Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Florida

Short sale buyer advice please!!

My husband and I found a home we love and it was listed at $115,000. We were told by our real estate agent and the listing agent that before we could put an offer on the home, we would need to pay out of pocket for a home inspection. We were told our offer would not be submitted without this. We had a certified inspector come and do a mini inspection at a cost of $150, then we also had to pay for someone to inspect the septic system separately (cost to us $250). After this, we decided to put in an offer of $100,000.We were required also to put down a $5000 earnest money deposit to be held in escrow at this time. Fast forward 6 months later, the bank comes back with a counter offer of $140,000. We want to counter offer at $115,000, and our real estate agent and the listing agent told us they refused to submit our counter to the bank. They wouldn't even try. After much deliberation, we decide to up our offer to $125,000 (absolute maximum) and they agree to submit. Bank accepts and we are offered a purchase agreement. We put down an additional $5,000 deposit. We begin the process of getting a loan and everything from our end proceeds smoothly. We get a survey, and find that the home actually sits on 4 lots, and one of these lots has been paid for, but no one has paid taxes on this property in 4 years. Back taxes total $3500, a sewer line was installed several year sago and never paid for (lein for $2400) and the homeowners have an outstanding water lien on the house for $1600. Also, there are 16 outstanding permits including one for a wood fence installed in 1995. The homeowners refuse to pay for or correct these liens in any way. The bank refuses the same. We are being urged by the listing agent to either pay the liens off ourselves out of pocket, or to sign a addendum saying we have decided to back out of the contract.

We offered to meet the homeowner somewhere in the middle and contribute to the liens in the amount of $2500, just to hopefully still have the property close. The homeowners refused to contribute one dollar (by the way, we have been to the home which they occupy several times, they have a brand new Cadillac, several trucks, thousands of dollars in tools, an airstream trailer, various other assets, and a large home elsewhere in Florida which they paid to build with the money they saved by not paying their taxes/water bill/mortgage. They are not good people)

Besides the initial inspections, we have had various other costs which were required to secure the loan, rounding out around $1500, including a wind mitigation inspection, and an appraisal

On principle, we don't feel it's right for us to sign a contract saying we back out, because we very much want the home and DO NOT want to back out, but we also don't have the extra $8,000 sitting around to pay someone else's outstanding debts. What, if anything, are our options? We would like to AT MINIMUM recoup our expenses. Also, pending a clean title, we are 100% ready to close and we would still very much like to do so

Your advice is so appreciated, sorry for this long winded post!

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