Everyone’s heard the phrase “When the going gets tough, the tough get going”. But in some cases, I’d like to think that those who get going aren’t so much tough as they are determined dreamers.
Never has this been more apparent than now, as a new trend is starting to take place. Specifically, some entrepreneurs in their teens and 20s are really getting into real estate — and finding success in doing so.
Whether it’s developing, building, selling, or just writing about real estate, these young people are following their dreams and diving headlong into the world of real estate, and maybe even having some fun along the way, despite the gloomy real estate outlook extending into the near future. Read on to learn more about these determined dreamers and the splash they’re making in real estate news.
Rich Lewetzow. Photo: Yahoo! Real Estate
Rich Lewetzow
Rich is a true go-getter: Not only did he start working at Brown and Co. (a “boutique-style real estate brokerage office”) when he was just a freshman in high school, but he also both acquired his real estate license and sold a $625,000 San Francisco condo as his first property when he was only 18. All while suffering from dyslexia. The 22-year-old left Brown & Co. back in May of 2011 and now works at TRI Coldwell Banker Previews International, where he’s seen his business double in spite of the economy and his lack of a college education.
Ty Bergman. Photo: Yahoo! Real Estate
Ty Bergman
Like Rich, Ty received his real estate license at the tender age of 18. He began this career in real estate at the urging of his mother, whose own father “had done very well with property development in England after World War II”. Ty’s father, also named Ty, got his own real estate license, and both father and son went into business together, starting their own successful real estate business in Los Angeles. Ty enjoys the buildings he’s designed in Venice, CA the most.
Austin Hay. Photo: Yahoo! Real Estate
Austin Hay
This Santa Rosa, CA high school student tackled — and succeeded — in doing something that very few, if any, other 16-year-olds have done: He built his own home. The 130-square-foot-plus house, constructed on a trailer base located in his parent’s backyard and costing less than $12,000, features a loft bedroom; composting toilet; shower; gray water sink; outdoor cook stove gifted to him by his parents; and an off-the-ground, two-door refrigerator. His favorite part about the home? “I can park and move it whenever I want.”
Denise Price. Photo: Yahoo! Real Estate
Denise Price
Denise is another young person who got into real estate (via a summer real estate course) after graduating high school at 18. She paid her way through college, selling Denver, CO model homes “during the day and attended classes at 5:30 a.m. and in the evenings”. Even though her parents were unsure about her decision, they helped pay the remainder of her college. Now 38, she’s surprised everyone with her success — everyone except herself, that is, because she worked hard to get where she is today.
Cole Perkins. Photo: Yahoo! Real Estate
Cole Perkins
Talk about precocious. This 13-year-old real estate blogger has not only gotten “nearly straight A’s attending online high school from home,” but has also earned “about $2 per day with Google Ad Sense on his blog Lavish-Property.com”. He closed this blog down in favor of a new blog, AffluentAbodes.blogspot.com, but when he ran it, he was getting anywhere between 400 and 500 hits per day from around the world on his writings about American and European luxury real estate. He plans on going to college for something business-related and may even become a realtor himself one day.
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Stephanie Huskey is the resident real estate blogger for Movoto and really admires the ambition, creativity, and ingenuity of these young people. (You go, guys!) Interested in getting her advice on your blog? She’s currently seeking guest blogging opportunities so she can share her knowledge with new communities! You can find her over here at Elance.com.
