Tweens and teens get a bad for being irresponsible with their finances. Often, kids blow through cash like there is no tomorrow purchasing items that nearly always end up trashed, forgotten or consumed within a very short period of time. What’s more, in most cases, the money teens bleed through is earned by mom and dad. Instead of shedding blood, sweat and tears to earn a buck, many kids these days simply beg, whine or threaten their way to financial gain.
Fortunately, not all teens perpetuate this stereotype. In fact, one 14-year-old is breaking the mold by making wise financial decisions that would make any parent proud.
Rather than blowing her mom’s money at Hollister, Willow Tufano worked hard and saved up enough money to buy a house. And I don’t mean one made for dolls or My Little Ponies. The teen owns real life real estate.
Revealing all to NPR’s “All Things Considered,” Tufano explained that she is not living on her own; rather, the teen is renting out her property and pocketing $700 in rent per month.
Cha-ching.
Granted, the teen’s mom is a real estate agent in South Florida, but the older Tufano says she didn’t force her love of house flipping on her daughter.
According to the teen, she often tagged along with her mother to view foreclosed homes, and one day she found a place she couldn’t get out of her head.
Tufano tells NPR that she fell head over heels for a two-bedroom, concrete-block home on auction for $12,000.
Yes, a mere 12 grand.
The home was reduced from $100,000 and was still filled with the previous owner’s stuff when Tufano offered to buy it.
Turns out Tufano purchased the home with her mom and sold the contents on Craigslist. She is now in the process of using that money to buy out her mom, though Willow can’t legally put her name on the title until she turns 18.
Still, the teen didn’t waste any time rolling up her sleeves and cleaning the place up so she could rent it out to and start making money on her investment.
So, yeah, a 14-year-old kid owns a house and rakes in 700 bucks a month renting it out to a couple twice her age.
How’s that for shattering stereotypes?