The law favor buyers in every state. That is, sellers HAVE to sell, but buyers don't have to buy.
If the buyer fails to close, his earnest deposit is contractually forfeited as liquidated damages. However, the larger the deposit, the more likely the buyer is to get his money back.
Case in point. My mom was selling a rental house. The buyers backed out of the deal and canceled the contract a week before closing. The buyer's inspection periods had expired, but the buyer demanded his $2500 deposit back. My mom would not release the deposit back to the seller, because she had the right to it as liquidated damages, according to the contract.
The buyer sued my mom for the deposit in small claims despite their claim being bogus. The judge awarded the buyer a judgment for the earnest deposit plus court costs. My mom ended up with $2800 judgment on her credit.
The terms in real estate contracts (rental agreements, too) make ZERO difference to judges whatsoever. The law is always interpreted in favor of buyers, not sellers, and in favor of renters not landlords. Whomever owns the property gets the short end of the stick.
So, the moral is, when buying, put up a big a deposit as possible. It makes a point about one's seriousness, and it guarantees its return when the deal goes bad.
As a seller, it's wiser not to demand high earnest/binder deposits. They are worthless as liquidated damages anyway. Instead get small ones that make it harder for the buyer to justify the expense of trying to recover. Not all judges will award court costs, so make it painful to try to get back a smaller amount.
Otherwise, if you're comfortable getting sued and losing; and adding insult to injury by getting a judgment on your credit, then get big deposit and try to keep them as liquidated damages. See how that goes for you.
Meantime, weasel clauses are for amateurs. It's a way to make sure smart sellers know we're not ready for prime time.
I'm not saying you should not have inspections, or you should ignore the time frames you've agreed to. However, the standard real estate board contracts today are not particularly favorable to one party over the other, and have built-in safe guards that gives the the buyer and seller enough time to take care of business.
If you need 60 days to close (to find a buyer for your deal), just work that into the contract. 60 days is not unusual for a deal that requires lots of work, except that if there's lots of offers on the property, you might not be competitive asking for a long escrow ...or not having cash for the deal. Just saying.
Frankly, I've told many sellers that,
"I need sixty days to find cheap enough money to make this deal work for the price I'm having to pay here. If you would like an escrow that only gives me half that time, than I suppose I could, if you knocked $20,000 off the price. Would that short of an escrow still work for you?"
You'd be amazed at what kinds of trade offs are available in your negotiations, if you expand your thinking.
Don't load your contracts with a bunch of weasel clauses, if you want to compete with people like me.
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