Cancelling a contract. Is the grass greener on the other side?

The world of real estate can be incredibly emotionally charged one, especially so when faced with buyers remorse, and even seller regret. Afterall, we aren't talking about signing a lease, buying a new car or even getting a pet. Homeownership is a highly personal decision with long lasting ramifications.  One's home is representative of hope and dreams, or cherished memories of those we have loved. It's no wonder that some find themselves with cold feet, just moments before the end is in sight.
So what options do you have to cancel?

Buyers: The state of California is most protective when it comes to those about to invest in a home. A typical contract includes a earnest money deposit also known as a "good faith" deposit. This lets the seller know you are serious about buying by putting something up as collateral should the deal go south. This doesn't mean that should you decide to not purchase that you lose your deposit, infact there are many checks points in place along the way called "contingencies" that give the buyer the option of backing out upon further investigating the property. These "contingencies include but are not limited to:
inspections
appraisals
loans
sale of another home required to purchase this home
....... and the list goes on.......

For sellers, there isn't much in the way of protection.

Sellers may make the sale of a property contingent on finding a replacement home, in which case the buyer is made completely aware of the necessity and will have time to prepare and act accordingly.

But what if there are no seller contingencies?

Recently, I had a deal where both buyer and seller agreed to the terms of a sale, deposited required funds through escrow, signed off on disclosures, removed contingencies........and 2 days before closing the seller decides to back out. WHAT!? (I'm not a cursing person, but briefly hundreds of  very unpretty words danced through my mind before I landed on the word "fudge.")
The seller signed the required cancellation papers, I informed the buyer (my client) that seller wished to cancel and laid out a few options.
1. Walk away, sign the cancellation docs, get the deposit money returned and look for a new property.
2. Refuse to sign the cancellation, leave the deposit in escrow to tie up the property, and consult an attorney to proceed with a forced sale, or at the very least compensation for lost time and money. This would include attorneys fees payable to the prevailing party. This option is expensive, time consuming, and in this specific scenario our window was running out.
3. Try to negotiate with the seller an alternative to purchasing the property.

Here is where our situation gets tricky. 
We did have a valid contract, for the purchase of land. In the spirit of full disclosure the seller was informed upfront of my clients desire to use the property to cultivate a certain controversial plant of medicinal qualities. The seller agreed. 

My client had passed up the purchase of another property for the promise of this one. He performed his due diligence in investigating the suitability and local legality of his intended purpose and had made arrangements for a successful growing season.

The seller however, decided to let his friend play "prospector" in between the time of signing a contract to sell, and actually closing on the deal. The result: gold was found, (I'm unsure of the amount) and seller subsequently cancelled. 

Per contract the property was to be delivered in the same condition as the time the offer was made and accepted, which would include the minerals on the property. 

My client and I tried everything to save the deal, to the point of even offerring to let the prospector continue to mine the gold and keep it for himself, but to no avail. We offerred to lease the property (minus the mining site) in hopes of salvaging the season. Still no agreement was made. 

At this point I had to bow out, so the big dogs could step in. I handed my client the numbers to 2 local real estate attorneys to consult with and left the ball in his court. I'm unsure of what he will ultimately decide, especially considering the line of business he is in. 

Should my client elect to hire an attorney and pursue this, there are great gains to be made should the judge rule in his favor. The seller could face not only losing the property (of course it will be purchased at the agreed upon price......so he will be compensated somewhat). Additionally, should my client be able to prove the lost revenue both from money already invested and the crop itself the seller would need to compensate him. As to the gold, there isn't really a way to prove exactly the quantity of what was taken out, but a ruling in my clients favor would compensate him for that too. 

The bottom line is this: The only people that actually win lawsuits are attorneys. Everyone else just wastes a lot of time and money to reach a settlement that nobody is happy with. It's not worth the effort.