Skateboard Legend Tony Hawk On How A Real Estate Investment He Made At 17 Saved His Bacon When Times Got Tough

Back in the 1980s, Tony Hawk was one of the first skateboarders to achieve celebrity status as a professional skateboarder, something he did while still a teenager. Although that notoriety earned him a lot of money, Hawk credits a real estate purchase he made while only 17 as being the smartest financial move he ever made.

 Tony Hawk's rise to fame and fortune mirrors that of many athletes and celebrities. He started with a deep passion and put in endless hours honing his craft until he became preeminent. That status earned him lots of money in his youth, which can be overwhelming for a young person who hasn't yet learned how to make their money work for them by investing.

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So, imagine being Tony Hawk, who says he was making $160,000 per year as a pro-skater when he was only 14. He recounted his younger days during an appearance on the "Richer Lives by Sofi" podcast and said his salary made him feel like he had "all the money in the world." It's not hard to see why he felt that way. That's a comfortable salary today, but 30 years ago it was a small fortune.

 Like most teenagers in that position, Tony spent money like water. He treated himself and his friends to lavish vacations and made countless impulse purchases. Tony told the podcast, “I didn’t have a very good perspective on it. My dad was trying to guide me and sort of warn me, ‘Hey, this might not last forever.’ When you’re that age and the money comes so consistently, you don’t see the end in sight.”

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Fortunately, Tony took one piece of his father's sound financial advice to heart. He told the podcast that his father sat him down during his senior year and advised him to invest in real estate by purchasing a home for himself. Ironically, Hawk was more focused on the "fun" potential of home ownership. Hawk said candidly, “What I heard was, ‘You can have your own place.'”

The idea of having a place where he could entertain his friends without adult supervision was the biggest selling point for the then 17-year-old Hawk, who was so young that his father had to co-sign on the mortgage. He completed the purchase and his pro-skateboarding money kept rolling in. Hawk eventually bought what he described as a "dream home," complete with a skate ramp.

Then reality came calling. Big houses have big mortgages and Hawk found himself struggling to make his monthly payments when his income began to dip in the 1990s. It happened at the worst possible time because Tony was no longer a carefree teenager. He was a grown man with a pregnant wife and a business he was trying to get off the ground.

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He told the podcast that things got so tough he put himself on a $5 daily food budget. However, Hawk knew that was unsustainable for a family man. Fortunately, he had an ace in the hole. Hawk sold his "dream home" and moved back into the house he bought at 17. The expenses Hawk shed by selling the dream home and the revenue it generated saved him at a critical juncture of his life.

 He knows his situation would have been much more dire if he'd ignored his father's advice.  Tony said, “That first property I bought, that was my saving grace. I ended up moving back into that house with my new family because my son was born at that time.” That is one of the main benefits of buying real estate. You never know when it's going to pay off, but it almost always does.

Hawk's finances would eventually recover with the release of the "Tony Hawk Pro Skater" video game in 1999, but he never forgot the lesson he learned from his first real estate investment. He told the podcast, “It was a wake-up call. You should always be living so that you know you have savings.”

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