down payment refund, nonrefundable, personal property, terms in Promissory Note

[callred]

Recently I entered into private negotiations to purchase a mobile home located in an age restricted park located in Las Vegas, NV. I am a Las Vegas, NV. resident and have been so since 1997. My purchase negotiations were with the owner/seller, NOT the park. The seller & I agreed on a price and she drew up an Offer & Acceptance, a Bill of Sale and a Promissory Note. The Note was full of unacceptable terms such as: incorrect date for 1st payment, note immediately due & payable unon my being 5 days late on one loan payment; for one late space rental payment to the park; upon my death; term changes/modification "notwithstanding my acknowledgement"; irrevocably granting "to any other person" power of attorney to act on my behalf etc. etc. I refused to sign the Note repeatedly until the unacceptable terms were removed, which to date has still not happened. She insists on retaining the clause regarding any term changes/modifications granted by any holder being binding on me. In the most recent version, she changed the wording of this clause, but not the intent.

When the seller gave me a sob story about needing the Offer & Acceptance and the down payment in order to avoid losing the financing on her new home, I fell for it and did give the her the signed Offer & Acceptance and a check for a $5000 down payment (identified as such on the memo line) on Aug. 2. The document DOES NOT contain anything referring to the down payment being nonrefundable. She was to add her signature, have it notarized and give me a copy, but this has not happened. While I have a copy of the document, it is not a signed copy. Yesterday, 08-21-09, after yet another Note version still containing incorrect and/or the unacceptable term clauses, I sent the seller a Withdrawal of Offer and a demand for refund of my $5000.00 downpayment via email. She responded, also via email yesterday, 08-21-09, that due to my signing the Offer & Acceptance, my down payment (which she called a deposit in this message) will not be returned.

Hind sight is 20/20, I realized yesterday that I had made a major mistake in trusting her when I signed the document and gave her the $5000.00 check on August 2. My questions to this forum are: When the Offer & Acceptance does not specifically state that the down payment is or is not refundable, what is the default condition? What are my chances of success if I take her to small claims court in the State of Nevada? I do not expect her to honor a judgement, should I win one in Small Claims Court, what would be my collection options? Or would I be better off to spend the money and hire an attorney? Thanks for your help and advice on these matters.