Homepath (Fannie Mae) home EQUIPMENT questions

[Sam Leon]

This may be more appropriate in the REO section but I decided to post it here because there may be relevance beyond that.

I have a contract to purchase a Fannie Mae homepath home. Buyer has accepted but contract not yet fully executed, as many know the way FNMA works is you make the offer, they give you a verbal acknowledgement, then you have 5 days to "formalize" your offer with their REO addendum, then they turn around and execute the contract.

This home has some high end stainless steel kitchen appliances, Supra washer dryer combos (two of them), Dorn Bracht faucets, brand new air conditioning units for outside Gazebos, steam shower body jet roman tub modular units, Miele dishwasher, 48" long SS outside BBQ unit, etc etc etc...and because the home was never 100% finished, some of those appliances were not hooked up or installed, they sort of sat in their space but some still had styrofoam wraps around them or manuals taped over them.

So, I listed all those in my contract to purchase, where you typically list included items, like ceiling fans, window treatment blah blah blah.

The Listing Agent wiped all that out. Saying Fannie Mae does not gurantee any appliances or anything still be in the home at the time of closing. They don't know anything. If it's bought, leased, paid for, not paid for, someone could come and haul them all away.

I asked LA if she thinks I should deduct from my offer price the total of all those things because they were priced in. She said no, because they could still be there after closing but they just don't want the liability of it. She said this is a Fannie Mae POLICY and there is no way around it. I have done another Fannie Mae deal in 2012 which fell apart due to a title issue on the day prior to closing, and the listing agent then didn't object to me listing out items included with the sale. So was there a policy change?

I spoke to my attorney and she suggested I discount the price a little to account for it, and the fact is if it's truly a FNMA policy there is no talking around it. My questions to the FNMA experts out there, is this truly a policy?

My attorney also said she has heard a few cases in South Florida, since the banks don't know, don't care what's there in the house, she has heard a few cases where all extensive appliances even ceiling fans and water heater disappear the day before the closing after the buyer did the walk through. She said she has heard stories that there are agents who would have "friends" to come empty the house. Since the banks don't know what's there, the buyer hasn't taken possession and it's technically not theirs, the contract does not say what's included, they have to eat the loss.

Have any of you ran across this sort of stuff?

Seems far fetched even for the South Florida home of scam market.

Anything I can do to increase the chance of these items still being there after I close?

Should I go inside the house and tape yellow CRIME SCENE EVIDENCE DO NOT MOVE stickers all over hahaha?