If the seller refuses you can walk away. 

Would anyone like to share there first experience talking to a seller?

Motivated sellers! 

Is it better to have a willing seller and buyer before sending the initial purchase/sale agreement?

The seller was moving out of state and needed to sell.

I noticed the seller started out trying to sell it for $800,000 but he was lowering it pretty aggressively.

Personally, I'm waiting for the lawsuit by a seller against his own broker for refusing to vet a potential buyer and then show to a qualified buyer.

Met wit the seller many times and made an offer.

And the second was that it was in a flood zone with the listing agent and seller saying it had never flooded but we were able to get confirmation that it had taken on water at least 3 times in the past year and the insurance agent for the property stated that with the flood insurance the premium would be close to $11,000 annually which meant the list price had to drop from $339,000 to less than $239,000 to make anything work.

Got under contract and then negotiated a large amount of seller's concessions during inspection period.