At 14, She Bought and Made Over This Entire House

What were you doing at 14-years-old? Getting excited about dancing and dating and pep rallies, maybe? Maybe not, but we still doubt that you were saving up thousands of dollars. And then, once those thousands of dollars were saved, you probably weren’t perusing the housing market for a particularly good sale. You may be asking yourself, “What kind of a 14-year-old would be doing that?”

The answer? Willow Tufano.

14-year-old Willow Tufano is unlike most kids her age. While her peers might be enjoying the fun activities we may have at that age, Willow is busy being a homeowner and landlord. Yeah, you’re not losing it, you read that right. This 14-year-old already owns a home and she has no intention of stopping there.

Her journey started when she was browsing Craigslist. At a young age, Willow found she had a knack for finding free items on Craigslist and then selling them to other interested buyers. By purchasing these free items, even fixing them up occasionally, and then sell them for a profit, she had started quite a one-man (or, one-girl) business.

You might be wondering how much money Willow could have really saved through this venture, but you’d be surprised. Over time, Willow saved up $6,000.

At first, her parents were startled by what she was doing and how much money she was making. They didn’t even approve of it, at first. Willow’s Dad even told her to get a real job, telling her, “When I was a kid, I had a paper route.”

But Willow had big dreams and big plans. When she caught wind of an amazing property investment, she couldn’t resist the amazing deal.

What had happened was that a lovely, $100,000 house saw its price fall tremendously, to $16,000. With some haggling, Willow got the owner to drive the price down to $12,000. Impressed by their daughter’s knack for business and work ethic, Willow’s parents agreed to help her. With Willow’s saved $6,000 and her mom spotting the rest, Willow got the house of her dreams.

Unsurprisingly, she didn’t stop there.

Willow started renovated the entire home herself and is now, at 14-years-old, renting out the home for $700 a month. That’s right: at 14-years-old Willow is a homeowner and a landlord, who has single-handedly renovated a house by herself. Although Willow didn’t have the intention of being a homeowner/landlord at 14, she was smart enough to save her money and strike while the iron was hot.

How many teenagers can say they had a mindset like that?

After seeing her impressive work, Ellen invited Willow as a guest on her show. In classic Ellen-style, she gave Willow a $10,000 ACE Hardware gift card to continue her amazing renovations.

We hope that Willow continues after her dream! Not just in the sense of seeing her house to completion, but in the sense that she’ll follow her dream to becoming a high-powered business woman. There is no doubt in our mind that she can do it.

What do you think of this amazing girl and her business ventures? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.