Our History
The Power of a Good Idea
It was September 2000; two guys in University were living on their own for the first time. Like most University students they found a house to rent with some friends and the five of them moved in. They learned very quickly about the new expenses that they’ve never had before, and since their student loans were going directly to rent, they had to get better paying jobs to pay for tuition and living expenses. So they got jobs as waiters at a nearby restaurant and everything was stable; they were covering the bills but adding nothing to savings.
After talking during many late nights at the restaurant the guys realized that they had a common goal: to be very wealthy and make an impact on millions of people around the world. They agreed they would stop at nothing to reach their goal. They realized that by working together, they would be much more likely to succeed, and committed to working together to make it happen.
So they did what any 20 and 22 year old would do: they got their housemates together and started a boy-band! They worked long and hard to both develop a talent and learn the business of ‘boy banding’. They became quite successful and the five of them performed in Canada for thousands of people. They also travelled to Nashville, TN to record an album.
Before the album could be recorded, the recording company ran into financial trouble and could no longer work with the band. The band broke-up as many do; the other guys went their separate ways to graduate from university, get real jobs, or start a family.
Michael and Scott needed to find another way to build their fortune and make an impact on millions of people. They had just fallen from the top and now had to start all over again, but they were committed and determined to discover a business that would produce the results that they were looking for. They promised to never again let their financial destiny be controlled by others. They worked through the concepts of many businesses and investment strategies and were constantly led back to the one greatest business on the planet… Read More
At the same time, Michael and Scott were still going to school and working long hours to pay the bills. They were in charge of collecting the rent from their housemates and taking it to the bank to deposit in their landlord’s account. One day they made the deposit and quite by accident the teller gave them a copy of the deposit slip that displayed: “deposit $2500, mortgage payment $1200”. That was the moment they knew they were on the wrong side of the equation; If they owned the house then they would be the ones making an extra $1000 or so per month. Their landlord lived out of town and they never saw him after the day that the lease was signed. They knew that not only could they be the ones collecting this money, they would also commit to being the best landlords out there so none of their tenants had the experience they had. Because of their inattentive landlord they were always on the lookout for a better rental property to live in.
Working at the restaurant they met many realtors. They would always ask the ‘realtor-of-the-day’ if they knew of any good places to rent. One day, a realtor suggested that they forget about renting, and just buy a house. The guys thought it was a crazy and completely unrealistic idea. The persistent realtor said she would help walk them through the process. After thinking about it they agreed to the plan. Their first step would be to talk to a mortgage broker and get financing. They talked to a broker and after going over their combined assets, he suggested that they combine their student loans for a down payment; it was the same annual cost as renting! The student loan money would go to housing either way, whether they paid rent or bought a house. They combined income from the restaurant including tips to qualify. That was when they bought their first rental property. It was a mess and needed lots of work. The guys were not intimidated, they learned all they could about renovations through books, volunteering and the big box store training sessions to rehabilitate the property to an acceptable condition.
Word of the guys activity got around campus and many other students wanted to rent from them. They realized that they needed 10 or more properties to meet the demand. And, that if they had 10 of these properties they wouldn’t have to work anymore! They set out to grow the business and replace their job income with rental income. Since they had no more money for down payments they had to explore strategies that accounted for this, which led to their very first investing strategy. It was then that ‘Flip-to-Yourself ‘ was created. Within a couple of years they had grown the business to realize their original income goals. The unique insight they gained was documented; everything they created, from checklists and blueprints to phone scripts was put on paper and used time and again. They didn’t realize it at the time, but they were creating the foundation for a powerful real estate investing system, one that spans geography, age, income, and time. A system that eventually became Keyspire.
Family and friends were now extremely interested in how the guys have achieved this success. So Michael and Scott helped those closest to them first to grow their passive income through income properties. They realized that this ability to have others follow their system and achieve consistent desirable results was very powerful. As they helped more family and friends become successful, they continued to hone their system to be better and better.
The momentum of success was contagious for the community and everyone wanted to find out what was going on. The guys were invited on local TV and Radio shows to showcase their success. They became local celebrities and figures of inspiration, all before graduating university. They realized that the system they developed had to be shared, which led to their first book, The Investors Toolkit. This book led to more publicity and in turn landed Scott on the set of a well-known national renovation show as a carpenter. Michael, a couple years younger and still in school, focused on growing their investing business while Scott grew the profile on Television.
One day on set of that first reno show, Scott was talking to the producers about how he didn’t have a ‘real’ job and therefore had the free time to work on the show because his rental properties provided him the income to support his lifestyle. This casual conversation evolved into the development of the longest running real estate investing show in TV history, filming over 150 episodes, creating over 40 million dollars of wealth for show participants and countless millions for viewers in over 40 counties and 6 languages.
Michael joined Scott on the show as the Project Manager for each renovation, and working together they started to build the powerhouse hit TV show, Income Property. It was around season 2 when the show had gained such popularity that Michael and Scott were receiving hundreds of emails a week from investors around North America asking for help. So many people had so many questions. They realized that a 22-minute TV show couldn’t begin to answer them all; in fact it couldn’t even scratch the surface! As a result, they set out to find a better way to help the growing demand for their system. This led them to build their next endeavor: a continental education and networking organization that could show people their Keyspire system providing guidance and support to people through the three critical stages of becoming a real estate investor: Information, Education and Implementation.
They worked with experts all across Canada and the US to transform their proven system into the most robust learning experience in the country. They developed new tools and software to support the growing member base that was developing. They built new relationships and negotiated exclusive deals for their members. All this while maintaining the personal and professional friendship that was sparked so many years ago while scraping by to pay the rent and daring to dream big. The driving force of their focus and dedication is to help people improve their lifestyles through investing in real estate.
Today the Keyspire organization touches the lives of tens of thousands of people all across North America, adding millions of dollars to the personal wealth of North American’s annually. Keyspire continues to grow and impact lives, forever changing the landscape of North American real estate investing. We are honoured and excited that Keyspire has impacted you.
Timeline
It was September 2000; two guys in University were living on their own for the first time. Like most University students they found a house to rent with some friends and the five of them moved in. They learned very quickly about the new expenses that they’ve never had before, and since their student loans were going directly to rent, they had to get better paying jobs to pay for tuition and living expenses. So they got jobs as waiters at a nearby restaurant and everything was stable; they were covering the bills but adding nothing to savings.
After talking during many late nights at the restaurant the guys realized that they had a common goal: to be very wealthy and make an impact on millions of people around the world. They agreed they would stop at nothing to reach their goal. They realized that by working together, they were much more likely to succeed, and committed to working together to make it happen.
So they did what any 20 and 22 year old would do: they got their housemates together and started a boy-band! They worked long and hard to both develop a talent and learn the business of ‘boy banding’. They became quite successful and the five of them performed in Canada for thousands of people. They also travelled to Nashville, TN to record an album.
Before album could be recorded, the recording company ran into financial trouble and could no longer work with the band. The band broke-up as many do; the other guys went their separate ways to graduate from university, get real jobs, or start a family.
Michael and Scott needed to find another way to build their fortune and make an impact on millions of people. They had just fallen from the top and now had to start all over again, but they were committed and determined to discover a business that would produce the results that they were looking for. They promised to never again let their financial destiny be controlled by others. They worked through the concepts of many businesses and investment strategies and were constantly led back to the one greatest business on the planet...
At the same time, Michael and Scott were still going to school and working long hours to pay the bills. They were in charge of collecting the rent from their housemates and taking it to the bank to deposit in their landlords’ account. One day they made the deposit and quite by accident the teller gave them a copy of the deposit slip that displayed: “deposit $2500, mortgage payment $1200”. That was the moment they knew they were on the wrong side of the equation; If they owned the house then they would be the ones making an extra $1000 or so per month. Their landlord lived out of town and they never saw him after the day that the lease was signed. They knew that not only could they be the ones collecting this money, they would also commit to being the best landlords out there so none of their tenants had the experience they had. Because of their inattentive landlord they were always on the lookout for a better rental property to live in.
Working at the restaurant they met many realtors. They would always ask the ‘realtor-of-the-day’ if they knew of any good places to rent. One day, a realtor suggested that they forget about renting, and just buy a house. The guys thought it was a crazy and completely unrealistic idea. The persistent realtor said she would help them walk them through the process. After thinking about it they agreed to the plan. Their first step would be to talk to a mortgage broker and get financing. They talked to a broker and after going over their combined assets, he suggested that they combine their student loans for a down payment; it was the same annual cost as renting! The student loan money would go to housing either way, whether they paid rent or bought a house. They combined income from the restaurant including tips to qualify. That was when they bought their first rental property. It was a mess and needed lots of work. The guys were not intimidated, they learned all they could about renovations through books, volunteering and the big box store training sessions to rehabilitate the property to an acceptable condition.
Word of the guys activity got around campus and many other students wanted to rent from them. They realized that they needed 10 or more properties to meet the demand. And, that if they had 10 of these properties they wouldn’t have to work anymore! They set out to grow the business and replace their job income with rental income. Since they had no more money for down payments they had to explore strategies that accounted for this, which led to their very first investing strategy. It was then that ‘Flip-to-Yourself ‘ was created. Within a couple of years they had grown the business to realize their original income goals. The unique insight they gained was documented; everything they created, from checklists and blueprints to phone scripts was put on paper and used time and again. They didn’t realize it at the time, but they were creating the foundation for a powerful real estate investing system, one that spans geography, age, income, and time. A system that eventually became Keyspire.
Family and friends were now extremely interested in how the guys have achieved this success. So Michael and Scott helped those closest to them first to grow their passive income through income properties. They realized that this ability to have others follow their system and achieve consistent desirable results was very powerful. As they helped more family and friends become successful that continued to hone their system to be better and better.
The momentum of success was contagious for the community and everyone wanted to find out what was going on. The guys were invited on local TV and Radio shows to showcase their success. They became local celebrities and figures of inspiration, all before graduating university. They realized that the system they developed had to be shared, which led to their first book, The Investors Toolkit. This book led to more publicity and in turn landed Scott on the set of a well-known national renovation show as a carpenter. Michael, a couple years younger and still in school, focused on growing their investing business while Scott grew the profile on Television.
One day on set of that first reno show, Scott was talking to the producers about how he didn’t have a ‘real’ job and therefore had the free time to work on the show because his rental properties provided him the income to support his lifestyle. This casual conversation evolved into the development of the longest running real estate investing show in TV history, filming over 150 episodes, creating over 40 million dollars of wealth for show participants and countless millions for viewers in over 40 counties and 6 languages.
Michael joined Scott on the show as the Project Manager for each renovation, and working together they started to build the powerhouse hit TV show, Income Property. It was around season 2 when the show had gained such popularity that Michael and Scott were receiving hundreds of emails a week from investors around North America asking for help. So many people had so many questions. They realized that a 22-minute TV show couldn’t begin to answer them all; in fact it couldn’t even scratch the surface! As a result, they set out to find a better way to help the growing demand for their system. This led them to build their next endeavor: a continental education and networking organization that could show people their Keyspire system providing guidance and support to people through the three critical stages of becoming a real estate investor: Information, Education and Implementation.
They worked with experts all across Canada and the US to transform their proven system into the most robust learning experience in the country. They developed new tools and software to support the growing member base that was developing. They built new relationships and negotiated exclusive deals for their members. All this while maintaining the personal and professional friendship that was sparked so many years ago while scraping by to pay the rent and daring to dream big. The driving force of their focus and dedication is to help people improve their lifestyles through investing in real estate.
Today the Keyspire organization touches the lives of tens of thousands of people all across the country, adding millions of dollars to the personal net worth of Canadians annually. It is one of the largest and fastest growing real estate communities in the country. Keyspire continues to grow to impact lives, forever changing the landscape of Canadian real estate investing. We are honoured and excited that Keyspire has impacted you.
Meet Our Co-Founders
Michael Sarracini
CEO & Co-Founder
Michael first started buying properties when he was 20 years old. As a couple of broke university students, Michael and roommate/future business partner Scott McGillivray were perpetual tenants. One day, after collecting rent from their housemates to pay the landlord, they realized that with all the rent the landlord was collecting, not only was he covering his mortgage, but he was making at least 500 each month! This realization left the two thinking, “why don’t we buy a house and then we can pocket the extra $500 or so each month?” This idea soon turned into a unique and strategic business model.
Michael and Scott together bought their first income property while still attending university. Soon, one property grew to a portfolio of many and with each new property Michael learned more and more about adding value through his hands-on experience renovating each purchase.
Michael’s natural affinity for making deals and his ‘never quit’ attitude allowed him to turn this concept into ‘retirement’ at age 25. Michael has been a full-time real estate investor for ten years. Whether renovating a kitchen, installing new hardwood floors or teaching first-time investors how to make smart renovation decisions, Michael has done it all.
From 2007 to 2009 he gained experience as the on air project manager for the television renovation show, Income Property.
The realization that there were countless people eager to learn how to invest in property, combined with his true passion for helping people, sparked the creation of Keyspire. Today, Michael directs his energy into Keyspire, the real estate education company where his learned techniques and motivating personality help members enhance their lifestyle through real estate investing.
Scott McGillivray
Co-Founder
An internationally renowned TV star, real estate investor, contractor, and accomplished businessman, Scott McGillivray is the definition of an entrepreneurial success story. Although Scott is best known for his hit TV shows, his passion lies in educating people to make smart investment and renovation decisions and how to succeed in the uber-competitive world of real estate.
Before graduating from university, McGillivray had already discovered his calling. What began as an ambitious school project about income properties developed into a unique business model that Scott then strategically executed, laying the foundation for his success as a real estate investor and educator. McGillivray’s hands-on approach to renovation and his laser-sharp intuition in real estate has meant well-rounded business success with investment properties across North America.
McGillivray has been a top-rated TV star since 2008 and an award-winning Executive Producer of 11 seasons of the hit series Income Property on HGTV/HGTV Canada where he made his mark by helping 100’s of cash-strapped homeowners renovate their properties to create maximum rental income. This blockbuster hit show brought a fresh new voice to lifestyle television, wowing viewers across North America, and now around the world in over 50 countries.
In 2015, McGillivray added McGillivray Entertainment to the Group to bring a fresh approach to lifestyle content, and produced HGTV’s latest hit series Moving the McGillivrays, accompanied by a slate of original digital content like Good to Grow and Reno To Reveal. He is currently in production on his next big project for HGTV – Buyer’s Bootcamp among other new projects in development. Scott’s television presence extends to include being one of the faces of HGTV’s new hit series Home to Win, Flipping the Block, Urban Oasis, Canada’s Handyman Challenge and All-American Handyman.
McGillivray is a proud Ambassador for Habitat for Humanity Canada, drawing attention to their new home build projects across Canada and the important issue of affordable, safe homeownership for Canadians as well as the resulting positive societal impact.
Born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, McGillivray now divides his time between residences in Toronto and Fort Myers, Florida along with his wife Sabrina and daughters Maya and Layla.
As a skilled contractor, best-selling author, inspiring public speaker, educator, and leading guest expert, McGillivray is trusted for successful renovation and return on investment tactics. He is a respected influencer and digital trailblazer who engages daily with his 600,000+ followers, and had an impressive 800 million plus impressions in 2016 across social, digital, TV and publicity.