Real Estate Buying, Selling, Building and Remodeling - How to Avoid the Miseries Chapter 4

Real Estate Buying, Selling, Building and Remodeling - Chapter 4
How to Avoid the Miseries

Here are some final thoughts on the material covered in my first three chapters. Imagine you are a professional landscape contractor meeting with your client to discuss the irrigation system plan for your client's new lawn, and your client looks totally surprised and says something like "you mean we gotta water this grass?". The client displayed ignorance, but at least knew how to ask a proper question, and that may be a whole lot more than we could do with our first real estate experience.

The point is that ignorance typically has a price, and that price can be devastating with major dollars at stake in real estate transactions. Even if you consider my writing on the subject and make a concerted effort to learn everything you possibly can learn, your level of knowledge will compare unfavorably to that of experienced professionals - not because you are stupid but because it takes years to know about a virtually endless list of details and variables.

There is no reason to be fearful or discouraged in this context than it is in any other field. We deal every day with professionals that we trust at various levels to prescribe and prepare medicines, repair vehicles, groom pets, set up investment and retirement plans and the list goes on. The path to selecting real estate transaction professionals is not all that different from the others.

There are a couple of resources that may help locate the right person[s] for the right job[s]. Number one is your own personal gift of discernment. You may not even think about that trait as a gift, but it is almost certainly there to some degree. So listen carefully to that inner voice that tells you when to stay or fold.

The other resource is your "watchdog" - an experienced person who is employed by and responsible only to you. That person has "been there and done that" many times, knows the right questions to ask, knows how to evaluate and adjust performance and is able to bring order out of chaos on a project.

There are no set rules for finding a good "watchdog", but the person is likely to have some gray hair and display an aura of confidence in themselves and what they know and what they can do. Management is the key talent. My background - starting my first business at age twelve [my goodness, it has been 68 years!] and completing careers in banking, financial and property management may be typical.

The "watchdog" typically works part time paid by the job or by the hour, and there are capable old guys out there who like nothing better than putting their best stuff to work for a good cause. A few bucks for a loyal set of eyes and ears could be the best insurance available to any person taking on a real estate project with serious dollars on the table. So do your homework and go for it!