Buy and sell for yourself as realtor

[Gina Qing]

Hello, I am a soon to-be realtor, and also looking to buy and sell properties actively. If I buy properties for myself, do I earn commission as a buyer representative (for myself) and if the commission % is up to myself to decide when I make an offer? I suppose the answer would be "yes", I'd like to get some insights (e.g. what % commission if at all) from experienced realtors on this. 

Would that be the same for selling my own properties representing myself in terms of commission and its percentage? 

Thank you very much for your insights!

Best,

[Bruce Lynn]

@Gina Qing You want to discuss this with your broker. What you describe is generally true, but your broker may have more restrictions or fees they want you to pay, or give you a free one 1x year and charge you some minimum fee for the rest. Some don't want you to list your own properties due to liability reasons and often E&O won't cover you for personal transactions.

I've seen realtor/buyers give up all their commission on purchases to make the deal sweeter for the seller.  Theoretically you could also list at zero for the selling side and give whatever commission you want to promote to the buyer's agents.

Occasionally you will see some deals, especially foreclosures that prohibit commission from going to a principal in the transaction.  If you are using financing on purchases your lender could also have some restrictions.  Let's say you are putting 25% down with 3% commission on the buyer side of the purchase.  Might could use some of that 3% for closing costs, but many lenders won't let you credit that towards the 25% down payment.