Keyspire investment workshop coming to city near you

The real estate investing gurus behind Keyspire are coming to a city near you.

Michael Sarracini and his partner Scott McGillivray—who’s also the star of Income Property on HGTV, a hit television show in 43 countries—are touring the country to teach both seasoned and neophyte investors the ins and outs of the business with information sessions and workshops.

According to Sarracini, Keyspire’s CEO, at the two-hour and three-day in-depth workshops, the tenets of Information Education Implementation—the same technique used on Income Property—will be imparted.

The first tenet is about active and passive income. Instead of merely buying to flip, investors are encouraged to build a strategy and then a portfolio. Active income is the process whereby a property is flipped or used as a rent-to-own, but passive income is the turnkey rental property that’s buoyed by a plan to support the investor’s lifestyle.

That’s supported by what Keyspire refers to as tools and techniques, one of which is called Flipping to Yourself—a staple strategy on Income Property that McGillivray and Sarracini implemented while the latter worked as a project manager during the show’s first two seasons.

“We do rentals and we do them right,” said Sarracini. “When we realized that flipping wasn’t for us, and not the same in Canada as it is in the U.S., we came up with Flip to Yourself. Instead of buying and adding renovations and then losing the property forever, we decided to buy a property and add value, then sell it to ourselves by refinancing at a higher value, but which still allows us to keep the property for rental income. The cheques are worth as much as if you were to sell the property.”

The refinance is then used to purchase more properties quickly.

“Let’s say you wanted to buy 20 properties, you’re not going to come up with 20 down payments,” added Sarracini. “We use the same down payment 20 times by flipping to ourselves. It was a breakthrough strategy in our business, and it’s one of the first tools we cover. It’s amazing to see people’s faces light up when they hear about it.”

Three key investing options will also be covered during the tour stops. The first option is investing in property, the second is investing in private lending, and the third is private equity investment.

“Whether that’s getting involved in a $60 million development or a private joint venture, we help build somebody’s portfolio and strategy based on what’s best for them,” said Sarracini. “When we tell Canadians about more options based on what’s best for their money, we break it down step by step by step.”

Financing is another topic Keyspire will cover for attendees on its coast-to-coast tour of the country. Sarracini calls it the financing chess game.

“You’re thinking two or three or four properties ahead, and how to finance them so that you don’t have trouble ahead. The three funding streams are conventional, which is like going to a bank; the second is the private lending stream, where you can leverage equity a bank won’t let you leverage to access cash that’s used to purchase and renovate properties; and the third is private equity. Have people buy into projects by giving them a profit share so that you don’t have to fund projects with your own money.”

The Keyspire tour will hit Toronto on February 8, 9 and 10; Vancouver on March 1, 2, 3; Montreal on April 13; Ottawa on April 14; Edmonton on October 5; and Calgary on October 6.

Neil Sharma

Neil Sharma is the Editor-In-Chief of Canadian Real Estate Wealth and Real Estate Professional. As a journalist, he has covered Canada’s housing market for the Toronto Star, Toronto Sun, National Post, and other publications, specializing in everything from market trends to mortgage and investment advice. He can be reached at neil@crewmedia.ca.