Florida teen landlord turns foreclosure crisis into opportunity

(CBS News) NORTH PORT, Fla. - A report out today says America's home builders are more optimistic about a turnaround in the housing market than at any time since the bubble burst. That's exactly what one 15-year-old girl in Florida is betting on as well.

Willow Tufano may look like a typical teen, dress like one and act like one, but growing up during Florida's foreclosure crisis gave her the opportunity to become something else too.

"I bought my first house, and I am buying my second house here soon," Turfano said.

Tufano is a landlord. She's likely Florida's youngest landlord, taking her cues from her realtor Mom who buys cheap bank-owned homes.

"I would go around with my Mom and look at these houses, and there was one filled with a whole bunch of different furniture that was nice, and I said, Well, I can sell this stuff.' So that was how it started," she said.

Tufano eventually made $6,000 by selling furniture, which she used to help her purchase a $12,000 home. She'll soon close on her second house. It costs $17,500.

"I'm trying to get as many houses as I can while the market is low," she said.

She said her goal is to have around 10 houses by the time that she is 18.

"I want to try for two a year, pretty much," she said.

Fifteen-year-old Willow Tufano collects rent from one of her tenants.

/ CBS News

Today, Tufano spends her spare time gathering and selling items not just from foreclosed homes, but from garage sales, from charities and even street curbs.

"I just try and save every penny that I can to invest in more houses," she said.

As a minor, Tufano can't legally be on the deed. But when she turns 18, her mother, Shannon Moore will sign the properties over to her.

"I said, 'Willow, lead the way, show me where you need to go.' And she has," Moore said.

Not bad for a kid with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) who left a gifted school because teachers told her mom her daughter couldn't focus.

"I guess it's hard to listen to people say 'your kid has a problem,' you know, and now look at her. I don't know, I guess I'm really proud of her," Moore said choking up with emotion.

These days, Willow's busy collecting rent from her tenant, shopping for building materials and taking stock of her next project.

All from a girl who is too young too drive but has plenty of direction.

[SaintWalkerIII]

I wish Willow the best but she doesn't need to do this on her own. Help is here! www.landlord-toolkit.com is here to help!

[duzmafuzt]

Someone in this economy, is generating tax revenue. Amazing. We should be encouraged, but many, just complain. These guys, are doing and not complaining. Suppose these days, for the diaper doper offspring, growing wacky weed, for revenue, is considered "free enterprise". Great job kiddo, good luck, to you. Forget the haters.

[lornecl]

Willow's mother mentioned, in the CBS News article, that her daughter had Attention Deficeit Disorder. With the appropriate ADD medications, that are currently available, Willow should have a great and prosperous future ahead of her.

[wayinslc]

Just like other blogs, there are a lot of selfish and nutty people leaving comments. There is no indication that this girl is doing anything wrong at all. So why are there people saying negative things about her. I commend her for being enterprising. She is accomplishing great things through her hard work and diligence. I wish her the best.

[Bellatrix517]

I cannot believe that people are calling this thrifty girl a vulture. She is doing whatever any of us would do to make a buck if given the opportunity. To the people who are writing ugly things who are losing their homes, if you cannot pay your bills because you bought a house YOU knew you couldn't afford who is to blame, you or her for making money off of your situation, IT
S YOUR FAULT, YOU ARE TO BLAME! I think she could teach our kids a thing or two about saving and preparing for their future. Do you people even know what college debt is? Working your butt off for a four year degree and then being 60 thousand in debt. I applaud her for getting an early grip on her future! And hope she doesn't read these ridiculous negative comments from people who are just jealous and who only wish they could have accomplished at their age what she is doing at age 15.

[BigHouse3]

Hi,
I am one of the investors in the area that buys and sells foreclosed homes. I want to clarify that I met Willow when she was 12 years old, and have been giving her appliances and furniture from foreclosed homes that I own, and have renovated. She did not pilfer things from them. I gave them to her to sell so she could begin saving for the future and to see what she would do. Her mom and I often talked about how enterprising she is, and that you never know how someone will turn out if steered in the right direction. She has done this all on her own. I was upgrading the appliances and furniture anyway, and no longer needed the things I gave her. I am pleased with her accomplishments and goals.

[dfoxworth]

Yea right! You post too much and are too defensive about this girl. You are either her mother, or you might even be Willow.

[BigHouse3]

sorry dfoxworth. Not only am I the owner who gave her things, but in the video, she is in one of my houses looking at the dishwasher I offered her.

[dfoxworth]

Uh huh, sure. Another post. My point rests.

[tmonta67]

I am appalled at this story. A young girl, with the help of her Mom, sells off the belongings of unfortunate families and establishes her own personal empire.

She's a vulture. This is only news-worthy in its WRONGNESS.

[rucres]

I am a resident of Florida for twenty years. We are losing our home because of a family illness and yes, it is extremely and heartbreaking as we worry of being homeless. However, the foreclosure issue here is one of the worst in the country. It is unreasonable to expect thousands of homes to just sit around, vacant and rotting away without being purchased because it was an unfortunate circumstance for the previous owners. The vast majority of foreclosures are being purchased by investors because there are no other buyers in the current economy. Without the investors, there would be no advancement towards fiscal recovery. I have seen many of these foreclosed homes and the condition of many are deplorable. Holes in walls, piles of garbage, stripped of electrical and plumbing for scrap. My hats off to the young girl for seizing an opportunity and developing a plan for her future. Not to mention, she is providing a rental home to a family that otherwise would just sit vacant if we all adopted an avoidance mentality.

[BigHouse3]

If you review my comment by BigHouse3, you will see that I am an investor that has given furniture and appliances from my homes that I bought in foreclosure, where these were abandoned when I bought them, and given them to this enterprising young lady. She is a smart hardworking girl, and did not sell anything from unfortunate families.

Although many families are unfortunate, and have been hurt by the recession, someone has to put these properties back together, and make something positive out of this mess. She is one of those people.

[nohater]

really good of mother helping daughter get started early. but thinking they should have stayed off the radar, out of the public eye, because they may have made themselves a target for the many, many criminals across the nation from scam artists, kidnappers, home invaders.

[odgnj5]

Mom of the year. Teach your kid to take other peoples stuff, sell it and pocket all of the cash.

[semmiiii12]

I thought I was about to hear an inspiring story when I caught a snippet of the broadcast, indicating that a teenage girl was building her real estate empire and had already purchase her first home. First, I thought fantastic; but wondered how a teenager would have been able to acquire that type of monies to purchase a home and was quite interested in their/her accomplishments.

Then I saw the snippets and decided to come here to the CBS's web-link to get the full story. Long and behold there was a underlying circumstances, in the fact that her mother is a real estate agent capitalizing on foreclosed properties; so there lays the circumstances and resource.

However, the story becomes appalling and horrendous in the fact that the mother is just teaching her daughter to become a vulture/scavenger just like her. It is not due to the fact that her mother is dealing with foreclosures, but to allow her daughter to profit from selling the furniture from individuals whom have lost everything is the appalling aspect of the story. Reading some of the other post it's good to see the common sense folks are still out there and care for their fellow Americans whom have lost so much also seeing that it is a appalling story; while some, from their post, are the "who gives a damn as long as I'm getting mine attitude!"

It is also a shame that CBS Evening News would have considered this as a news worthy story.
considered this news worthy story.