When the recession hit and the housing market crashed, Willow Tufano’s mother, who is a real estate agent, was seeing $100,000 homes sell for $12,000. Willow already enjoyed clearing houses and reselling the items she found, so she thought, why not buy a house! At the age of 14, Willow bought her first house at $12,000, which she split with her mom. Willow fixed up the house and put it on the market for rent. She successfully rented the house out for $700 a month and quickly made her money back.
Willow was also being noticed now that she was a 14 year old home owner. Ellen asked her to be on her show and said that Willow was such an amazing kid! Although Willow didn’t think of herself as amazing, or different, she then started getting calls from many different TV shows and even a college. She was called by Good Morning America, Anderson Cooper, a Korean show, and by a college in Alabama to give a talk. Willow flew to Alabama to give a talk despite being very nervous, and did great!
This might not be a traditional business start-up, but Willow Tufano is definitely an entrepreneur. Now 15, she has bought another house. Willow is a true inspiration to just go for it, a walking example of the analogy “ready, fire, aim”.
I’m amazed, I’ve never heard of anyone this young buying a house before! Good for Willow! Although the idea of flipping houses is not new or original, Willow definitely differentiates herself by her age and the uniqueness of her business. She inspires us all to get out of our comfort and do something, build a business! Nice job, Willow!
This shows not only an entrepreneur, but an intelligent and risk-taking entrepreneur that sees value where value is not present. Superior foresight is what differentiates an entrepreneur and Willow definitely had it!