Teenager buys home...with cash

[JediAthos]

Lindsay Binegar was 14 the first time she spent any winnings from years of showing hogs. She bought a purse. The second time, at 18, she splurged. She bought a four-bedroom, two-bathroom house with a two-car garage. And she paid in cash.

 

"I've never heard of a teenager buying a house," said Nikki Gasbarro, spokeswoman for the Ohio Association of Realtors. "Smart girl."

 

The Greenfield teenager has been saving money since she was 4 years old and won $100 showing a hog.

 

"I didn't get the money; it went to the bank," said Binegar, now a 19-year-old freshman at Ohio University's Chillicothe branch.

 

And so the pattern began. She'd raise a few hogs every year on the family farm in Highland County, show them at competitions and add any winnings or sales proceeds to her savings account.

 

"She's pretty tight," said Lindsay's dad, Gary. "She's always been big into 4-H, and every penny she made she just banked."

 

That included $15,540 for showing the reserve champion and grand champion hogs at the county fair in recent years.

 

By the time she graduated from Greenfield McClain High School last June, she had saved more than $40,000 for college.

 

But her parents had a proposition: They'd pay for college if she'd live at home and commute to Ohio University's Chillicothe campus.

 

The idea appealed to Lindsay's thrifty, practical side but left her wondering how to invest the money she'd saved.

 

Her dad, who runs Binegar Auction Service, had a suggestion.

 

"I said, 'You should buy a house,' " Gary Binegar said.

 

"I was like, 'Oh, Dad, that's a lot of money,' " she said.

 

But in August, Lindsay bought a house when her dad was auctioning one as part of an estate sale. She paid $40,000.

 

After painting the inside of the two-story frame house and adding new carpeting, Lindsay rented the house to a great aunt and uncle who wanted to relocate to Greenfield.

 

Walter Molony, spokesman for the National Association of Realtors, said it's extremely unusual for a teenager to buy a house.

 

Lindsay's dad, it turns out, did something similar - but not as grandiose - when he got out of high school. He bought a house, too.

 

"I paid $7,000 and there was 3 feet of snow in the living room," he said.

 

He fixed it up, rented it, then sold it and bought the farm where he, his wife, Mandy, and Lindsay now live.

 

Mr. Binegar, 44, isn't sure why his daughter is so fiscally responsible at an age when many teens spend every cent they get.

 

Then again, it fits her personality. She's always been at the top of her class academically. She volunteers each Friday at an elementary school to further her dream of becoming a teacher. She has been involved in 4-H for 11 years, was a cheerleader and was crowned homecoming queen her senior year of high school.

 

"We tried to lead her in the right direction and make her know the value of a dollar," her father said.

 

Lindsay said she hopes to finish college in three years, get a teaching job and raise a family in her hometown.

 

"I would never move out of Greenfield," she said. "I just love everybody here."

 

She's saving the $450-a-month rent payments from the house so she and her 22-year-old fiance, Heath McNeal, can buy a small house when they get married in 2011.

 

Eventually, the couple wants to buy land and build their dream home on top of a hill.

 

Her father has no doubt that'll happen.

 

"She's got a really good head on her shoulders," he said. "She's the perfect girl."

 

Source: Yahoo! News

 

Let this be a lesson to those in high school or younger...hell even to those adults among us...saving money can go a long way!

[True_Avery]

ffffffffffffuuuuuuuuuuuu~

[JediAthos]

sorry you feel that way

[Litofsky]

...the boyfriend is four years older than her?

[Hallucination]

Sure, she made a lot of money, but how she did it seems kinda boaring.

...the boyfriend is four years older than her?

22-19=3

[Litofsky]

Eh, it said 18 at the beginning of the article. Story was just a bit slow to file.

[Darth Avlectus]

Dammit! I always wanted to be the *first* to buy a house with cash only in hand up-front. This chick beat me to it.

 

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..

...

Well, actually good for her. Would not surprise me if she wrote about it one day and became prominent of the likes that Clark Howard is today...hell, I wouldn't even be surprised if she showed herself on his show.

 

Just think...she'll make a fortune on talking about how to be smart with money.

[Gurges-Ahter]

What kind of house can you buy for $40k? That's crazy.

[urluckyday]

Smart. But a lot less fun to save money!

[Sabretooth]

I'd have bought a house too, if it were that cheap. Here, a 2-bedroom apartment will come upwards of $100000 (in the city, mind you). Besides, I don't see what's so news-worthy about a teenager who bought a house with her savings. :/

[Negative Sun]

$40,000 for a house???

 

Is it made of cardboard?

 

That's about all you could buy with that money in the UK...

[JediAthos]

I believe in the article it says she bought it at auction.

[e-varmint]

One of my high school classmates bought a derelict house in 1979, fixed it up, and rented it out on a per-room basis. It worked out so well that he ended up owning four other houses on the same block. He made enough profit that he did not need any other source of income. Pretty darn clever, if you ask me.

[Blix]

Hog showing eh. Maybe I can show myself off and win a cash prize, would be nice to actually own something that I can actually be proud of (not including shoeboxes of SW figures )

[ForeverNight]

that's some luck, and impressive as all hell. Good on her.

 

But, wow... just wow.

[Pho3nix]

I'm sure she'll regret it in a couple of years : D

 

I would have spent the money on world travels!