Although it is a fictitious story I know it can happen not only when buying a house but also when buying objects in boxes that other people sell pointing out that they are in good condition. I have known that when they open their packages they don't get anything new inside and can't complain because the seller disappears.
Today children and elderly people are trained in deception by other people to give the impression of being very innocent and then prove otherwise.
The person in my story was carried away by sentimentality, she did not look through the windows because she never thought she would buy the house so fast and even less than the saleswoman would be so clever with her words being a little old lady.