So to make a long story short I'm looking at a 17 unit property on the MLS for right under 200k and I was wondering what is the best way to pitch to the real estate agent to ask the seller to owner finance the property? I would really appreciate the input since I'm new to this.

Put together your pitch and e-mail them. 

The key is that many Realtors aren't that familiar with owner financing so they will need to be able to explain it to their sellers to gauge their interest. If you can detail it out in an e-mail they will have better information to be able to present to their seller.

Show enough down that pays the commissions and settlement costs!

Before I pitch an offer on a listed property, I find out how long they owned it and guess at what they paid from their filings. Then, knowing or having an idea of what a basis might be and what their depreciation to recapture, I speak to the listing agent. At that point I ask the agent if they will consider financing and point out the tax advantage of deferring the gains on the sale, that there would be a loan servicer to manage the note and payments for them and enough cash down to feed them for awhile (LOL).

Before I start jumping through hoops on due diligence or finding an amount to offer, I want this out of the way. You'll find sellers that can't finance, so if that's all you can do you're wasting your time and everyone else's.    

Commercial owners are accustom to seller financing, they know cash offers are discounted and that conventional financing can be difficult, they are business people, so approach them as such.

Do your best to present the offer to the owner with the listing agent. That is the time to explain financing and your ability to pay and management abilities. Point out the safeguards for them and aspects of servicing the loan by a professional.

 Good luck :)

Bill summed it up pretty will.

also be prepaired for a no. Seller finaincing is rare and you will be told no often.

You can also set up MLS searches to only include listings where the sellers are offering finiancing.