Seller Backed out. Do I just eat the inspections loss?

[Benjamin DuPont]

Hey Forums,

I've been amped up. I'm power-housing knowledge, analyzing deals, making strong connections to people who get things done and I've done it all while deployed with the military for the last 7 months. I thought things were going swimmingly with a multifamily property Duplex (SFH 3/2 with Studio 1/1) all my numbers were showing awesome potential for my first property. So we came to an agreement on the the prices, and started all the normal contracting that I went through with my agent back in Orlando. I put my escrow in and felt like at this point momentum was moving, and should be clear to make it to the table.

I paid for the inspections on the house, and on the septic system, as it was a bit older.  These inspections came out to $680 for Inspections and $250 for septic inspections.  

So $930 put into inspections, not terrible...but then the unexpected comes along.  Hurricane Irma comes along and blows the roofing off the place.  Water gets inside, its a mess in one of the rooms.  Im a million miles away, and get that fun phone call.  

Obviously I can buy conventional loan with the place all torn to sh*t, which I had hoped to do. The sellers say they cannot afford to repair, they will wait for insurance payout, and tell me they will be taking the place off market in the meantime.

!!!!   I started getting creative, decided to proposition them for a MASTER LEASE option (Thanks BRANDON TURNER "How I bought my home with low and no money down") Follow me on this one... They contract to sell -ONLY- to me for the next 6 months, I pay/do the renovations (family willing to help, and they are super handy) and then move people in right away instead of waiting months for the place to get fixed, start making cash flow fast!  Then I can buy the place comfortably, all the rents are coming to me in the meantime.

Great idea right?! Nope sellers back out and say they don't want to sell anymore, not giving any other reason than they want to wait to repair and assess.  

 So I'm requesting that they pay for the invoices...i'm not real sure if I can do that, but it doesn't seem like the Seller is held to much.  I'm not giving up, back to finding property, but Orlando is rough right now for investment property.  Any similar stories, advice or encouragement would be great, I am trying this forum thing out for the first time and figured I could share my story to you.  

Semper Fidelis

-Ben