# 14-year-old girl buys a house in Florida for $12,000, now rents it out for $700/mo



## ddkay (Nov 20, 2010)

http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012...d-girl-just-bought-a-house-in-florida?ps=cprs

Haha, why waste time with the stock market when stuff like this exists? We should all show up in different parts of Florida and scout out the best foreclosures. I wonder why no one else turned up at the auction to bid the house higher? Lucky girl...


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## slacker (Mar 8, 2010)

That's a whopping 70% ROI per year !!


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## crazyjackcsa (Aug 8, 2010)

Which begs the question, if the renter had even passable credit, why didn't they show up to bid?


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## Jungle (Feb 17, 2010)

This is dramatic like the Chinese student that overbids $421K on a dated Toronto bungalow:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life...421800-over-asking-yes-really/article2362078/

But like polar opposites. Both are extreme.


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## Quotealex (Aug 1, 2010)

crazyjackcsa said:


> Which begs the question, if the renter had even passable credit, why didn't they show up to bid?


US banks are not lending.


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## crazyjackcsa (Aug 8, 2010)

Quotealex said:


> US banks are not lending.


Sure, I get that. But anybody should be able to get their hands on 12k. ESPECIALLY if they can afford $8400 in rent a year.


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## Quotealex (Aug 1, 2010)

crazyjackcsa said:


> Sure, I get that. But anybody should be able to get their hands on 12k. ESPECIALLY if they can afford $8400 in rent a year.


Not if they are two paychecks away from homelessness like the majority of Americans are.


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

Jungle said:


> This is dramatic like the Chinese student that overbids $421K on a dated Toronto bungalow:
> 
> http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life...421800-over-asking-yes-really/article2362078/
> 
> But like polar opposites. Both are extreme.


Toronto and Vancouver is the place where the "noveau riche" live. Yuppies, and "new money" from elsewhere. 
That overpriced Toronto bungalow, will no doubt *double it's value* in the next 10 years, if the real estate market there remains hot.

In 1970, I bought an older style detached house in the Danforth-Woodbine intersection area.
It is within 2 short walking blocks of the subway. My middle brother (divorced) has lived there for several years with my mother. 

I bought the house for $25K in 1970 and sold it back for what I put into it to my mother, who took over the mortgage, paid it off and moved into the house from Ottawa, in the 80s.

That house today, even though it needs a LOT of renovation (in spite of plumbing and electrical upgrades over the years) is probably in'
the neighborhood of $500k today, so my brother will get a windfall someday. I hope he will share some of that as I need it badly.

With Toronto gridlock and rising prices of gasoline..any house within walking distance of the subway is definitely worth it's
weight in gold.......or devalued Canadian (now plastic) money.


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## Berubeland (Sep 6, 2009)

I went and read all 200 comments on this and it's unbelievable to me. 

I think this girl is ingenious. She did a lot of hard work and investors who were stuck with people's abandoned possessions could either hire her to dispose of everything or she would do it for free. (not sure which) She would then put ads up on craigslist and sell the contents. For those of you who have never put up an ad on craigslist to sell stuff this is a lot of work. You'd have to go to the property multiple times and show the stuff etc. Even taking the pictures is a pain. 

Then instead of buying DS games she saved the money she made. 

Then with the help of her mom she bought a house with the money she saved. Then they cleaned it up and fixed it and rented it out. They got $700 per month. 

So lots of the comments center on how this girl is taking advantage of poor people which I just don't get at all. First of all the people completely abandoned their stuff, they had the choice to take it! One comment in particular was galling. This nut suggested that the girl should have tracked down the old owners of the stuff and given them all the money. 

Fact is it takes a lot of vision to buy a $12,000 house, I can almost guarantee you that it was absolutely ugly and disgusting inside. It takes a lot of plain hard work to bring it back to a livable state. 

I commend her for her work ethic and ability to spot a diamond in the rough. As for the poor people who "were taken advantage of" they had choices that they failed to act on. Such as selling their own stuff on craigslist and keeping the money. 

Seriously one trend I continually see here with evictions is that the people always leave money behind. You will find several dollars worth of change in the average eviction for some reason. Ironic because most of them are getting thrown out for non payment. I look at this as a sign that these people tend not to place any value on money. Yet, on a regular move out it is very unusual to find even a penny left behind.


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## Dmoney (Apr 28, 2011)

Berubeland said:


> I went and read all 200 comments on this and it's unbelievable to me.
> 
> I think this girl is ingenious. She did a lot of hard work and investors who were stuck with people's abandoned possessions could either hire her to dispose of everything or she would do it for free. (not sure which) She would then put ads up on craigslist and sell the contents. For those of you who have never put up an ad on craigslist to sell stuff this is a lot of work. You'd have to go to the property multiple times and show the stuff etc. Even taking the pictures is a pain.
> 
> ...


I can't help but feel that this article's title should read: "Mother with substantial real estate experience gets daughter into the family. Finds house, does due diligence, then pastes daughters name into news articles."

Not knocking the girl's saving ability, and the effort she put into selling items on craigslist etc., but I very much doubt that the vision is hers in any way. 

When I was ~8 yrs old, my parents put my savings alongside their investments. I wasn't profiled as "8 year old boy takes initiative to invest in his future with spectacular diversification and strong investment acumen". It was my parents directing me and I have to think it's the same situation here.

Granted, I attribute my handling of money and my interest in investments 100% to the early start they gave me (recording transactions, looking up fund quotes in the newspaper, tracking progress and results etc.), and I'm sure this girl will be extremely successful in her lifetime, but she's by no means a prodigy.

Just had the right opportunity at the right time, and happened to be 14 at the time, which made it "newsworthy".

As for the selling items on Craigslist... I say that's completely on board. The things were left there, obviously unwanted, so why not sell them. They came with the house, so tough luck on whoever left them, odds are they had no more use for it.


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## rookie (Mar 19, 2010)

then the article would have had 2 comments, or there would be no article at all


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## v_tofu (Apr 16, 2009)

Judgemental possibly offensive comment below:

Sorry, but judging by the looks of those "tenants", I think this young lady is going to realize how much it sucks to be a landlord. Plus, how often does one like to be told or even give money to a 14 year old? I give her great credit for saving money and starting out this venture, but with the way things are in the USSA, especially Florida, she'll realize how desperate and aggressive some folks can be.


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## DrMatt (Dec 11, 2011)

*Roi*



slacker said:


> That's a whopping 70% ROI per year !!


This is interesting... Every RE investor out there seems to calculate ROI from the basis of their down payment. E.g. If this kid (or her mom) had have only put 20% down, or $2400... Then they would say she earned 350% ROI... (700 x 12) / 2400... 

70% is much more accurate IMHO.

I don't understand why anyone would not factor in the cost of borrowing when they're leveraged to the hilt!
(does anyone else see this as an issue when trying to learn how to become a successful RE investor)


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## Berubeland (Sep 6, 2009)

Dr Matt,

I totally agree, new investors also fail to factor in the return on equity after expenses.


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## Addy (Mar 12, 2010)

This article has a before and after pic of the exterior of the house. Interesting stuff.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/business/2012/03/florida-14-year-old-buys-distressed-home/


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## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

Dmoney said:


> I can't help but feel that this article's title should read: "Mother with substantial real estate experience gets daughter into the family. Finds house, does due diligence, then pastes daughters name into news articles."
> 
> Not knocking the girl's saving ability, and the effort she put into selling items on craigslist etc., but I very much doubt that the vision is hers in any way. [ ... ] I'm sure this girl will be extremely successful in her lifetime, but she's by no means a prodigy.
> 
> ...


Maybe ... but then again, my parents had all sorts of visions and plans for me that I refused to cooperate with. Some I'm glad about and most I regret.

IAC, if it wasn't her vision - then someone is exaggerating as for both the "junk" for cash and the idea to buy the house, the NPR article quotes her as it being her idea.


Cheers


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## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

v_tofu said:


> Judgemental possibly offensive comment below:
> 
> Sorry, but judging by the looks of those "tenants", I think this young lady is going to realize how much it sucks to be a landlord. Plus, how often does one like to be told or even give money to a 14 year old? I give her great credit for saving money and starting out this venture, but with the way things are in the USSA, especially Florida, she'll realize how desperate and aggressive some folks can be.


Maybe ... but then again, the tenants look like they might be, say five years old than she is. If the age difference is really that small, I'm not sure it's a problem.


Cheers


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## Young&Ambitious (Aug 11, 2010)

Awesome. Simply awesome. 

Parents that are encouraging entrepreneurial skills and allowing hands-on-learning in investing. I'm a little envious actually!


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## Dmoney (Apr 28, 2011)

Oh, I'm sure she was selling the junk for cash, and I'm sure she will do exceptionally well in life.

I think it mentioned she was home schooled did it not? Clearly she's listening and learning. Don't see many public school kids with this kind of motivation or entrepreneurial skill. 

It definitely doesn't detract from what she has done, the fact that her parents pushed and prodded her to do it.

Like you eclectic, there are many things my parents pushed me to do that I wish I had done. I'd probably be further ahead in life than I am at the moment.


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