Willow Tufano was quite the entrepreneur by age 14.
The Florida teen would pick up things that were being given away on Craigslist or tags sales for free or purchase things and sell everything at a profit.
“It’s crazy the things people throw away. It’s profit!” she told Ellen DeGeneres during her appearance on The Ellen Show.
She ended up saving a lot of money, about $6,000.
But she didn’t run out and buy a phone or new clothes.
The housing market crash left Willow with an opportunity to buy a house.
The house was valued at $100,000 but was selling for $17,500.
She ended up getting the house for $12,000 in a short sale and split the cost of the house with her mom.
At first, her dad wasn’t really on board. But eventually, he came around.
“I had six and I was like ‘Mom, do you want to go in halves with me?” Willow said “Do you want to pay the other half?’ She was like, ‘uh…’ It sort of shocked her at first. My dad was like, ‘I had a paper route when I was a kid! You shouldn’t be doing that!’ But now he’s like really supportive. I think it was just at first he was like ‘a house?! You’re fourteen!'”
She ended up fixing the house up and rents it out for $700 a month.
She told Ellen that she did a lot of work to the house.
They painted the front of the home and redid the kitchen with beautiful granite counter tops and brand new cabinets.
This meant that Willow was a homeowner and landlord by the age of 14.
Something adults twice her age still haven’t achieved and only dream of.
She told Ellen that she will use the rent money to pay her mom back. Then the rest is all profit once taxes and other associated bills are paid.
After her appearance on Ellen, she became a bit of a celebrity and was asked to appear on many shows.
“Everyone started calling,” Willow told NPR. Good Morning America, Anderson Cooper, some show from Korea. “I thought, ‘Oh my goodness.'”
She was even invited to speak at a college in Alabama.
This made her very nervous but this incredibly intelligent young woman knew exactly how to how to handle it.
She decided she would overcome her fear of being the center of attention by being the center of attention.
When she flew to Alabama with her mom she made sure to wear a bright yellow Pikachu costume.
“Walking through three big airports and having so many people stare, I felt pretty confident I could speak in front of 200 people and be OK,” she says.
Willow’s mom says that this was the exact moment that Willow went from a teen with a strange hobby to a confident businesswoman.
Willow eventually bought a second house near her home in Port Charlotte, Flordia.
This time around she got a two bedroom, one bath for $17,500.
Willow says she’s also made a lot of friends since her story went viral.
But she’s just as choosy about her friends as she is about her financial endeavors.
“You have to scout and see who really is there for you,” she says. “Some people … try and mooch money off of me. … I would totally teach them how to make money. They don’t even wanna make an effort.”
Learn more about Willow’s story below.
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