Honestly, regardless of who you're working with, make sure you do your due diligence and understand what you are going into. 

Is there anything else from seasoned note buyers that I might need to consider before attempting to work a deal? 

Not land trusts, not LLCs, not living trusts, not “divided” interests, and not quoting repealed section of the St Germain Act will work.  

You offered no solution to his roadblocks.

The contractor seized doing the work and I believe has placed a mechanics lien on the property.

So we have 3 buckets in my mind - SFH sale (basic), developer sale for the size of land (new to me), business sale (home + business).The most value would be in selling home + business I believe but I have no idea how to market/find potential buyers for such a thing.

The buyer requested a transfer from his job to the city where the house is but now the job wants him to start work next week, I told him we can probably let him and his family occupy the property prior to the closing date.  

In any case there is no taxable event yet.As far as your brother is concerned, it again depends on the nature of the transaction. 

Would love to hear what's worked recently. 

Do both tools work well together?