MANDAN, N.D. (AP) - Jared Lipp, 18, is no stranger to the notion that hard work pays off.
As a result of saving money from yard work and a full-time job at Dan’s Supermarket, Lipp, a senior at Mandan High School, bought his first house in September.
“It was something that I wanted to do for a while, and when I finally turned 18 I started taking initiative and things started falling into place, so it was really satisfying to finally sign my name (on the house),” said Lipp, who purchased a single-family home near the Mandan Municipal Golf Course.
The Bismarck Tribune reports that Lipp learned how to buy and rent out a home with the help of his high school marketing teacher and his father, who both previously owned rental properties. He took out a loan for the house, which he is renting out.
Lipp learned early how to make money. In 2009, after the financial crisis - and when Lipp was 9 years old - he and his father met with a financial adviser.
“(The adviser) said, ’What do you want to accomplish?’ And I said, ’Well, I want to make as much money as I can in this time, what do you think I should do?’” Lipp said. Since then, Lipp has invested about $12,000 in stocks and mutual funds.
He sold his stocks for about $25,000 to $28,000 in September, the same month he bought the house. The house, which he found online, is a government-owned home that had been foreclosed on. Unsure how to buy a house, Lipp met with a real estate agent who could explain the process and then bid on the house. He got the house for about $76,000, but fees and other costs brought the total to about $82,000.
“It was an awesome experience. I went in there and they said they never had someone so young, so it was kind of cool to hear that,” said Lipp, who said when he bought it he already had someone lined up to rent it.
The home, built in the 1910s, needed a lot of work, which came from his savings. He installed laminate floors, carpets, windows and a new HVAC system. He also purchased all new appliances. In total, he spent $21,000.
The process to buy the house took longer than Lipp had anticipated - he had hoped to get the renovations done by the start of the school year. Instead, Lipp worked on the home each day after school got out at 2 p.m. and before he started work at 4 p.m. His dad also helped, and Lipp also did repairs on the weekends, before and after work.
“Whenever I had free time, instead of doing everything else I would just work on the house and get that done so I could get a renter and start making money,” he said.
In December, a tenant moved in and Lipp is saving that $1,000 a month income to buy other properties. He plans to attend Bismarck State College in the fall, and then North Dakota State University to get a degree in business administration.
Lipp said some of his high school teachers were instrumental in his decision to buy the house, including Don Fry, a marketing teacher, who introduced him to his school’s DECA. In these group meetings, Lipp said Fry would ask what his goals are, and offered Lipp advice since he had owned rental properties.
“He made it more realistic to accomplish my goal of having a rental property,” Lipp said.
In his junior year, his English teacher, Lisa Quintus, helped him plan how he was going to buy a house during a reserved period in class that allowed kids to draw out their goals and formulate how they were going to achieve them.
“That gave me a lot of time to sit down, write down my goals, figure out how to achieve it and do a project on how I’m going to do this,” Lipp said, adding both Fry and Quintus helped him realize his plan to own a home was achievable.
Fry said Lipp is a “unique student,” and this school year Fry got Lipp involved in DECA. Fry said he’s owned rental properties on and off for 20 years. His last property he left behind when he moved from Stanley.
“When (Lipp) told me that he did it, I was like, ’Wow, you were actually listening?’” said Fry, who often tells his students about his experiences owning rental properties.
Fry said he and his wife bought their first home with a rental property in the basement, and later moved and rented out the entire house. In 2011, they lost the property in the Minot flood, an encounter he shares with his classes.
“That’s part of the experience,” he said. “Be prepared for different circumstances.”
Lipp said his advice for high-schoolers is to get involved in extracurricular activities such as DECA. Fry said he encourages students to try DECA, because it encourages them to think outside the box and to see that their goals are achievable.
“As they go through high school, they don’t realize they can start making a difference before they graduate, and whether they want to go to college or directly into industry, it’s going to help prepare them for the next stage,” Fry said. “I think the best skill that they actually gain is an awareness of opportunities out there.”
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Information from: Bismarck Tribune, http://www.bismarcktribune.com
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