In front of a room full of high school students at Scarborough’s David and Mary Thomson Institute, Sherard McQueen recounts the first time he signed up for a credit card.
With Priscilla Facey, also a real estate developer, the duo is using more than 30 years of combined experience in real estate and finance to teach youth the skills and knowledge they wish they’d had in high school.“When I first came out of high school into university, I messed up my credit. I got a TD visa card during frosh week — I had no idea about credit,” Facey told the Star. “It took me four or five years to undo the damage I did in one semester.
“I was learning money management, investing, how I got into student loan issues, and how to manage budgets. No one taught me that,” Facey said. “I took those same lessons, and I started teaching it to clients when I got into real estate.” “I was always the kid that was doing some kind of hustle, like selling makeup on the side. I grew up with a mom who worked very hard, and she was always working on some new money-making thing, some little business idea. I saw myself going places, and still, even today, I see that I have far to go, just because that’s what I visualized.”McQueen comes from a family of educators. His mom has worked for the Peel District School Board for more than two decades.
The tragedy changed his perspective on life and prompted his return to Brampton, Ont., where he also has roots, to pursue a career in real estate. Upon returning, he used RRSPs and cash to buy his first property and rented it to friends for extra income.