Buyer Not Preforming

[Bryan M.]

Hello. I've been through hell and back with my latest flip. Purchased it a year ago and went through a major renovation (added 2 bedrooms and a completely new bath for example). Come to the end of the project 2 days after carpet was installed in the basement we have a ton of rain and the existing waterproofing system fails and floods the basement. To keep this short, I'll just say this wasn't the last flood. After multiple attempts to repair the existing system I finally called out JES, a waterproofing company, who installed a $7,500 drainage system under the foundation. With Servpro and JES the latest flood cost almost $12,000. 

With all the time and added expense (I also needed to put in a  new septic during the renovations) I needed to unload the thing and move on. I dropped the price to about tax assessment and had an offer a few days later. This was a verbal offer that I decided to just accept without a counter. The buyers agent was supposed to write it up once we accepted but the buyers decided to bail. I'm told, technically a verbal offer is binding but no one can prove it so there's no use in fighting. 

Now we come to this past weekend. I received 2 offers and decide to counter the higher bidder. This was done on paper. The buyer did not accept my counter and said they were "sticking with the original offer". Seeing as I'm completely fed up with this house and am losing money daily I agree to their original offer and sign the contract. The next day the buyers agent calls my agent and says the, "buyers thought about it and they no longer wish to purchase the property" and they don't owe me the EMD.

I told my agent to let them know I'm going to sue them to preform and it's been radio silent since. 

So, my question is....Anyone have any experience with buyers bailing? Should I hold them to purchasing the house or just go after the EMD? Any strategy to prevent this kind of thing?

Sorry for the long post. I needed to explain the situation. 

Thanks for the help!