In 14-year-old Willow Tufano's neighborhood, the real-estate crisis has meant living surrounded by vacant homes, in the foreclosure epicenter of Florida.
It has also meant a chance to earn some real money, selling items no one wants out of foreclosed homes handled by her real-estate agent mother.
Now, Willow has become a landlord, after buying her first house for $13,000. (see property listing click here).
Her two-bedroom, one-bath home is in Port Charlotte, Fla., where property is worth about one-third of what it was at the peak. Willow's 659 square foot house was built in 1959.
"There was glass everywhere. There was a dirty couch tipped over, Nothing was worth anything. It was like there was a riot or something."
Minors can't own real estate in Florida, so Willow bought the house with her mother, Shannon Moore, who paid for half. Willow hopes to buy out her mother by the time she's 18. She may even buy another house.
Willow's house last sold for $28,500 in 1987. We don't know what it would have sold for at the peak of the market in 2006, but the estimate is $85,000. The county assessed the house last year at $17,815.
After cleaning up the home with help from her family, the teenage entrepreneur rented it to a young couple and their baby for $700 a month, which she splits with her mother.
Willow, who is home-schooled, says she is not sure she wants to follow her mother and grandmother into real-estate sales. But she likes being an investor.
"Investing is really cool, You get to see a property that was a mess before and afterward see that it’s beautiful."
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Photo source ABCNews.com -credit Shannon Moore
