In either circumstance, the door must look as it did when they moved in.

That said, it is not always best to go a specific route, it mostly depends on your specific circumstances.

What would be a circumstance where I would be allowed to be compensated?

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I currently live in the Midwest and, due to circumstances, house hacking is not an option for me.

Conversions get very technical and can trigger specific requirements based on various property circumstances. 

So for most people, most circumstances, most situations, realistically your cash and rehab is held up for 2+ years. 

If you have a partnership structure or some other facts and circumstances around the loan that indicate you are extending it in the capacity of a trade or business, it will be considered ordinary income.Keep in mind that the tax rates will not differ between ordinary and passive income unless you sell the loan for a gain/loss.

Just a really bad set of circumstances for the OP.

We don’t know all the circumstances, BUT, from the small amount of information in the OP, it does seem like the OP believes that to earn a commission the broker/agent needs to represent the buyer all the way through closing and that if the buyer terminates agreement before closing the agent no longer needs to be paid.