The psychology of "Do it yourself"

[JD Martin]

I'm interested to see what some other, more experienced REI say about this concept.

I have always been a DIY guy. I built my own house - literally, built my own house, contracting out just a few parts of the job - and have always done all repairs/upgrades on others I have lived in. I do my own rental rehabs too, naturally. Aside from the fact that I enjoy working with my hands and taking something that looks ratty and making it look nice (I used to restore old Mustangs, too), I have always felt as though I was translating real skills that I have into real dollars by turning a $10,000 rehab done by contractors into a $2500 rehab done by me, and pocketing the difference. 

Recently I have been listening to the follow-up to Thomas Stanley's "Millionaire Next Door", which is called "the Millionaire's Mind". Without going into specifics, the millionaire class he studies, by and large ground-up rather than inherited, almost to a person eschews the idea of DIY anything, on the basis that their time doing X, whatever X is (lawyering, doctoring, etc) pays far more than what it would cost to pay someone else to do X job (repair, rehab, whatever), and thus it is a financial waste of time to DIY.

Now, not saying I want to be a millionaire (OK, I want to :D ), but I grew up dirt poor and made my way from that point. If I hadn't done it myself, I don't see how I would have likely accumulated capital to get to the point I am now - and, yes, I make a good living at my day job now, but that was really only the past decade or so, and I'm not far from retiring. FWIW, I hold a doctorate and work in my field utilizing my education. I still do all my own work, from changing the clutch in my car to tearing out bathrooms. Last weekend I canned 15 quarts of tomatoes I grew in my garden. I figure it saved me about 40 bucks in canned tomatoes, all told, though the canning took maybe 2 hours in time. The millionaire mind would say that 2 hours would have been better spent buying the tomatoes and being more economically productive.

So what do you all think? 

[Jay Orlauski]

I think it's great that you like to DIY - I think it is part what got you where you are today by having that mindset. As you have read, it can indeed pay to have someone else performing chores while you could be doing something else that is far more valuable - but I also think it comes down to personal choice and also depends a lot on where you are in real estate business. For example, if you are just starting out and aren't really making much an hour AND you enjoy doing the work - then I think it makes a lot of sense to tackle some things on your own.   The personal joy you get out of making things shiny and new again is a difficult to quantify in terms of money - many times when I'm in the yard doing my own yard work for my tri-plex - I often think that I could be paying someone to do it while I do something else - but the truth is - I really enjoy working in the yard - so much so that sometimes I almost feel guilty for spending time there and not doing something else.  But then I think about the joy I get out of it and realize , that I do what I do so that I CAN enjoy small moments like that. Now if your real estate empire is growing, and your time becomes more valuable and scarce - the benefits of outsourcing will start making sense to you and you will pick and choose the things you prefer to keep your hands on. One thing I always keep in mind is knowing where to draw the line and understanding my own limitations - there are many chores that I do with out a second thought -however, every now and then a task come up that I know I need to bring in a professional - I don't do roof repairs or anything that has to do with the outside electrical - even though I have no problem replacing lights, sockets, ceiling fans , etc. Sometimes I look at a project and know that I need some outside help - it helps a lot when you have the equipment and know what your doing - but there is a lot to be said about learning new skills too. I think in the end , it is something that you will have to decide for yourself and determine - when you find yourself face to face with a  gaping toilet hole drain - you really start to rethink your DIY strategies - but afterwards - its hard to not take personal satisfaction in the fact that you just saved $200 by handling the problem on your own.