, based out of Dallas, at the last REI meeting who had some surprisingly low rates, but have not checked them out personally.

I know a person who wanted a piece of raw land to pay for a child's college, and was surprised and angry that it took over a year to sell raw land in the country.

Good surprises are few and far between in the buy, repair, hold, rent business.

In many of the podcast episodes they talk about the value of finding a mentor but you need to bring value to the table don't just pick a random person and say surprise you're my mentor.

Then I received a surprise bill with this message."

The place was a bit cleaner than usual- surprise!

Granted, the listing agent/owner should be able to paint a very clear picture of what you can expect to see as far as the condition of the unit so there aren't any surprises that kill the deal after the contract is signed.