The world is full of “do-it-your-selfers” and independent people who think they can do just about anything with little or no professional help. I must admit that at times I can be one of them, but I recently had a life event that drastically changed my perspective. This event brought the topic to the forefront for me and has become a perfect illustration of just how expensive it can be to try and “save money” by not paying the right person for the job.
In June of 2019, I was at my house, on a ladder, with a chain saw, trimming trees. This is something I’ve done before, but this time was different. When I went to cut a limb the tree shifted significantly, and I was thrown off the side of the ladder and sent tumbling 15 ft to the ground. Thankfully I had the wherewithal to throw the chainsaw away from my body, or I may not be here and able to write this blog at all. I avoided disaster with the chainsaw but I did, however, land very awkwardly on my right foot. The result was a significant fracture to my calcaneus, the largest bone in your foot.
The result of this was a devastating injury that over 7 months later I have yet to recover from, and my foot will forever be held together by plates and pins. This accident led me down a very trying road that required surgery, crutches, grueling physical therapy and of course, a VERY expensive medical bill that could’ve been spent on a nice car instead. The only reason any of this even happened was because of my desire to “save money” and not hire the right person for the job. I am very fortunate that my prognosis is to eventually make a full recovery, but being on the bad end of a real estate transaction can take someone decades to recover from.
I encounter this same type of mentality in commercial real estate almost daily. People everywhere want to “do it themselves” or even worse, hire the first proclaimed “professional” they come across. People often spend more time deciding what they want for dinner than finding the right professional for the job! Not to mention this decision involves 100’s of thousands or millions of their hard-earned capital. Real estate is much more complicated than tree trimming and with so much variety on property type, location, tenant mix, agent specialties, and government regulation, it is critical to ensure you are working with the right person.
The right practitioner has the knowledge, experience, network, and more. This ensures you are in the best hands possible and that your real estate transaction moves quickly, and according to plan. The right person has been there before and seen the potential pitfalls and pertinent issues that allows them to act BEFORE they become a problem. This is critical in the world where we are regularly assisting people on the most complicated and expensive transactions a person will be involved in their lifetime.
At Intero Commercial East Bay we have a variety of real estate professionals with different backgrounds, property specialties, and geographic coverage ready to help you with your commercial real estate needs. We will sit down with you and discuss exactly what you’re looking to do and lay out a plan to accomplish your goals.
Feel free to reach out to me anytime and I will make sure you get connected with the best individual for your situation, and most importantly help you to avoid the pain of “the cost of not hiring the right professional”.
