No, if you refianance from a FHA/VA loan you are cleared of those stipulations.

The offer was written for 3% less than the asking price with the stipulation that they would not be taking a buyer's agent commission -- so the net to me was the same as if I had a full price offer and the net to my agent was basically the same as well.

A contract form with no buyer stipulated is not a contract.  2.  

I also looked into the original lease we had setup and it has a comment about improvements." improvements made by the tenant shall become property of the owner at the conclusion of the agreement.it also has a stipulation about repairs stating that any repair that cost more than the discount must be approved by the owner or the tenant will be responsible for the entire cost of the repair

But if an association has a low HOA fee (say, $150 - $200) and it stipulates exterior maintenance, roofing, water, sewer, insurance - are those not costs contained already within the 50% rule calculations?

Only stipulations are that you occupy the property for "some portion of the year" and that it not be controlled by a management company.

If you paid $30,000 to the mortgage company instead of the owner while the property was still in someone else's name, and then assumed a $120,000 mortgage in return for a deed to you, your basis will only be $120,000 instead of $150,000.You would need to have entered into a written agreement beforehand stipulating that part of your payment for the property would be the direct payment to the mortgage company of the $30,000.I can't tell you where to go for more information but if you look around on this post you might see somewhere.I hope this helps.Good Luck.Michael Lantrip

I don't know much of anything as far as financing goes but I think FHA's main stipulation is that it just has to be habitable...  

If you do not want to go that route though, I would write up an agreement stipulating the profit split between the both of you, and that the other party can't deal with this transaction without your involvement over a reasonable period of time.  

If I remember my Contract law class correctly, every contract had the inherent right if assignment, unless the contract itself stipulates that it can not be assigned.