Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.
Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should do something. When I started in real estate, I was an investor buying foreclosures and turning them into rentals. It was great! The only part that wasn't great was I had no idea how to do a lot of the maintenance that needed to be done to foreclosures.
Fortunately, I had been involved in construction as an electrical contractor, which meant I had seen others do the things I hadn't done. That was the You-Tube of the 90s. The question often popped up in my mind, "What would . . . . . . do in this situation?" Ironically, in those days, my memory was a lot more crisp, and I was able to draw on those days in the field to figure out how to do a large variety of things.
That created a large chest of experience, and many rentals later, I knew things. With that said, today, some of my real estate clients assume since I have broad construction experience that I should put it to work for them. Many times, I do.
Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. I'm tempted to keep my life experience to myself and let my clients get their own contractors to take care of their residential needs. Unfortunately, since I know so many contracting companies, I know who is good, who is bad and who is so-so. I'm always concerned when my clients pick a lesser quality company to do something.
Sometimes, a house only needs something minor. No worries, I'll do it. That can be a trap that ultimately puts you in a box you can't climb out of. This area can be a high-wire act for me. I don't want to see my clients make a mistake, but I don't want to be their go to person for everything forever.
I've done just about everything you can think of on a house. That doesn't mean I'm licensed or qualified to do everything according to local licensing agencies. The realty is, none of us should exercise any offers of advice or practice in a field that is not our licensed field and/or certified field of expertise. Clients get pretty comfortable pretty quick calling on your skill-set when they know you can do certain things.
I recently declined to do an electrical repair for a seller who ultimately hired two jack-legs. We were too busy. I represented the buyer on this deal, and I made the home inspection repairs contingent on the seller having licensed professionals do the work and then it was contingent on my inspection. I inspected the work twice. It went from seven problems to nine and back to seven.
The homeowner was nearly in tears when I turned down his incompetent electricians (neither were licensed as required) work. Finally, I sent one of my guys in to fix things and in 45 minutes, he fixed what the two goofballs previously had made worse. I've been weighing the "just because you can, doesn't mean you should" concept and this was an early attempt to stick to that new policy. It was a failure, but there is hope.
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