Can I perform needed tasks, such as painting the house, as my mom's POA and be paid for it as she has requested of me?

Couple of suggestions:
1. Forgetitabt ever doing a FSBO, get a Realtor to do MLS listing & all paperwork to sell house. Please have Realtor review POA to see if allows for full financial ability on your part as POA; if not, get fresh POA done. Having it sold at “arms length” type of sale by Realtor will be mucho importante should Medicaid get applied for or if a dust up with family on how house was sold. It’s just 3% commission, ffs.

And no you cannot collect a commission, you r not a Realtor. It’s a professional fee paid to a licensed & registered individual.

2. Have mom get an elder law atty, if she’s still cognitive & competent, to do a Memo of Understanding between you & her that all regular property expenses (utilities, maintenance, taxes) and any & all work necessary to have home market ready for MLS listing be repaid at market rates to DPOA or their assigns. Document witnessed & notarized.

Insurance co have industry standard market rates for what repairs costs and that’s a $ amount that u can use to do a invoice to mom to pay for projects (like painting). It will be on the low side…..
Personally I would NOT do all myself but find things to farm-out, electrician or a roofing co to do safety inspection, or have a gate / door repaired by a business …. It shows you are hiring pros with expertise when needed. If mom has $ then she pays for it from her checking account. If she doesn’t have the $ and your fronting $$$ on everything house then you pay for it and it goes into the Memo of Understanding pile to be repaid to you after Act of Sale.

Insurance company allow for a property owner to do feasible repair’s themselves and place a $ value on thier work; it’s set by Sq footage. You take before & after photos and do a invoice with details on hours of work at market rates based on footage covered. This is in essence what you would be doing in painting, plaster work, minor plumbing and lighting / ceiling fan replacement, replacing a door, changing locks, etc. This is what imo you could do and be ok with should mom eventually file for Medicaid & they red flag her application as looks like “gifting”.
Documented w industry pay scale & w photos!

Imo fine line between getting a property market ready that’s worthwhile VS. useless spending on property. This is where the Realtor can be priceless. An experienced Realtor will know if it’s worth painting or new fixtures….. if house is in a low inventory/ high demand area it’s gonna sell for over its current tax assessor value with zero being done. It can be a total POS place w ancient roof, electric, plumbing and have a bidding war if no inventory. For this situation, imo waste of time & $ to fix up the place. It’s something to seriously think about b4 u start putting spackle on a wall.

How much could moms place sell for? Over $400K? If not, and mom does not already have savings & income to add to the house sale $ to get her to a nest egg of $400K, there is a good possibility that she will outlive her $ and need to file for LTC Medicaid for room&board in a NH. LTC Medicaid can require 5 prior years of all her banking, financials; they will know to the penny what house sold for. $ paid from her to you for work on house will be looked into. This is why she needs to speak with an atty now as to doing some sort of document like a Memo that can be used to show why not gifting but necessary reinbursement.

If mom really doesn’t have $ right now 2 selfpay for 6-8 mos of care & house stuff and you’re going to pay for her stay plus her house costs, pls look in detail as to what the regular mo costs on the house (utilities, yard, etc) will be. Do you have the wallet for all this? If not, You may be better off selling “as is”.

You wrote:

"Nobody has yet been able to answer me directly as to whether it is legal for me to hire myself, for my mother, to perform any job that I am capable of doing myself"

You're expecting a legal response from a forum of caregivers.    Even if you don't want to seek legal help, it's the only way for someone to provide legal review of the enabling document and determine if it contains wording that could allow self reimbursement, and if so, under what terms and circumstances.

If the whole move and accompanying aspects need to be done" right", you would need to consult a realtor and likely an  attorney to ensure that everything required for a sale not by a homeowner meets legal standards and conditions. 

E.g., do you know how to order title work?  Read it?  Interpret it?  Determine which are positive and negative exceptions to title?   Can you prepare a closing statement at the level of a realtor or attorney?    What documents MUST you provide?  What disclosures must you make? 

Do it right and hire a professional.

No. Too close to self-enrichment, too much to go wrong, false economy of time and money. The laborer is worthy of his hire - pay professionals to do the job(s) properly.

If you want to buy a can of whitewash and paint the garage wall yourself, though, that's fine - you can charge for the paint and the brushes, but not for your fee qua painter-and-decorator.

Ty for your response. Upkeep of the home and moving my mother are not a part of selling the house. As a matter of fact I do not have to sell the house but am choosing to do so. But until the time I actually do, the move has to take place and upkeep is needed. Nobody has yet been able to answer me directly as to whether it is legal for me to hire myself, for my mother, to perform any job that I am capable of doing myself. We are not currently using Medicaid. She still has her normal insurance and the rest is out of pocket. I'm trying to get the solid answer "before" I call our lawyer. Long story.

bromikke, it is my understanding that you can only collect a real estate commission, on a sale of a house, if you are a licensed REALTOR. Medicaid would view the money as a gift, otherwise.

You might be able to charge $X per hour for the work to fix up the house, but unless you're a licensed Realtor, I doubt your labors would equal that of an actual one. That 3% they make pays for a lot of things -- marketing the house not being the least of them. That means photographing it, advertising, fliers, pulling deeds and other legal documents from the county, preparing legal paperwork, paying broker fees and staff salaries, and myriad other tasks. At best, you might be paid 1% in terms of what you actually do compared to a Realtor.

I am assuming you are worried about your POA and it's clause about "self enrichment" and stipulations against "hiring out jobs you can reasonably do yourself" might run into conflicts if questioned.
I would ask an elder law attorney this question, and would be very careful as you can certainly hire anyone ELSE, but it is dicey if you are intending to pay yourself. I know this doesn't seem "right", but it is often the case. Were you to write yourself a check for moving Mom, one for painting, one for repairs, this could be questioned in future.
You need to run this past a Lawyer and THAT you CAN pay as POA out of Mom's funds.
Good luck.

You consult with a Medicaid Planner for NYS to get an accurate answer. Each state runs its own Medicaid program uniquely. NY Medicaid may see any of those payments as "gifting" thus disqualifying her. I would not go on guesses from non-professionals who don't live in your state since there is no accountability if they got it wrong. Don't manage her financial affairs without knowing the implications. You should for sure find out what the "look-back" period is in NYS. Where I live it is 5 years.

When you out the definitive answer it would be incredibly helpful for you to post an update here.

I would take what I’m gonna say and ask your states Medicaid about it to be sure.

BUT I wouldn’t think this is a issue. Selling the house is part of Medicaid spend down. Painting, floors, clean out, staging are all part of the process