Posted by Ed Copp (OH) on March 08, 2003 at 17:16:41:
Buy and quickly resell, is flipping. You are the buyer and then after you buy you become the seller, hopefully for a profit.
A broker brings buyer and seller together for a fee, commonly called a commission. Since in the example of flipping you are both the buyer and the seller at one point or another you would not really need a broker to bring yourself together. You might suggest to your lawyer that he look up the state laws in your state concerning what a broker is.
Dealer is a grey area because it is language made up by the IRS. They do not offer a good explanation of what a dealer really is, but do indicate that a person who in essence does flipping on a regular basis as a business is a dealer in real estate, thus forfeiting many of the benefits of being an investor. They do not explain what “regular” or “as a business” really means.