Slim Thug’s real estate plan, dashed by a dalliance
There’s never much surprise when hearing stories of artists mixing business with pleasure, but it is surprising when too much mixing results in the artist ending up with financial losses.
A few years ago, I was living in a five-bedroom house. Because of the delicate real estate market Houston was facing, I was interested in selling my house to buy another one. While planning this business move, I heard about an opportunity the Obama administration was offering that would assist homeowners with short-sale deals, where the lender settles for a sale price below the amount owed on the mortgage. I jumped on the opportunity and reached out to a real estate agent to assist with the process.
It didn’t take long to find an agent, and over time we became very close. In fact, we became too close and found ourselves at a point where pleasure became more important than business.
The result was hurt feelings, mixed emotions and resentment, and once feelings are involved, business takes a back seat. After the end of our personal relationship, the deadline expired for taking advantage of the short-sale program. I ended up in foreclosure. So not only did I lose out on money from a potential sale, but I ruined my credit as well. I’ve suffered financially from not being able to do business in my own name and probably lost around $200,000 directly and indirectly through my mistake.
Who would have known that sex would lead to losing money? Obviously, I didn’t. But this is one of the many mistakes that led me to talking more about money as part of my work. It’s 2015, and my credit still isn’t the same. Neither is my net worth, but the lesson I learned is certainly priceless.
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