Income investor question about buying stock for dividends.?

if i buy and then sell a stock in the time frame between the declaration date and the record date, do i get pay for the dividends? even if i make the transactions within hours?

There is no reason to do that. The stock runs up as the dividend approaches and drops after the date of record. You would end up in a wash minus the fees you paid.

If you buy a stock the day before the "ex date" and sell it on the ex date, you get the dividend. "Ex div" means that the stock is trading without the dividend that day - the former owner gets it. In theory, it's a wash as the stock should trade at a price that is lower by the amount of the dividend on the ex date. People have been trying to find a surefire way to profit from "dividend trading" since the first dividend was ever declared, but there's no secret trick to this.

There is one moment when ownership entitles you to the dividend. If you are the "owner of record at the close of business" on the date specified in the company's earnings announcement. There is a settlement delay from hen your order trades to when you actually get the stock. It's easier to look up the company's ex-dividend date and buy it the previous day, but you must still be holding it when the market closes for the day.