14-Year-Old Buys House: How She Did It
Most 14-year-old girls choose to spend their money on clothes or iTunes, but Willow Tufano has decided to buy a house. She is sharing her story to inspire others to do the same.
Tufano lives in Florida, which has been hit hard by the economic downturn and falling housing market. She told NPR's Planet Money that she earned the money for her half of the $12,000 home by selling items on Craigslist. Her mother, Shannon Moore, already owns several rental properties and decided to split the cost of the home with Tufano.
By the time she is 18, Tufano plans to have bought her mom's share of the house and have her own name on the title. She explained her rationale for buying the home: "Everyone is getting foreclosed on here. I was like, 'What if I bought a house? That would be crazy,'" she told NPR.
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After going with her mother to an abandoned home, Tufano saw the earning potential of selling all the items. That first home's profit led her to continue doing the same thing for many more. She was soon clearing at least $500 per month and saving the majority of it.
"If there's one thing I want people to know, it's that your age does not matter," she told ABC News. "If I can inspire another person my age, younger, that would mean the world. Whether it's buying a house, buying a car, or whatever. If you really work for it and put your mind to it, you can do what you want to do."
The teen and her mother are renting the house to a young couple for $700 per month, but Tufano doesn't have any plans to stay in the real estate market.
"I'm not so sure," she told ABC News. "Investing is really cool. You get to see a property that was a mess before and afterward see that it's beautiful. I suppose with real estate you can connect with people more, but I would probably prefer investing."
