This 14-year-old managed to save up enough to buy a home – proving that we can all achieve our savings goals if we put our mind to it.
Ellen DeGeneres hosted 14-year-old Willow Tufano on her show to see just how she managed to achieve what many twice her age are struggling to do.
Her savings are particularly impressive since as Ellen points out, most kids her age spend their money as soon as they get it.
What was the teen’s secret to saving up so much money by her young age?
She took advantage of garage sales and sales websites, such as Craigslist. As she put it, “I look for good deals,” even getting many items for free. Willow says that she’s “best at selling electronics.”
During her business venture, this teen has sold everything from baby items to video games to appliances. To make her achievements more impressive, she saved $6,000 in just one and a half years.
This teen obviously has a knack for deals. Willow heard about a house that had been worth $100,000 but went down significantly because of the market. In fact, she and her mom ended up buying the house for just $12,000.
In other words, this teen saved enough money to pay for half a house in cash in less than two years.
Since the teen only had $6,000 and the asking price for the home was $16,000, she asked her mom if she would lend her the other half. Unsurprisingly, her mom was not expecting that question. Willow told Ellen that “it sort of shocked her at first.”
Not only did this 14-year-old pay for half of the house herself, she also worked to make repairs and turn it around. If you look at the images of the kitchen at -3:38, you can get a feel for the impressive updates she completed.
To further prove her business acumen, Willow isn’t letting the house just sit vacant while she lives with her parents. She is renting it out for $700 a month, now making a steady income that will make many others her age jealous.
At this point, you may wonder how a 14-year-old even thought about buying a house.
That wasn’t her original plan. In fact, she didn’t have a plan at first.
“At first, I was just saving it, and was like, I really don’t know what I’m going to do with this. I’m just going to save it.”
Since the teen attends a Florida virtual school, she has more flexibility. This allowed her to go get a good deal or a free item from the curb as soon as she saw it then finish her schoolwork at night.
What’s next on this agenda for this teen?
The first step was to pay her mom back for her loan. Then, she planned to buy another home, fix it up, and rent it.
Ellen made those goals a little easier by giving the teen a new dryer for the house. She also worked with ACE Hardware, who gave the teen a $10,000 gift card for her home repairs. This teen was incredibly appreciative, showing off a huge grin and thanking Ellen repeatedly at -0:11.
Clearly this 14-year-old knows the value of money better than most teens.
In fact, just a year after her appearance on Ellen, Willow told NPR she had just bought a second house. In early 2016, Willow’s posted on Facebook that her then-18-year-old daughter was living on her own and finishing up high school.
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
This 14-year-old bought a house. When I was 14 I thought Canadian was another language.
Posted by Ellen DeGeneres on Monday, July 3, 2017
