Rental Lessons Learned from Britney Spears’s Management Team

On New Years Day 2004, Britney Spears’s management team was just waking up to a wonderful, wonderful, and more superbly wonderful morning.  They had one of the hottest singers on the planet, she was making them tons of money, and her momentum was strong. 

 

Everyone was happy and content. 

 

Or should I say everyone with the exception of Britney, but she had enacted a quick plan to change that.

 

In the spur of the moment, she flew her childhood friend, Jason Alexander (not the rich one from Seinfeld), from Louisiana to Nevada.  Then after a night of partying, she proposed they get married.  Jason was down and they found one of those quickie Las Vegas chapels to hitch them up.  They were now married and well on to their way to marital bliss.  They just had to break the news to their families, and Britney to her management team.

 

I imagine Britney’s conversation with her management team went something like this:

 

Britney: I married Jason Alexander last night!  It was…

 

Management Team (interrupting): The one from Seinfeld?

 

Britney (laughing): No!  Let me tell you the story!  Jason looked me in the eye and I knew it was meant to be and we drove right to the chapel and…

 

Management Team (interrupting): Whoa!  Hold on.  I think you skipped the most important part of the story, the part where you stopped by an attorney’s office and had a prenup drawn up before you made it to the chapel, right?  Right????

 

Britney (pausing): Not ‘zactly.  You’re sort of killing my buzz right now.

 

Britney’s management team started formulating the equation in their minds:

 

 Short term courtship + booze + no prenuptial agreement + gross income equality (gazillions versus $20.00) + contractual lifetime commitment = Britney financial disaster and the eventual termination of our employment

 

This didn’t add up well for them.

 

Property managers are often put in similar situations with rental applications.  Potential tenants walk into a rental home and fall in love with it.  The owners are anxious to have it occupied.  It’s a boozy, quick courtship that seems destined to consummate.  Is it a match made in Heaven?

 

Maybe.  But an experienced (property) management team can step in and start asking the tough questions about the tenants before anything is signed: 

 

How much money do they make?

 

Did you see they have 2 monthly car and student loan payments as well?

 

What happened with that past eviction?

 

Isn’t the tenant’s dog uninsurable because it’s an aggressive breed?

 

A tenant that seemed like a good idea at the time may become less desirable under more vetting.  To avoid something like the Jason Alexander nuptials, it’s usually better to have some unattached, impartial party give some input on important coupling decisions before tying the knot.

 

While Britney’s management team was able to forge an annulment and put down the marriage in less than 55 hours, it can actually take a few months to part ways with a less than ideal tenant.  So make sure the vetting is done before anyone gets too excited!

 

Happy Landlording!

 

Brett Furniss is a property manager at BDF Realty (Charlotte Residential Property Management), the trusted real estate advisor for Charlotte landlords & Home of $100 Flat Fee Property Management.   BDF Realty utilizes their innovative Pod System for exceptional customer service in residential property management, home repairs, and home sales for single-family homes, Uptown condos, and town homes in the Charlotte-Metro Area.  Contact Us Today!