I am getting my degree in Organizational Communications.

If you don't want to deal with any tenant communication, you can use property management companies.

My desire would be to tender a contract to purchase the property, pay off their loan while ensuring the owner receives fair compensation and I receive the house.

Overall, I'd say this is a fairly normal deal.

With my 2 bed I get a fair amount of advanced bookings but nothing like the 5 bedroom. 

Happy tenants are more likely to renew leases, reducing turnover costs and vacancies.Legal Compliance: Property managers ensure compliance with local, state, and federal laws, including regulations on rent control, fair housing, tenant rights, and eviction procedures.

We were fortunate to get the ball rolling fairly quickly and only have to fork out 1.5 months of mortgage on our own. my partner thinks he can do all the taxes for the home and depreciation on turbo tax, as that’s what he’s been doing forever since he’s a w2 earner.

I'm fairly certain the listing group is also the property manager so I'm not sure if that's a pro or a con.

Yes, this is fairly common. 

Irs determination “You're considered to use a dwelling unit as a residence if you use it for personal purposes during the tax year for a number of days that's more than the greater of: 14 days, or. 10% of the total days you rent it to others at a fair rental price.”