With all of the bank owned properties out there it is really important to make sure that you read the fine print on some the bank owned property purchase agreement addendum's. You don't want your clients to be surprised when they get to the closing table that they need hundreds of extra dollars that they weren't expecting. This is the verbiage that is in the purchase agreements you need to be aware of....... 

"Regardless of local custom, requirements for practice and notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the contract of sale or any other addenda, seller will not pay any fees, costs, or expenses not expressly provided for in this addendum." 

If you see this phrase in a purchase agreement seller's addendum, it means the seller (or bank)will NOT pay any customary sellers fees (Like Seller Title Fees) which can up the buyer's responsibility by anywhere from a few hundred dollars to over a thousand dollars.

There are some newer agents out there that don't understand this verbiage and allow their buyers to sign these counter-addendum's without realizing the consequences. We want those agents to be aware of what this means for the buyer before they sign it. Many buyers are purchasing a home on FHA financing with very little money down and don't have the extra funds to pay for these customary seller fees.  There's not much that we as lenders can do because by the time we get a fully-executed purchase agreement on our desk, the buyer has already signed and agreed to those terms without understanding that the seller will not pay for them and will also not allow them to be paid for as part of the agreed "seller paid closing costs".  

We have had some buyers sign purchase agreements lately without fully understanding what this means and when the file gets to us, we have to explain to them that they need to come up with more money for closing to cover the normal seller related fees.  We'd like to catch this before it gets that far and save alot of headache to the buyers agent, the listing agent and the buyer.  

Most of you are already aware of this but for some of you that were not aware this information may save you some unnecessary problems.