Anyone who owns a house is going to have to "set up a dual home situation" I think. Houses don't sell overnight - and in this case I got an offer the day it went on the market. Still took almost a month to close.

If you're one of the millions of Americans 2-3 missed paychecks from poverty, then yes, it can be difficult. Generally speaking though, this is not the crowd considering international moves for jobs, especially within this forum.

A situation can "not pan out" in lots of ways that laws can't/won't protect against. Pretty much no law is going to handle "This job/place isn't like I thought it was going to be and I want to pull the plug before we have to commit" absent gross misrepresentation and probably getting lawyers involved. The parent specifically used the phrase "once she felt good about the position."

Maybe you cross your fingers and hope for the best or you use resources you have to hedge things. (Where hedging implies spending some upside to guard against serious downside.)