This is a fairly dense, inner ring suburb, so they maintained the typical 1/2 mile radius, but utilized 12 months of sales data versus the typical 6 months used on single family.  

Open to fair terms.

I think if it were me as the client I'd ask for a trial date range for the agreement, i.e. one week, and just explain to the agent that you want a chance to see how you work together.A fair compromise, IMO, would be that you'd use the agent if you bought a home you saw with them, but the option would remain for you to leave with no strings attached at the end of the week.

Hi Brad,Zendesk definitely allows you to do that, however it is fairly expensive to run (I think it starts at around $50 per month).

What are the best ways to make this loan fair between us? 

I broker a lot of hard money for my flippers and BRRRR crews, I can tell you that the hard money lenders will not allow you to buy a deal that doesn't meet their criteria, so you are fairly safe if they will close the deal, because they wont get into a bad deal themselves. 

Essentially, I am purchasing with the intent to rent to my mother-in-law and her kids who has section 8 housing and who’s housing voucher could cover enough for fair market on a 3 bedroom home.

You can google how to write a business plan or buy a book but it can be fairly simple and evolve as you grow just like the goals will change as you move from 1 unit to 2 to 6 to 20.

I recently acquired raw land just a couple of miles outside of San Diego County and dealt with another county it was a straightforward sale and learn a lot about permits and codes in that area.  

You’ll actually run into this fairly often so best practice is always for you or your agent to verify with the building inspector prior to writing offer.