But nothing beats the ease of a line of credit. 

Or for residential ease of access to deals?

That may ease owners fear of you backing out on deal and leaving him wit a vacancy.

Either that, or the price they will accept puts you at risk of loss if all doesn't go to plan.If you use this approach, I foresee tensions along the way.

I call it preditory lending fueled by greed on Wall Street and orchistrated by a government asleep at the wheel who eased lending guidelines in the name of "fair opportunity".

Obviously I'll fully disclose everything, but should I ease them into it? 

You should have relative ease getting that 4/2 leased out, although my 1/1 downtown has been giving me a little bit of a fit this month (I am being pretty aggressive with the pricing though.) and the winter months are much slower.I do have a good local RE attorney we have used for a few years.  

@Evan Haag Much like @Tim Johnson said you should try to work with a bank near you just for the ease of communication imo.

Is there a more secure way to do this so that the buyer feels at ease? 

That is a must - it just helps ease the process.