Failure to Perform

Last July we allowed our "buyer" to move into our Nebraska acreage prior to our Aug. 31 closing date. A purchase agreement had been signed and everything appeared to be in order. Four days before the closing, this "buyer" began calling us with excuse after excuse why they couldn't close at this time. Reluctantly, we signed a new purchase agreement with them extending the closing date to Feb. 28 and agreed to rent the property to them until the new closing date. On Dec. 11 our realtor called to inform us that our "buyer/renter" would be moving out in 2 days. Not only did they break the contract to purchase our property, they also broke our rental agreement, leaving us with an empty house in the middle of winter!
Do we have any recourse in this situation?

[HomeGuru]

Sue then in Small Claims Court.

The real estate contractoffer, assuming it has not expired, should have some recourse clause if they back out. You may be able to keep their earnest money (normal) or sue them for damages. You probably can't do both. Look over the contract. I doubt you want to try and force them to buy the house because you probably need to keep it off the market as you can't try this while trying to sell to someone else.

Never again let the buyer move in early. The excitement is gone and now they are finding fault.

If you ever do, charge a rent price so much more than they payment that they want to close ASAP.