They're also asking questions like, "How likely is this buyer actually to make it to the closing table?"

We'd both be bringing a stable income/job to the table, he'd bring most of the down payment, and I have the homeowner "experience" and am more than dangerous with a good toolbelt. 

We all have something to bring to the table but a 3rd party PM can take some of those responsibilities away.

Its against my core values to evict people who need a roof over their head when they are already struggling just to put food on the table.

On 10,000sf I would assume soft costs of $15-20/SF and hard costs of $150-$200/SF (depending on where you are at) so best case you are looking at an all in cost of $2.2M so you would need to bring about $700k to the table. 

@Michael John, I'm a huge believer in taking every tax free dollar off the table you can at every opportunity. 

Your better off depending on what you can bring to the table is to partner with someone who has the capitol and learn thru them.

Sounds like a game of roulette or blackjack. 

I would think that the agreement with the real estate agent is still the same and the seller will need to provide the money at closing, either through his personal money he brings to the table or maybe through the down payment from the buyer.

At the very least I'd run the deal by a few local agents to get their opinion on pricing, and get an appraisal whether or not it's a lender requirement just to make sure you're not leaving money on the table.