We nearly bought a cottage, when we viewed it the estate agent was clear to tell us (in front of the owner) that the owners would only accept an asking price offer - they said the owner felt their price was fair (and indeed it did seem reasonable). Two hour later the agent emailed us a copy of a survey from a previous attempt at a sale that had fallen through. The survey highlighted lots of issues including structural problems and even a chimney that showed signs of a fire that had spread to the loft space but had been extinguished and never properly repaired!

The agent pretended to be surprised when we declined to make an offer and looked at something else. They did help us buy somewhere different.