As an agent is it legal to buy a seller's property and receive a commission and the property. Then you turn around and sell it again with that commission coming back to you? Its almost like double commission on one house.

Now I understand it would come back to haunt you if the seller found out you made 5% of the 500,000 home and sold it for 550,000......thats like 75,000(25,000 commission and 50,000 difference on sale of house). After paying your broker thats a $50,000 profit!!! I guess there has to be something to this or everyone would be doing this.

An agent's fiduciary duty to a client would prevent some of these deals. A licensee can act as a principal or as an agent on behalf of a client but should not simultaneously try to be both. The duty to help a client get the best deal is counter to trying to arrange the best deal for yourself.

On a side note, it may be smarter for an agent buying a house to negotiate a lower purchase price in lieu of receiving an agent's commission, thereby not having to pay tax on the commission.

An agent needs to disclose they are a licensee when acting as a principal which is why some investors don't get licensed.

Just as Jerry said. It is better not to list the property and buy it as a FSBO, less liability and ethics dilemmas.

The scenario you describe (when you aren't the listing agent) is absolutely legal and in fact, a big reason lots of us went into real estate in the first place. Agents buy and flip properties all the time. Have you heard the saying "Real estate agents don't get rich off the homes they sell, but rather the homes they buy"? It's absolutely true.

If you are not the listing agent how do you get the commission for selling the house to yourself? If I buy the home as a FSBO can I charge the seller a commission? If so does the broker get a %?

You get the buyer agent commission when you buy and you "save" the listing agent commission when you sell. If it's a FSBO, you probably won't get any commission when you buy it.

Make sense?

You can absolutely charge the seller a commission if you're also the buyer. It's a good way to get your closing costs rolled into the deal even if you have to add them to the sales price.

Whether or not your broker gets a cut is up to your broker and your office policy.