Realtors are full of bad advice. I once put a very low bid on a house because it had awful wall-to-wall carpeting covering the hardwood floors, paneling on the walls, and plastic brick surrounding the fireplace. My offer was accepted, I bought the house, and I immediately began removing all of the horrible carpeting, paneling, and brick. The previous owner came over to pick up some things he had forgotten in one of the closets and was appalled to see what I was doing. He and his wife had made those "improvements" on the advice of the realtor before putting the house of the market and had paid big bucks for them. I didn't compound his misery by telling him I would have paid more for the house if it hadn't been for the hideous prospect of having to tear out all of the "improvements" before I could move in.
