Right now where I live, you cannot get a mortgage on a house that does not have a working furnace, a kitchen, or at least a 3/4 bath. It could be something like this.

Is it a foreclosure? Many banks will not give a contingency for getting financing.

When we bought our last foreclosure we had to prove that we had the funds available before they would accept the contract.

It is usually because the agent knows that the house will not qualify for financing for various reasons, as palimpsest said.

Not a foreclosure as far as I can tell. I figured it was something like palimpsest mentioned.