Before You Hire Your Family

Don’t hire family to fix, repair, build, install, upgrade, downgrade or work in your home. Here are three questions you should ask yourself if you’re considering hiring a relative, no matter how much of a ‘deal’ they’ll give you on the price:

1. If they royally screw up, who will you sue?
2. If you don’t like the job they performed, how can you face them at family gatherings?
3. If they don’t complete the job, how do you get them to finish the job without causing family rifts?

Having handy relatives that are willing to help you with a project is a whole different scenario than hiring them to do a professional job. To keep the peace in the family, throw a work party. Prepare a wonderful meal and have them come over to help with the project (hold off on serving the beer until after all power tools are unplugged). This way it is a fun time and a group effort.

Entering into a buyer/contractor relationship with family adds a whole new level of expectation. Your expectation is equal to that of hiring an independent contractor for which you expect a professional job for the money you pay. No matter how much you love your family and want to give them a hand by hiring them, don’t do it.

If you value your relationship with your relatives, and don’t want to be stuck holding the bag on a less than expected performance, don’t hire them.

That’s my 2 cents and I’m sticking with it. 

Filed in: 2007