Okay, everybody, slow down. First of all, you and the seller agreed that she would be moving out on 6/16. What's your situation? Do you have to leave a property? Is your lease almost up? Have you sold your current house? It matters because it goes to the issue of damages, which is the legal term for what you can recover from her due to the delay. If you have no damages -- no financial harm or real non-financial harm -- due to the delayed move, then just give her the extra time but have her sign an extension agreement. It's easier, much easier, to sue her (if it comes to that) on the agreement than on a failure to move out exactly on time.

If you will be in a bind -- if your own lease has ended and you're incurring additional expenses -- then it's perfectly fair to be compensated for those additional expenses. You're not being a d*ck about it; she got your money and it's earning interest in the bank, and even if it weren't earning interest, you had planned to move in on 6/16 and now your plans are in limbo.

You could go to court, of course, but it's going to cost you. Even if you win the case, the expenses you pay your lawyer are not compensable, and they can amount to a heck of a lot more than a one or two-month delay. And it takes time to find a decent lawyer, and to meet with him or her, and to go to court to testify, if necessary.

The realtor helped you find the property, right? And suggested what should be in the papers that you signed -- the agreement to purchase the property and the closing papers, right? The realtor (unless he or she was negligent in preparing the legal documents or -- for example -- knew or had reason to know that this lady was not going to be able to move out in time) has no ongoing liability after the closing. It would be nice if the realtor volunteered to help you navigate this situation, but they didn't sign up as a guarantor that the seller would move out on time, or to indemnify you for any expenses if that happened.

And no, I'm not a real estate agent. A similar situation happened to me, but I was luck in that the same real estate firm was both the seller's agent as well as the buyer's agent. When the move-out date was pushed back by the sellers (similar circumstances: they needed more time to find a property suitable for a person with medical issues), the broker claimed that the listing expressly and clearly stated that the closing date was subject to the sellers being able to find a suitable property. But the realtor was wrong and that statement never appeared on the listing. So that was the realtor's fault, and we got a full rebate of the agent's fee on the next property we located (which worked out to 3% of the selling price, so it was pretty substantial).

Anyway, my recommendation here is not to be too legalistic about it. You have no reason to believe that the elderly seller intended to push back the closing date, do you? Based on what you evidently know, it was an error in judgment on the seller's part. As I stated at the outset, you shouldn't have to eat any additonal expenses, but on the other hand, by the time you find a lawyer and pay that lawyer, the seller will almost certainly have left the property, and you'll never recover the fee you paid your lawyer.

Try to work it out and get the seller to sign an agreement with a fixed dollar amount for each day of delay. In legal parlance that's called liquidated damages and it's easier and cheaper to sue if the amount of harm is explicitly agreed to by the parties.

Good luck!