I have already seen the new forms/addendums that will be used here in Arizona, the common one for this will be the Seller Compensation Addendum.The one thing that might happen in your discount buyer agent scenario is you might get a buyers agent who agrees to a lower commission and then the listing agent is offering a co-broke that is higher than he agreed to, well now that buyers agent will only be able to get paid the lower amount he agreed to and the listing agent will keep the remainder, so listing agents could end up getting paid more.As far as your question on what to pay an agent, I view it similarly to hiring an attorney, there are discount attorney's and they might be okay for some people in some circumstances, or if you know the proper procedures and deadlines then maybe you do it on your own without an attorney.

My question is, would I need a co-singer for this loan?

Commercial agents have additional incentives to do "pocket listings" in order to increase the likelihood of avoiding a co-op commission.

The housing authority is a bit like a co-signer for the lease so they would just decline to sign on grounds of an unqualified property and the lease would never execute.  

I have a friend that I just taught amortization to as he is trying to quickly pay off his mother's FHA loan to remove a co-signer, then cash out refi (yes, I explained interest rates right now).

Sure, but they are the minority and those who fall under this category will find a way to name the individual as a co-defendant irrespective of whether there is merit or a separate management LLC.

You can also have a family member go on the loan as a co-signer for income or additional support. 

You want to start the process now of building credit on your own so you will be ready to buy in a year or else you will need a co-signor.

Now all hope is not lost, what you could do is bring on a co-gp in the US to partner with where you bring the money and some analyst experience and they bring the other piece of the puzzle that you are missing.

I was looking for a space to create a co-living space.