I wish I were exaggerating when I say that the owners/landlords don't care if you're unhappy because someone else is waiting in line behind you, however in most cases this is how it works here.As if everything I wrote about last night weren't enough - note that we do NOT have an MLS or even a National Association of Realtors presence here (NAR exists here but is completely irrelevant).  

A suggestion: there should be a "dislike" feature for listings in the marketplace where the user is clearly exaggerating the rehab costs and the resale costs of their "deal."

My evaluation of this program is that they totally exaggerated their data/results and made you feel like it was going to be a cakewalk.

A few examples of the many lines that would be crossed by doing this (I stopped looking for examples after around Article 10, I'm sure there are my others):Article 1: When serving a buyer, seller, landlord, tenant or other party in a non-agency capacity, REALTORS® remain obligated to treat all parties honestly.Article 2: REALTORS® shall avoid exaggeration, misrepresentation, or concealment of pertinent facts relating to the property or the transaction.Article 4: REALTORS® shall not acquire an interest in or buy or present offers from themselves, any member of their immediate families, their firms or any member thereof, or any entities in which they have any ownership interest, any real property without making their true position known to the owner or the owner’s agent or broker.Article 5: REALTORS® shall not undertake to provide professional services concerning a property or its value where they have a present or contemplated interest unless such interest is specifically disclosed to all affected parties.Article 7: In a transaction, REALTORS® shall not accept compensation from more than one party, even if permitted by law, without disclosure to all parties and the informed consent of the REALTOR®’s client or clients.Close on the deal yourself or broker it to someone else who can.

Just like others, you're exaggerating the situation.

Some of the numbers I see on the examples are exaggerated, but either way leverage will give you a way better return

The heirs had an exaggerated idea of what one of the properties was worth, but I entered a contract at their asking price to get everything locked up. 

Excuse me, but $3.5M is a starting point now....well I don't want to exaggerate. 

But maybe I exaggerate.  

I know most of the literature on the topic exaggerates the recession, which serves to get clicks on articles, but is there any data that points to a lingering cold market and drastic price drops ?