If you are planning to learn the business and actually help people sell homes, a larger fee based brokerage like Keller Williams or John L Scott might be more appropriate since they will offer more support (i.e. sales training, mentors, networking, etc.) to help you get your business going.

Also I recommend The Millionaire Real Estate Agent by Gary Keller.

My main lender Keller Mortgage doesn't have origination fees, underwriting fees, application fees, etc...so some of that sounds high to me. 

I love your book list, you could add the One Thing from Gary Keller, it changed my morning routine and helped move our company forward.

A lot of new agents who are looking for training and guidance tend to land at some of the bigger brokerages like Coldwell Banker, Keller Williams, Braid & warner, etc.However, if you have a pretty good handle on being an agent you can find a smaller brokerage that is more personable. 

My wife is a Keller Williams agent in Maryland who can help you with the purchase and give you a referral fee. 

She works with a division of Keller Williams.

Ramon Gomez with Keller Williams.

., RE/Max or Keller Williams, is going to have pressure from their own management to "perform" and weed out agents who don't sell/produce enough, which means they won't even consider you if you're saying you have no intention of doing any transactions under their umbrella.I know people who have done what you describe, but they either already had a close friend who was a broker who was willing to take them on, or in one case they bit the bullet and just became a broker themselves (which is fine but is additional time and expense).

Depending on your market you can look for high producing team in a brokerage such as Keller Williams, Coldwell Banker, etc. and see if they're hiring a showing agent and get some experience from there.