923. How I Met the Hottest Guy in the Universe

I am taking a real estate class.  Not sure what I am going to do with the license, but I figure I would like to have the general knowledge.  Anyway, I got this random thing in the mail about a real estate investing seminar (No! Money! Down!), not sure how they got my address, but actually come to think of it, it was addressed to The Husband.  So, the point is, I called the number and the next thing you know, I was registered for a Saturday morning seminar on Unlocking Real Estate’s Potential for Your Positive Cash Flow for Life!* 

The seminar was free, although the time conflicted with my regular real estate class (giving me an acute case of mental anguish that the professor might notice that I was not there sitting in the front row asking a million questions—the class would be … eerily quiet without me).  Anyway, what cinched it for me (and I should have probably told you in the first place) is that the real reason I was going to ditch my class to go to the real estate seminar was: 

(photo removed due to excessive sweat on keyboard)

Yep.  Scott McGillivray.  You know him from HGTV’s show Income Property.  Just the name of the show makes you think that he must own lots of property and that he must somehow make an income from doing this.  Not sure how the details work, that part is fuzzy.  But I would get to see Scott Live! And!  In!  Person! and possibly ask him a question or three. 

The people running the seminar must’ve really wanted to make sure I attended, as indicated by their two confirmation phone calls the day before plus a text advising me that the venue had changed from Hotel XYZ to Hotel ABC, which was actually closer to my house.  Then the girl on the phone hastily added that there was a chance (“A slim chance, I don’t want to alarm you or anything”) that Scott would not be there live-and-in-person after all, he might be there via Skype. 

Skype?  I was supposed to give up my entire morning, drive 5 minutes away to a nice hotel with a free catered breakfast, and pay no money for the wisp of a chance that the real Scott would be there but more likely just a video version?!  I was supposed to miss my actual, true, state-certified class for this? 

You betcha. 

I got there early, because that is what we trained Virgos do.  I asked the usher (who turned out later to be one of the speakers) if I could sit in the front row, but due to the overwhelming response and people who apparently cut in front of me in the parking lot so they could run into the room ahead of me, I was forced to sit way back in the second row. 

I looked at my watch:  8:35.  At 9:06, some random guy (the usher, I thought) took to the stage and started babbling on about real estate and about Scott and if he was going to really be there or not. 

Turns out, he was.  Next thing you know, Scott himself entered the room in all his chiseled handsomeness and movie-star good-looks splendor.  He was wearing a navy linen jacket even though it had snowed the night before, and his hair looked like something out of a shampoo commercial.  Expensive shampoo.  Then he took to the stage, and after the type of applause normally reserved for kings and presidents, the audience went silent.  Scott began to talk in a friendly way, as if he was your next-door neighbor and you just invited him over for a beer. 

He told the story of how he got into real estate back when he was a broke, 21-year-old college student.  He (illegally) used his student loan money as a down payment on a house that he and a bunch of roommates were going to live in.  He made enough from the roommates to pay the mortgage, and his portion was free.  He bought another house the next year, and the following year, 10 more.  He ended up living in the basement of one of these multi-unit homes for 7 years so he could make his dreams come true.  In the meantime, he kept pulling money out of houses and using it to buy the next house and the next.  He told us to always maintain positive cash flow, never buy anything where you do not make money from the first day.  His investment strategy, he told us, was to “Buy and hold.”    

When his speech was over, and he started to leave the giant auditorium, I bolted down the back aisle, out the door, and back into the door where I had last seen him.  There he was, chatting with some lady.  I needed her to disappear so I could ask him all my important questions. 

Finally, after what seemed like 20 minutes but was probably only one minute, she left. 

“Scott?  Excuse me,” I whispered, “I have a quick question for you.” 

He had given three pieces of crucial real estate advice during his speech.  He had said to buy these types of properties for the best long-term investment potential: 

*Student housing
*Multi-units
*Vacation or corporate rentals

So, my profound question was: 

“Scott, should I only invest locally?  Or is it okay to invest long-distance?” 

I did not have the heart to tell him in that exact specific moment that my personal investment budget was approximately $100, and that was only after I got my tax refund back.  Or I might owe $100 in taxes.  I can’t quite remember what my accountant said. 

“MOV,” he said, slyly looking at my nametag, “When I first started, say the first seven or eight years, I just did local.  Then I branched out.” 

I nodded enthusiastically, making a mental note that in seven or eight years I might even have $125 back from my tax refund to invest. 

“Okay, great,” I said.  “How much should I put down on these properties in the beginning?” 

I was hoping he would say “$100” or perhaps “$125,” but he surprised me by saying,

“Twenty percent.” 

Now, my math is not that good, but I know that 20% of a half million dollar vacation home is going to be slightly more than $100.  Bummer.  But it was totally worth it to have Scott standing that close to me.  I could smell his hair products. 

He smiled at me and, as if reading my mind, said, “PMI.”

At first, I thought he was telling me the name of his hair styling products, but then I realized he meant “Private Mortgage Insurance” or “Property Management Investments” or something non-hair related. 

“You don’t want to hafta pay PMI,” he continued in that sexy Canadian accent, “so make sure you always put 20% down.” 

“Of course,” I replied.  In the next moment, a moment that can only be described as “short-sighted” or perhaps “stupid,” it popped into my head that Scott had zero idea of my zero bank balance.  I was wearing a really nice silk blouse and fake pearl earrings, so for all he knew, I might have 50 bazillion dollars in the bank.  Here was my chance to lie and impress him:  

“My husband and I usually just pay cash for all our investments.” 

“Oh … wow,” he said, obviously impressed at my previous investing savvy and know-how.  I did not need this silly seminar for beginners.  I could be teaching this seminar!    

I didn’t feel the need to clarify to Scott that our cash investments consisted entirely of 289 complete Lego sets built by two elementary-aged boys.    

He shook my hand and politely explained that he had to go now.  I was not used to people leaving after I approached them—remember, I used to be a flight attendant.  If I would accost some poor unsuspecting celebrity passenger after he used the lavatory so that I could get his autograph or ask him about his next movie, he could not exactly jump out the door at a cruising altitude of 35,000 feet. 

“Thanks!” I squeaked as Scott rushed past me. 

Right then, I got a text from my accountant:  “You owe taxes, plz write ck TODAY.”  

I guess my real estate investment career might have to wait another week to get started. 

MOV 

*Not the exact name of the seminar, but I am too lazy right now or go find the flyer.  Just go back and stare at the nice photo of Scott and then you will forget all about not knowing the exact name. 
Link to Scott's website:  click HERE.