Likelihood of forcing a seller to perform?

[Pratik P.]

Hey everyone,

So about a month ago, I went under contract to purchase a fixer property. The property was occupied by the seller's 92year old mother and also had A LOT of junk in it. My plan was to buy it, have all the junk removed and immediately sell it to a flipper. The seller told me that she would have her mother moved out before closing...ok no problem.

A week before closing, the seller calls me with a sob story about how her mom has no where to go and that this house was her only asset left, etc and wants to cancel the contract. I feel bad and say ok let's cancel and instruct escrow to cancel....Now I find out that she's actually selling it to the lender for 5k more than what I offered...so I got played.

My question is, for future reference, what are the chances of being able to legally force a seller to perform on the contract? Or should I place a clause in the contract for a "back out fee"? I was going to make a large profit on this deal and don't want this happening again. 

Thanks in advance for the advise :]