Jermaine Dupri Loses Atlanta Home, Younger Artists Taking Note?

Radio Facts:

Jermaine Dupri looses $3.7 Million Mansion in Fulton County to Foreclosure

This story is unfortunate for more than one reason.  I have worked in the music industry for decades but I am also a real estate agent for 10 years now. I was looking for a career option when the industry flipped in the early 2000’s. In that time, I have not only seen many industry people and beyond lose their homes. I even lost one of my own during the real estate crash and I can honestly tell you it’s a heavy burden on you. When reading the comments after the story of Dupri’s foreclosure on other sites for the 4 million dollar home in Atlanta, people were saying things like “Guess Money IS a thang” and there were others celebrating Dupri’s suggested demise, no surprise there but a foreclosure is public information that doesn’t necessarily mean a person is broke. Thus far, Dupri has not filed Bankruptcy (to my knowledge) so it’s hard to gauge what his current financial situation is or why he foreclosed on the home but from an industry perspective… what we all DO know is this sh does NOT last forever so think about tomorrow when you spend your cash today. 

I hope other artists and successful industry people take note because we often make the worst choices in who we surround ourselves with when it comes to our success especially musicians and athletes. As a result we frivolously spend and fail to keep track of where our finances are going. I get the fact that you don’t trust people you don’t know but understand the opportunity is granted to YOU to GROW and you can’t take people from the neighborhood on YOUR journey. Guilt murders money.  Do a damn Bar-b-Que once a year, give some free turkeys during the holidays, contribute to a community center but leave it at that.

Without knowing the exact details of how Jermaine made the purchase, I would strongly recommend buyers to look HARD at the comps in the neighborhood and never buy the most expensive house on the street unless it’s VERY close to the last sale in the previous six months to a year.  There are many other factors that can be red flags for future foreclosures that are often overlooked and too much to list here but perhaps I can put it into industry terms… Think about the way the industry works. Here today, gone tomorrow. Will you AND your kids have the finances to sustain a house for years to come or should you get something that you can afford now?  I vote for the latter.

I cannot emphasize enough the importance of resale value since we don’t know what the future holds, you have to ask yourself BEFORE you buy that house, can I sell it if I have to? Can I afford to make payments on it if I’m not working? Dupri has tried to save this home for some time now along with tax issues and sometimes you have to just let things go.  I’ve seen homeowners keep pouring money they don’t have into saving a home they are going to lose anyway?  Now you have spent thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep something alive that is already dead which makes your financial situation even worse.

Those of us who work in the industry get it, we think something will come up and get us back on track. We fail to consider we are getting older, the industry is changing and the longer we are out the harder it is to get back in and that what we did we can’t continue to do forever. I’m speaking in general from the many industry people I have seen lose their homes.

Unfortunately, we are not a culture raised in generational financial prosperity. If we have had entrepreneurs in our family history they may have made ends meet but chances are they still struggled. Success in the black community 50 years ago meant you were not on welfare. Most of us never had conversations at the dinner table each night growing up where our fathers talked about investments he made and on many occasions, “dinner” was grabbing a hot dog and running outside and playing. So after that you grow up, become famous and you get millions.. how are you supposed to know what to do with it?

A multi million dollar home is a hefty commission for an agent (it can vary based on the contract and whether it’s a new property or in a subdivision).  Take your time to make choices. Don’t always hire an agent because it’s a recommendation from someone you barely know but do major business with. Make sure you work with agents you KNOW and who know YOU.  Many buyers hire an agent that has an understanding of their cultural backgrounds to help them get the best value in the best neighborhoods for their needs.  Agents are not privy to your financial information unless you offer it to them or if you use a referral from them that’s not a major institution.  You can ask more questions and get better answers with an agent you can relate to and who can relate to you.  To that end, no experience is a bad experience when we are educated from it. Whatever we do once we can use what we learned from it to do something greater (we should not try to do the same thing again) We wish Jermaine the best.