I plan to live in this property and ride the equity wave while paying down the principal.

The property is located on Long Island, NY within walking distance to the LIRR & a 20 min train ride to Manhattan. 

It will be hard work to make it as a new agent so I'd recommend riding on the coattails of a large brokerage like Keller Williams.

The buyer wants to value the ride for top dollar, so I told him to sell it and use the proceeds as his down payment.

If you want to get started right away after passing your exam and getting licensed, it is never too early to start having an idea of which brokers you might want to interview so you can ride the momentum.

There are many realtors that either won't take that type of listing or spend zero time on it while the seller just goes along for the ride and realtor is hoping to make a small commission for little to no work. 

But if the market tanks tomorrow, I won't care I'll just ride it out and continue cash-flowing while other people freak and try and sell.

You can then ride both the gains from the stock market AND have the upside of having substantial RE portfolio.The one issue with this is the bank can 'call' the loan at the worst time -- during times of financial distress, stock market crashes, credit line freezes, etc.

The realtor is just along for the ride.  

if not, let it ride. or figure out what its worth to you, Start at $500-$1000 to get them to move, also if they are a decent tenant, let them know this is a good time for them to move. your other option is you can just do the rehab around them and they will have to pay the new rent value if they want to stay. or put them up in motel during the rehab. i mean give them the option to stay during construction. all depends what its worth to you.