#30 When Using Professional Services...



...it’s smart to remember that time is money – yours!  Time lost or wasted is time you may end up paying for.   Purchasing professional services is different than buying goods, equipment or supplies.  With material goods, you see and acquire what you are purchasing!  Buying the time of an expert in their field -- for what they know that can help you -- is not tangible in the same sense!    It is, quite simply, the process of paying fees for the time in which you acquire advice, guidance and assistance in a specific category. It deserves clear communication, clearly understood agreements and careful attention to the process.

Throughout the process of securing your Home Mortgage, you may have needed to connect with various “professional services.”  Among such services (in addition to the guidance and expertise you received from your Mortgage Loan Officer) there may have been a personal Attorney, an Accountant, maybe a Tax Expert and various Licensed Contractors (to name just a few resources).   It may sound like a simplistic matter, but now that you received your loan approval and have secured your home, it’s important to use professional services conscientiously, when needed.

Using professional services usually means hourly fees, and should also mean – on your part -- careful awareness of their time and how you use it.   First, understand clearly what services you need, why you need those services, what is expected of you and what results are anticipated. 

Usually a professional services expert will clarify what is needed from you in order for them to proceed appropriately on your behalf.  Just call it the “homework” you need to do to make your face-to-face time with that expert as efficient, productive and thrifty as possible.   For instance, you have the choice to be well prepared with orderly documents, files, records, answers, details, materials and information.   Or, you can go into meetings with a file box of unorganized stuff, and, on the clock with that expert, try to make sense of a mess and try to remember dates and circumstances off the top of your head!

(For instance, why go to a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) with a box full of receipts and other financial information and pay top expert fees to do the organizing and basic “bookkeeping” -- lists and clarifications -- you could have done on the kitchen table!)

Most professionals don’t expect you to necessarily have your data in some pristine condition!   It’s nice when it happens, and they do appreciate being able to comprehensively and efficiently consider what you present, in a reasonable amount of time.   Thus, their fees are earned not wading thru preps you should have done, but rather, delivering only the expert help you came for.

Choosing the right professional when you really do need one is important.   Be sure to take the time to engage a person you feel comfortable working with.  A preliminary meet-up is probably a good idea.  Consider referrals from known and trusted individuals.   Be sure to clarify and understand the fee structure you will be working under with the professional you select.  It may be possible to meet the obligation incrementally to fit your financial condition.  Ask; don’t assume!  (Depending on your financial status, there may be community services available to help you meet your need for special professional services.)

Be aware that there may be continuing legal or tax related aspects following the purchase of your home, – perhaps relating to special circumstances.  Try to avoid amateur legal advice or a do-it-yourself approach to complex tax matters that may arise.  Most of us have learned that some short-cuts to save money can get really expensive!

When in doubt concerning any important matter, don’t hesitate to access relevant professional services.   Just do so smartly, and with full attention to your part of the relationship -- the essential preparation of materials and details needed!

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