Most of them still want arm and leg on fees, commission split.

Trying to save the commissions on the sale.  

As an agent you'll be able to also save on commission since you were going to be purchasing for yourself.

Leases generally have primary initial lease terms and then options in commercial.When my clients and I review retail centers we look to see if any LC ( leasing commissions) are owed to a tenant rep broker whether the landlord rep broker, the tenant rep broker or both.

Getting your real estate license won't get you there, since licensed brokers (who occupy the "S" quadrant) need to be present to get commissions. 

Within a year, I hope to acquire income via flips and realty commissions that will allow me to walk away from my 9-5 and focus on realty full time. 

What are the pain points, what can you bear as far as risk, define a value of money you can support without a job once you have a few homes in commission.  

Have been meeting with the city planning commission since about December.

If you go to sell it with them in there you'll loose 10% off the value of the home in transaction costs not to mention how much you loose off the value of the home by selling it with tenants inside of it when it's clearly not a house that is geared towards investment.So let's do the numbers on this.Let's say value of home is $125k.You'll spend $12,500 in transaction costs (Realtor commission, Title cost etc)You'll loose another $20k selling it as a beat down rental (No 10 year rental comes with fresh carpet & updated kitchens guys)So right there you're in the hole $32,500. 

On the same token make sure you treat your agents good, take them to lunch once in a while, front them the difference in commissions when necessary and you will have yourself a great network.Good luck