Does it matter whether a condition is for the buyer's benefit or the seller's benefit?

Yes, considerably — whose benefit a closing condition exists for determines who can waive it, who can rely on its failure to avoid closing, and who has standing to complain if it isn't satisfied. A condition drafted for the buyer's exclusive benefit generally can be waived by the buyer alone, and only the buyer can point to its failure as an excuse not to close; the seller typically has no independent right to use a buyer-protective condition as its own excuse.

This is exactly why well-drafted purchase agreements state explicitly, condition by condition, whose benefit each one serves, rather than leaving the question to be argued over later. Ambiguity here is a common, avoidable source of dispute — particularly at a closing under time pressure, when each side has an incentive to interpret an unclear condition in whatever way helps it in that moment.

If you're reviewing a draft agreement and can't tell, condition by condition, exactly who each one is meant to protect, that's a gap worth flagging and fixing before signing, which is precisely the kind of detail a Treadstone business lawyer checks methodically rather than assuming is obvious.